This past weekend Pax Christi Chorale got together with a volunteer orchestra, soloists and the choir of St Mary Magdalene church, to sing the Children’s Messiah. This annual event presents the hits from Handel’s Messiah, geared toward families, and all of the proceeds go to charity. For me, this finally put me in the holiday frame of mind.
This week, is our last Monday with our trio together, before Christmas, so we decided this would be our official Christmas dinner. We had turkey last week, so we needed to mix it up a bit, with the menu. I think the prep for this week was a lot of fun, as we got to try something we have had on the books for a while…. But I’ve told you enough…..
The guest list changed a few times, but we finally decided on Norm, Julia and a new friend Dr. Sheila. The menu also had a few tweaks here an there, but I think this was one of the most fun to prep. Since we had no rehearsal, we gathered at Steph’s and were greeted with sparkling wine. After a toast and introductions, we gathered around the table to enjoy a new creation, Mushroom and ricotta pyramid ravioli with truffle oil. The pasta is rolled and cut into squares, then the filling is added in the centre and the four corners brought together to form the pyramid shapes.
One interesting discovery, is that you can put a bit more filling with less risk of them exploding (although there were a few casualties.) We served them with our homegrown tomato sauce and parmesan, with a hint more truffle oil.
The dinner conversation turned to far away places and quite interestingly to ancient monasteries and churches, which with this crowd, is always welcome. For our main, Shawn deboned quails, then stuffed them with ground chicken, porcini mushrooms, chestnuts, parmesan cheese, thyme and lemon zest. We served this with celeriac puree and sautéed spinach.
When Shawn said he was making “quail stock”, I must admit I thought he had lost it. The stock combined with a bit of demi-glace, after flaming the juices from the quail. Well that sauce had so many layers of flavor, I should not doubt these strange obsessions. In its way, it was like having a turkey all my own. One guest did not eat meat, so instead we cooked cod and tomatoes en papillotte, with a splash of dry white wine, and of course Shawn’s Mediterranean spice rub.
There was a moment when I wanted to steal this dish…. cod is in my blood. Our finale was a dessert that we have been wanting to make for a while, an Italian Pandoro. This is the most interesting and complex dough we have made in some time. Although it is basically a cake, it starts as a yeast dough, more similar to a bread, but through all the steps and rising times, it becomes more similar to a brioche dough, which is baked in a Christmas tree shaped mould.
The cake is then cut into 6 layers and brushed with a boozy soaking syrup. The fillings alternate between vanilla and chocolate pastry cream, and is decorated with powdered sugar snow and fresh raspberries. It’s a large dessert, but very tasty….. Also it looks like a Christmas tree, so quite festive.
I would love to say that the food what the star of the evening, but as so often happens, the brilliant conversation, and our musical interludes just put us in the Christmas frame of mind. One question that came to mind is “when did Julia and Norm learn to play violin?” We had piano/violin trios and Christmas carols. We even may have had a Newfie jig or two. I think my favorite part of a memorable evening were the personal stories from our guest’s pasts. I do love an evening of food, friends, reminiscences and music. I am ready for the Christmas season, I just wish there was snow….
Beware what you wish for young man – we’ll have snow soon enough. That was a wonderful evening of surprise, delight, comfort and joy. Merry Christmas to all!
I love your photos and commentary. It was all divine. The ravioli (eggless pasta, I recall Shawn said) with gorgeous mushroom flavour and a hint of truffle oil, enveloped by your tomato sauce, a family recipe. Yum! Beautifully presented and delicious stuffed quail. And this was my first time enjoying an Italian pandoro. What a lot of work it was – seven hours I believe you said, with all the dough risings required. We all agreed that it’s between bread and cake – almost brioche-like. Thanks for showing the pan here – now I see what you mean!
I enjoyed the discussions of food traditions, of grandmothers who do everything by taste and feel, of what the perfect butter tart entails etc. Oh, and vegetable-growing tips. Thanks to all for encouraging my beginner fiddling! Fun having Norm play with me, with Stephanie on piano.