Greatest Hits Holiday Menu

If your family is anything like mine, there are people of all faiths and shapes sitting around the dinner table. Each of the winter holidays is so beautiful (and so delicious), I like to make everyone feel at home by incorporating all of them. This is my Greatest Hits Holiday Menu, touching on all the major year-ending celebrations:

Potato Latkes with New York Applesauce

Standing Rib Roast of Beef with Red Wine and Roasted Garlic

Sweet-As-Can-Be Potato Pie

Champagne Cocktail

Hanukkah: Potato Latkes with New York Applesauce:

• Makes 24
  • 1 onion, peeled
  • 4 Idaho potatoes, peeled
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 6 tablespoons butter

1. Preheat oven to 200; Place two baking sheets in the oven.
2. Using a food processor, (or by hand), grate the onion and place in a colander. Coarsely grate the potatoes, add them to colander, and set aside to drain.
3. In large mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs then whisk in the flour.
4. Press the potatoes and onion to extract as much liquid as possible, then add to the egg/flour mixture. Season well with kosher salt and black pepper. Using a wooden spoon, mix well but do not overwork.
5. In a heavy-bottomed, 12-inch skillet over a medium flame, heat a tablespoon of oil and a tablespoon of butter. Drop four (1/4-cup each) pancakes into the pan and flatten with a metal spatula to form four three-inch pancakes. Fry until the bottoms are golden-brown, about 4 minutes, then turn over and fry until brown and crisp, an additional four minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain; season immediately with salt and pepper, then remove from paper towels and keep warm on baking sheets in the oven while making the remaining pancakes.
6. To make the next batch, carefully wipe out the frying pan with paper towels. Add a tablespoon of oil and a tablespoon of butter and fry four more pancakes.

Applesauce:

• Serves 6

Peel, core, and quarter four New York apples, as local as possible. Put them in a saucepan with ¼ cup sugar, juice of a lemon, 4 cloves, and a tablespoon of water. Simmer until the apples are soft. Remove the cloves. Stir in a quarter-cup of butter. Smash applesauce with a potato masher. Feel free to leave some chunks if you prefer it that way.

Christmas: Standing Rib Roast of Beef with Red Wine and Roasted Garlic

• Serves 8
  • 8 pounds standing rib roast (4 ribs)
  • 8 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 heads of garlic
  • 1 bunch of fresh thyme
  • 2 shallots, finely minced
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 ½ cups red wine
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 cups beef stock
  • 1½ tablespoons butter
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In the meantime, put ribs in a roasting pan and rub them all over with olive oil. Cut the tops off two heads of garlic and rub the beef all over with the garlic. Sprinkle the beef with fresh thyme and press to adhere it to the meat. Wrap the heads of garlic with aluminum foil so that they are sealed up well and will stand up in the oven.
2. Roast the beef for 30 minutes, basting occasionally with the fat in the pan.
3. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Add the foil-wrapped garlic to the oven. Roast the garlic and the beef for about an hour and a half, or until the meat registers 145 degrees on a meat thermometer. Transfer to a platter and let rest, loosely tented with foil. Unwrap the garlic and set it aside to cool.
4. Pour off all but three tablespoons of fat from the pan. Place the pan on the stovetop over a medium flame and add the minced shallot. Cook for two minutes. Squeeze out the roasted garlic into the pan. Add the red wine vinegar, red wine, and a bay leaf. Bring to a strong simmer and stir with a wooden spoon until reduced to a half-cup, about six minutes.
5. Stir the beef stock into the sauce and boil down to two cups, about six minutes. Whisk in a tablespoon and a half of butter, and cook about three minutes until it thickens. Strain sauce through a sieve into a clean pan. Season with salt and pepper.

Kwanzaa: Sweet-As-Can-Be Potato Pie:

• Serves 6
  • 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in half
  • 1 basic pie crust
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup condensed milk
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • Whipped cream, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Boil the sweet potatoes until they are completely tender, then mash them and place them in a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix with an electric hand mixer until well blended. Pour into pie crust and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Serve with whipped cream.

Happy New Year Champagne Cocktail:

• Serves 2
  • 2 ounce Absolut Pear vodka
  • 1 ounce vanilla syrup
  • Chilled champagne
  • Vanilla sticks for garnish

Pour the vodka and vanilla syrup into a cocktail shaker. Add a few ice cubes and shake well. Strain into glasses. Top with champagne. Garnish each glass with a stick of fresh vanilla.

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