Give your holiday meal a new twist this year

 

Holiday meals are special and deserve an entree that can truly be called a centerpiece.

Turkeys, crown roasts and prime rib are just a few of the traditional main courses served during the holidays.

This year, think outside the box. Try something new, or just find a new way to prepare your old favorite. Even just using a different gravy or stuffing can add a new twist to the traditional family meal.

Instead of a turkey, try Cornish hens to give everyone their own little chicken, or maybe a roast duck. Instead of a pork roast, try thick chops with a fruit chutney.

Beef tenderloin is tasty, but so are short ribs served with a special sauce. Or make the tenderloin, but serve it with a wine or mustard-cream sauce.

Or give seafood a try, perhaps a tasty shrimp dish or a piece of salmon or other fish.

Accompany the entree with traditional side dishes, add a glass of wine and top off the meal with a dessert — anything from a simple plate of cookies to a tasty pie or cheesecake — and you can create a new tradition.

But remember, it’s not what you serve but who you enjoy it with. Relax and enjoy your holiday meal with your family.

Following are a few ideas from www.foodnetwork.com.

 

Creamy Lobster Linguine

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 slices bacon, chopped 

3 shallots, minced 

2 cloves garlic, chopped 

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

2 cups tomato puree 

1/4 cup cream 

1 pound linguine 

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more 1 cup baby arugula, roughly chopped 

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped 

1/4 cup fresh tarragon leaves, roughly chopped 

1 cup frozen peas, thawed 

2 1-1/2-pound lobsters, steamed, meat removed 

Heat a large straight-sided skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and bacon and cook eight minutes, until bacon begins to crisp. Add shallots, garlic and red pepper flakes and cook three minutes, until fragrant. Add salt, tomato puree and cream. Stir to combine, reduce heat to low and simmer five minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook linguine one minute less than package instructions. Using tongs, remove pasta from the water and add to the pan with the sauce. Sprinkle cheese on the naked pasta and toss to coat. Add as much as one cup pasta water to loosen the sauce as needed. Stir in arugula, basil, tarragon, peas and lobster meat. Simmer one minute, until everything is heated through. Serve with additional Parmesan if desired.

 

Mushroom-Stuffed Pork Roulade

7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound wild mushrooms, such as oyster and/or hen of the woods, trimmed and sliced

1 small head garlic, minced

Kosher salt 

Freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme, plus 2 sprigs

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary, plus 1 sprig

3-1/3 to 4 pound center-cut boneless pork loin roast

1/4 cup dry sherry

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook two minutes, undisturbed, until they start browning. Stir and continue cooking four to five minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Push mushrooms to one side of the skillet. Add one tablespoon olive oil and garlic to the other side of the skillet and cook 30 seconds, stirring occasionally, until softened. Stir garlic into mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Let cool.

Combine parsley, chopped thyme and rosemary, three tablespoons olive oil and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.

Butterfly pork by positioning knife about one-third of the way up the length of the pork loin, parallel to the cutting board. Cut into the pork, pulling meat away with your other hand so it opens up into a flat, evenly thick piece. Season with salt and pepper, spread herb oil over the top and top with mushrooms. Reroll the pork into a log and tie at one-inch intervals using kitchen twine. Season with salt and pepper. 

Set a rack in a large roasting pan. Heat remaining olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork, fat-side down, and cook three minutes, until browned. Cook one to two minutes, turning, until browned all over. Transfer pork, seam-side down, to the rack in the pan. Roast on the lower rack of a 350-degree oven 60  to 75 minutes, until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat, not the filling, registers 135 degrees. 

Transfer pork on the rack to a cutting board, tent with foil and let rest 30 minutes. 

Skim any excess fat from the juices in the roasting pan and add sherry. Place pan across two burners set to medium-high heat. Add thyme and rosemary sprigs and cook one minute, scraping up any browned bits with a wooden spoon and stirring, until the liquid is reduced by about half. Pour into a small saucepan, add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook four to five minutes, until slightly reduced. Stir in butter and season with salt. Strain sauce through a fine-mesh sieve. 

Place pork on a cutting board and remove twine. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Transfer to a platter and serve with sauce.

 

Prime Rib

1 4-bone prime rib, bones and excess fat removed and reserved

4 teaspoons kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

4 cloves garlic, unpeeled, smashed

4 ounces arugula, optional

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, optional

Liberally season prime rib with salt and some pepper and refrigerate overnight.

An hour before cooking, remove roast from the refrigerator to come to room temperature.

Put reserved rib bones in a roasting pan, bowed-side up. Scatter any fat and meat trimmings in the pan around the bones. Roast in a 400-degree oven about 30 minutes, until fat starts to render.

Remove from oven, put rosemary sprigs on top of the bones, then top with prime rib. Put smashed garlic in the bottom of the pan with the trimmings. Baste beef with fat drippings and return to the oven. Roast 30 minutes, then baste roast.

Reduce heat to 350 degrees and cook one hour, 15 minutes, basting every 30 minutes, until meat is medium rare (an internal temperature of 125 degrees to 130 degrees). 

Place roast on a cutting board to rest, uncovered, 20 minutes. Slice to the desired thickness and garnish with arugula and olive oil.

 

Roast Pork Loin

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped

One 3 to 3-1/2-pound boneless pork loin roast, string removed

Kosher salt 

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 medium red onions, cut through the core into 8 intact wedges

2 cups hard apple cider

7 ounces mixed dried fruit or 1/4 cup each dried apples, dried apricots, dried pears, prunes and golden raisins

Stir mustard and thyme in a small bowl. Season pork all over with a generous amount of salt and pepper, then rub top with mustard-thyme mixture, leaving the bottom and sides bare.

Heat oil in a large, ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook two minutes, undisturbed, until dark golden brown in spots. Turn onion wedges over and cook two minutes. Add cider, stirring to scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom of the skillet. Scatter dried fruit evenly in skillet and remove from the heat.

Put the roast in skillet, mustard-side up, then bake in a 400-degree oven one hour, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the middle of the roast reads 145 to 150 degrees. Transfer roast to a cutting board, tent with foil and let rest 15 minutes. 

Cut roast into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Season pan sauce, onions and dried fruit with salt and pepper and serve with pork.

 

Millionaire’s Ham

8 to-10-pound bone-in, fully-cooked ham

3-1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

1-3/4 cups orange juice

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Kosher salt 

Freshly ground black pepper

With fatty side facing down, use a sharp knife to cut 3/4-inch long diagonal lines about 1-inch deep all over the surface of the ham. Working in the opposite direction, cut more 3/4-inch long and 1-inch deep diagonal lines to create diamond shapes. 

Turn ham over so fatty side faces up. Create the same diamond shape, placing any pieces of ham that fall off back onto the ham. Place ham, fatty-side up, on a rack lined with foil in a foil-lined roasting pan. Bake in a 350-degree oven for two hours, rotating pan halfway through, until warm in the center and the fat starts to crisp. 

Mix three cups sugar, 3/4 cup orange juice, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, one tablespoon salt and one teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Remove ham from the oven and brush one-third of the glaze all over the ham. Bake ham 20 minutes. Brush with another third of the glaze and bake 20 minutes more. Brush remaining glaze over the ham and cook 30 minutes, until glaze is shiny and skin is dark golden brown and crispy. 

Mix remaining sugar, one cup orange juice, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper and a generous amount of pepper in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook seven to eight minutes, stirring frequently, until sugar is dissolved and the sauce has reduced by about half. Remove from oven and rest 15 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board. Slice and serve with sauce on the side. 

 

Pomegranate-Glazed Christmas Ribs

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons chili powder

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Kosher salt 

Freshly ground black pepper

2 racks baby back ribs

3/4 cup pomegranate molasses

1 cup pomegranate juice

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 jalapeño, thinly sliced

1/2 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds

Combine dark brown sugar, chili powder, allspice, cayenne, smoked paprika, one tablespoon salt and a generous amount of black pepper in a medium bowl.

Brush ribs all over with 1/4 cup pomegranate molasses. Sprinkle evenly with spice mixture, pressing it over both sides of the ribs. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours and preferably overnight.

Place pomegranate juice, balsamic vinegar and jalapeño in a roasting pan. Place ribs on top and tightly cover roasting pan with foil. Bake in a 250-degree oven 1-1/2 to two hours, until ribs are juicy and tender and the meat easily pulls away when pierced with a fork.

Set ribs on a baking sheet to rest about 30 minutes. 

Place roasting pan over two stove burners over medium-high heat. Add ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and remaining pomegranate molasses and whisk to combine. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until reduced by half and thick like syrup.

Brush ribs with 1/2 cup barbecue sauce. Broil ribs on an oven rack in the top third of the oven for three to five minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through if necessary, until nicely caramelized.

Slice ribs and transfer to a serving platter. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and serve with remaining barbecue sauce on the side.

 

Shrimp Scampi

1 pound jumbo shrimp, shelled and deveined

Kosher salt 

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/4 cup dry white vermouth

1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest plus 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 teaspoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

Put shrimp on a large disposable pie pan or paper plate and pat completely dry with a paper towel. Arrange so shrimp lay flat and are evenly spaced.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Season shrimp with salt and pepper. Add butter to the skillet. When foaming subsides, raise heat to high and invert the plate of shrimp over the skillet, allowing shrimp to fall into the pan. Cook one minute without moving shrimip. Add garlic and cook one minute. Turn shrimp over and cook two minutes. Transfer shrimp to a bowl.

Return skillet to the heat and pour in vermouth and lemon juice. Boil 30 seconds, until slightly thickened. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Stir lemon zest and parsley into the sauce. Pour sauce over the shrimp, season with salt and pepper to taste and toss to combine.

Divide the shrimp among plates or arrange on a platter and serve.