An Elegant Christmas Dinner (Bonus: How to Cook the Perfect Roast)

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22.12.11

An Elegant Christmas Dinner (Bonus: How to Cook the Perfect Roast)



It's four days until Christmas. Have you got your Christmas dinner planned and purchased? I'm so glad my daughter 'encouraged' me to get out in the fray and get our grocery shopping done. It's hard to get around in so much traffic.

Every year, I've done a very simple, and frugal Christmas dinner with time-tested favorite dishes that our family loves. If you are short on time and energy or are on a tight budget...click here for the perfect Christmas dinner for you.

However, due to the fact that we started so early on our Christmas prep, I'm done!! Yippee!  So I want to cook a very SPECIAL Christmas dinner. An elegant one in fact.  I spent a lot of time hunting for the BEST recipes from the most trusted sources to put together our Christmas dinner this year.


Source: google.com via Donna on Pinterest


Who Do I Trust? Cooks Illustrated, Southern Living, and Martha Stewart. They aren't the only ones, but these are some I've come to depend on. Still, you do have to subscribe to get much out of Cooks Illustrated (they block you out after hunting for two or three recipes)...and for my birthday, that's just what I'm doing.




Our Christmas Dinner Menu 

Potato Gratin with Rosemary Crust
 Green bean Casserole (for the boys)
on Crusty Frenchbread Slices

and




Slow Cooked Roast Beef with Horseradish sauce
I love Cook's Illustrated because the TEST every recipe. They are the 'Consumer Reports Group' for foodies.  Their article on how to properly roast a cheap cut of beef was fabulous!

Thanks to them, my roasts are defrosting as we speak and will be aging in the fridge for the suggested four days. (You don't have to age it. Their recipe will make your roast taste great without doing that.)

I got the horseradish sauce recipe from Martha Stewart's website because she always using quality ingredients. Yes, they cost more...but they also taste heavenly. If we are going to splurge on delicious recipes..Christmas is surely the time to do that. :o)


Potato Gratin with Rosemary Crust
Southern Living has great holiday recipes including Top 5 Main Dishes for ChristmasThey also had holiday side dishes and that's where I got this recipe from. We are going to put it on a cake stand too.  It includes both white potatoes and sweet potatoes plus a special cheese and other goodies. It should taste FABulous!





Green Bean Casserole and Greek Salad
For veges, we will make a traditional green bean casserole. It's the only time of year my boys get 'doctored up' vegetables...and I don't want to disappoint them.   But Rebekah and I are trying to control the damage to our waistlines by adding a lighter side dish.

Hubby and I once went to Ya Ya Mia's on a business trip and devoured their Greek salad. We had never tasted anything so good! So I'm trying a recipe from Martha Stewart. Tim will be so surprised and pleased. He loves Greek food.




Spinach Dip with Blue Cheese and Bacon
I wanted to make creamed spinach and bacon, but Rebekah begged, "Please let us have spinach dip. It's Soooo yummy...and I'll make the crusty bread!" So I gave in. :o)  We're making Spinach Dip with Blue Cheese and Bacon from Cooks Illustrated. If you get locked out then try Martha Stewart's website. She has that one too.

Source: google.com via Donna on Pinterest


Grasshopper Pie...Hubby's Favorite
It's embarrassing to think that Hubby's been 'hinting' for 25 years that I ought to make this. It's his favorite pie and I don't think he's eaten any anywhere in all this time. Poor hubby!

Why the delay? Well the recipe calls for Creme de' Menthe which is expensive and has to be purchased at a liquor store. For years, I've been too embarrassed to go get it. Now I'm not so squeamish..so I picked up a bottle last week. It should make a LOT of pies! LOL!

At any rate, this will be my first time to make grasshopper pie. Pioneer Woman has a munch simpler recipe, but if I make it..I want to make it extra special, so I'm trying Martha's which calls for better quality ingredients.

Either way, I'm looking forward to tasting this.  Chocolate and Mint...How can we go wrong? :o)

So that's our Christmas dinner in a nut shell.  If you are looking for more ideas, be sure to check out Southern Living's Top 5 Main Dishes for Christmas. They have some great suggestions!


Happy Homemaking... 
Donna

4 comments

Needled Mom said...

Love the Cooks Illustrated magazine as well as the Cooks Country. The potato gratin looks fabulous!

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Maria Killam said...

You are adorable with the Menthe story :) That dessert looks totally yummy you'll have to post the photo of yours!
Happy Christmas Donna!
xo
Maria

Donna said...

Maria, Thanks for dropping by. It was a little intimidating to just 'walk in' that first time.

I will be sure to post photos of our dinner. Isn't Cooks Illustrated just wonderful Mary?

xo
Donna

Wedding Supplier said...

Yummy Look's and nice posting for recipes

“There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.” ~ Margaret Sangster

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