About Stephanie Sherman Expertise I have been culinary school trained in classic French style, however I have learned to adapt my techniques to home cooking. Although my background is in French cooking, I have spent the last several years exploring other cuisines. I am proficient in Spanish and Italian cuisine and have some knowledge of Chinese and Japanese cooking as well. My repertoire will continue to grow, as I have an addiction to reading cookbooks and a never-ending desire to learn.
I can answer questions that relate to recipes, technique, and ingredients, food safety,and nutrition. Any questions I cannot answer, I will be happy to do some research to see what I may find.
Experience I have a degree in culinary arts and food & beverage management. I spent more than a decade in the restaurant business, working with a multitude of cuisines. Some of these cuisines include Chinese, Japanese, American, French, and Greek. I am also an enthusiastic home cook.
Organizations International Food Service Executives Association
Education/Credentials Certified for HACCP, which relates to food safety issues.
Home Cooking - Help :) Trying to find help with Christmas Dinner
Expert: Stephanie Sherman - 12/11/2005
Question Hello,
I am writing to you today to try to find out something traditional yet new to fix for Christmas dinner. I am having my family in and my mom usually fixes this dinner but this year, I wanted to try to do something, so they are all coming to my house on the 17'th, needless to say, I have got to get cracking :)
I am not sure if I want to do ham or a roast or what, so I am open to idea's. My brother is a very good cook and he said something about injecting a ham, that he saw something a year or two ago about a pralines injection for ham, that sounded good to him. That's one idea but I'm just not sure where to go with it. I was on Google the other day and saw something about a ham in a blanket, that sounded kinda interesting.
I will admit that I am not the most experienced cook in the family but I can hold my own and I do know how to cook and bake, thank God for mom's that teach their boy's to cook :) My wife is of little help in the kitchen. I told her that she needed to thank my mom for teaching us how to cook, otherwise we would starve :)
Anyway's, I am just looking for some basic idea's on something, anything, hehehe. Any help that you can give will be more then appreciated.
I know for Thanksgiving, I found a smoked oyster dip to die for. So we are into trying new things but we have traditional things for our family too.
We now live in the south, North Carolina but we are originally from up-state NY. We have had a family recipe for scalloped oysters that has been handed down for years but while I was looking it up on the web, it shows it to be a southern thing, from like Louisiana.
I do thank you for all of your help and I hope you have a very safe and Merry Christmas.
Answer Sorry I'm a little slow on the reply. This season is hectic for everyone, I suppose.
This is what I'll be serving:
* Exported from MasterCook *
Pan-Roasted Loin of Pork with Artichokes and Mushrooms
Recipe By : Colin Cowie
Serving Size : 6
Categories : Pork
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
6 each large artichokes -- tips cut
juice of one lemon
6 tablespoons vegetable oil -- plus1/2 cup
4 pounds pork loin -- deboned and tied
1 tablespoon sea salt -- plus 1 teaspoon
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper -- plus 1 teaspoon
2 tablespoons olive oil
24 each pearl onions -- cleaned
1/2 pound portobello mushrooms -- coarsley sliced
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms -- coarsely sliced
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
1 bunch fresh sage -- 1 tablespoon chopped, balance whole
2 cups veal stock
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Preheat oven to 350F.
Cut off the top two thirds of the artichokes and them cut them into
quarters. Using a paring knife, trim off the hard, stringy outer parts.
Trim the stems to a length of 1 inch. Separate the leaves and, using a
teaspoons, scoop out the choke.
Place the trimmed artichoke quarters and the lemon juice in a 1 to 2 quart
mixing bowl full of water. Set aside.
Place 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-low
heat. Season the pork all over with 1 tablespoon each of the salt and
pepper. Place in the pot and cook, turning, until brown all over, about 2
minutes per side. Remove the pork and set aside. Remove the excess fat
from the pot. Drain the water from the bowl of artichokes, and add the 2
tablespoons of olive oil, the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper, and
toss well.
Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the pot, then add the artichokes,
mushrooms, and onions, and saute for 5 minutes. Add the chopped garlic,
chopped sage, and stock. Cover and put in the oven to roast until pork
reaches 145 degrees.
Remove the artichokes, mushrooms, and pork from the pot and arrange on a
large serving platter. Allow the roast to stand for 15 - 20 minutes
before slicing and serving. Skim the excess fat from the pot with a wide
spoon or soup ladle and serve the cooking juices along with the pork and
vegetables.
While the roast is resting, prepare the crispy fried sage garnish. Heat
the 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in a small skillet over medium high until the
oil is hot but not smoking. Place the reserved sage in the skillet and
fry until crispy, about 10 seconds. Drain the fried sage on a paper
towel. Arrange the sage on top of the roast, sprinkle the chopped parsley
around the platter, and serve.
I plan to have it done ahead through the step where you drain the artichokes and put it in the oven. Should be pretty easy that way. This recipe was orginally for veal, which would be good also, but some of my family members won't eat it.
You ham injected with pralines is fascinating. I think it is a wonderful idea. I think I'd put a maple glaze over it and make a sauce of maple syrup and butter. You could add some nuts too.
Last year, I didn't serve a hot dish and it was the easiest party ever. I had an herb crusted, mesquite smoked beef tenderloin that I served medium-rare and room temperature with horseradish sauce. I did a rack of lamb marinated in soy, red wine, and rosemary. I also had an orzo salad with feta and a regular salad. I don't remember what else.
You could do a crown roast with stuffing in the middle for something a little more traditional. An orange fennel sauce would be good made with the pan drippings.
Pork tenderloins are always easy and a crowd-pleaser. I like them with a sauce made out of some kind of berry.
If your weather is as cold as mine (18 degrees today), this won't work, but if it is nice out you could put some Cornish game hens on the spit. You could use BBQ sauce at the end or maybe a yakitori glaze.
If you can grill or have means to pull it off inside, you could have a kebab party where you could mix up your ingredients and make a variety of things. Better, put out the ingredients for your guests to make what they want and then put everything out on the grill.
Lastly, when I'm looking for ideas, I go onto allrecipes.com and browse their selection. All (well, almost all) of the recipes are user rated and I look at those with 4 or 5 stars. I've come up with a couple of wonderful recipes from that site.
