Posted on 12/05/2019 4:41:20 PM PST by Jamestown1630
Not being a great meat-eater, I’ve always been intrigued by the Italian-American tradition of the ‘Feast of the Seven Fishes’ - the Christmas Eve dinner consisting of seven different fish dishes.
I like seafood very much, but have had a hard time coming up with my ‘dream meal of seven’. One thing I’ve always wanted to try are Portuguese Codfish Balls (Bolinhos de Bacalhau), which I believe I first saw in an episode of the ‘Two Fat Ladies’.
These seem to be usually made from rehydrated salt cod (the dried cod can be found in ethnic stores as well as many American supermarkets), but they can be made from fresh fish, as well. They are balls of the flaked fish, held together with mashed potatoes and egg, and deep fried.
Here, from 'Spruce Eats', is a recipe using fresh fish:
https://www.thespruceeats.com/portuguese-codfish-balls-2743408
And from ‘The Portuguese American Mom’, one using the dried fish:
http://www.theportugueseamericanmom.com/codfish-cakes-bolinhos-de-bacalhau/
Another fish dish is something that I’ve recently found at Lidl – they have several prepared/frozen ‘convenience’ items that I think are very good, and I really liked a salmon with a spinach stuffing, wrapped in puff pastry: I went looking for a from-scratch recipe, and found one at ‘Home Made Italian Cooking’:
https://www.homemadeitaliancooking.com/salmon-in-puff-pastry/
Please post your favorite family Christmas food traditions - or your favorite seafood recipe!
(The painting at the top is 'Adoration of the Shepherds', by the Spanish Baroque painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.)
-JT
In this case I was out of smoked hot paprika so I thought the tomatoes and some hot paprika would do.
Not so fond of it in a Bolognese sauce or vegetable soup but it is quite good most other beef dishes.
LOL!
It’s a great movie. I just want the Baby Jesus, and Santa and snow and reindeer and magic, at Christmas time.
We bought this very unusual Finnish one last year and really enjoyed it:
That looks very good!
Great description! I loved it & it is all those things. Love the limo driver....i feel like he understood for maybe the first time (he’s young) what being a man & having the guts to do the right thing at the right time is.
Sounds good, thank you!
As long as I get to watch Die Hard and How The Grinch Stole Christmas (cartoon not the Jim Carry abomination) I am happy.
I always crush dried tarragon & sprinkle it along with salt & pepper over my chicken before I roast it. It’s just wonderful.
An entrepreneur introduced a winner. Trumpy Bear and a flag for $40. Perfect children’s teddy bear. Another Mike Lindell?
My husband actually does like all the ‘mushy’ Christmas movies. We have to watch certain ones at certain times, according to his childhood family traditions. We have to always watch ‘White Christmas’ the day after Thanksgiving; and we always have to see ‘A Christmas Carol’ on Christmas Eve (he’s partial to the George C. Scott one, I like the Patrick Stewart one.)
During the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, husband is a Christmas Cream Puff (hard on the outside, soft on the inside.)
The rest of the year, it’s all ‘Terminator’, ‘Lethal Weapon’, ‘Die Hard’, and any other ‘blow-the-bad-guys-up, shoot-their-guts-out ‘ movie available.
(Husband agrees regarding the ‘Jim Carry abomination’ - we have to re-watch all the cartoon/claymation ones that he watched growing up :-)
I just know that I want one. I’ll put it on my desk at work, and be prime for the roundup during the next purge.
Die Hard is the first Christmas movie of the season that we watch.
In honor of that, a favorite of my dad, potato candy.
About a half cup of mashed potatoes. (Use the leftovers from Thanksgiving. The kind with cream and butter in them)
A whole container of powdered sugar (ok, about six cups)
A heavy dash of Vanilla (a teaspoon should do it)
A pinch of salt (I use about 1/8 a teaspoon, my aunt says that is way too much and what is already in the potatoes should be enough. I say it's my candy and I will make it how I want. do it to taste. You can always add more)
A half cup peanut butter. (Or you can use some other kind of nut butter. I would not use Nutella as that would be weird. I have used just crushed nuts when peanut butter was not available.)
Dump the mashed potatoes and vanilla into a mixer and start it on low.
Add the sugar a bit at a time until you have a stiff dough. If it is too hard add a bit of milk. If too soft add more sugar.
Lay down a sheet of wax paper and take dough and roll out into rectangle about a 1/8 of an inch thick. It should be about 10 x 12. You are going to have to use some more powdered sugar to keep it from sticking.
Spread peanut butter over the dough. You might want to heat the peanut butter a bit to make it spread more easily.
Now roll it up jelly roll fashion. The wax paper will make it easier. If the peanut butter squishes out let it cool a bit more.
Now that you have a log wrap it in wax paper and put it in the freezer for about an hour.
Cut into 1/4 slices and eat.
My husband says that I need to add jelly on top of the peanut butter. You can add a dollop on top after the candy is made if you like. If you add it on top of the peanut butter it will not be as pretty and it oozes.
Wow.
(At some point during the Holidays, I’ll probably be drunk enough to try this....:-)
Most of the rest of the country cocks their head to one side and says "Eh?" when we talk about it.
Appalachian people have always been very inventive -
historically and geographically, they’ve needed to be.
Last Spring, I bought a Mountain Dulcimer. Am trying to learn it, but arranging one’s hands and getting it down is all very different if one originally learned guitar.
Thanks, Liz. Come to find out, this little guy is being sold by a company in Dallas, Texas. We love us some TRUMP down here! :-) WaPo informs us the bear is actually a native of China
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/05/16/rest-easy-even-if-trump-expands-tariffs-cost-trumpy-bear-probably-wont-go-up/
LOL Notice on the ad, this notation:
“NOTICE: Sorry, we can not accept returns of intentionally damaged bears.” One would presume this would include a return of a Trumpy with a knife still in his back.
Hah...........
Tortellini in Parmesan-Cream Sauce with Spinach
ING pound cheese tortellini • tb unsalted butter • minced gar/cl •2 tb flour •1¼ cups h/cream
•½ tsp salt, cup grated Parm •5 oz julienned baby spinach • 7 oz jar julienned sun-dried tomatoes
SAUCE Cook/stir melted butter, garlic a min til fragrant. Sprinkle in flour; stir into melted butter (becomes a paste and begins to smell nutty). Slowly whisk in h/cream (mixture is thick and chunky, but will smooth and thin out), then add salt and Parm. Simmer/thicken about 5 min. Stir in spinach (and sun-dried tomatoes option).
ASSEMBLY Add cooked and drained tortellini, gently stir to coat. SERVE immediately
GARLIC ROLLS / 10 rolls
GARLIC OIL Drizzle 2 T ol/oil over gar/cl; roast 400 deg 8-10 min. Cool on counter. Remove skins, mince; set aside.
On low, combine ol/oil and corn oil; heat warm but not hot, about 180°F. Offheat, add garlic; steep at room temp 20 min.
ROLLS Foil/wrap rolls; heat 400 deg 8-10 min crispy outside, soft and chewy inside. Set in colander or strainer on sheetpan. Pour on garlic-oil; coat well. Transfer to wax-paper lined basket, sprinkle with salt, oregano and parsley, some Parm. Serve immediately.
ING 10 unpeeled garlic cloves, 1/4 cup olive oil, plus 2 tb 1/3 cup corn oil 10 small Italian rolls
or 10 small sourdough rolls 1/2 tsp k/salt 2 tb dried oregano 2 tb chp parsley, Parm.
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