Yesterday we had the much anticipated family Christmas Eve dinner which is a tradition in our household. For the past many years, it has been our tradition to have roast chicken on a bed of vegetables. I look forward to it every year. It is always delicious! But this year was especially good.
There are many side dishes as well, but the main star of the dinner is the roast chicken. This year, my brother took over the roast chicken and made it loosely based on a recipe. He salted the chicken and brushed the skin with olive oil and it roasted to perfection in the oven. The skin was delicious and quite crispy! And the whole chicken was tender and not dry at all!
I ate the chicken breast and it tasted like thigh... I kid you not! It was so soft and cooked through. And the gravy made with the juices from the chicken was thickened with some flour and a splash of sherry. It was so good.
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| The soft chicken |
Ok, so if the chicken is the star, there are many other supporting roles which make the dinner a feast. Below from the top left going clockwise they are grapes, persimmon and cherries; potato gratin; gravy; salad with homemade vinegar dressing; guacamole and chips; and the roast vegetables that were cooked with the chicken. Awesome!
I made the guacamole from avacado, tomatoes, onions and lemon juice. So you can see my work below. It was made from 2 avacados we bought from a night market. It turned out nice. Nice dip.
Let's talk about the potato gratin. There are 3 layers of sliced potatoes, each separated by a generous sprinkle of cheese. Heavy cream is poured on top and it is topped with a thick layer of even more cheese! It was really creamy to say the least! My brother was freaked out by the amount of cheese in there but it turned out really good.
For dessert (of course there would be dessert) we had, clockwise from top left, fruitcake and sugee cake, the cheesecake I made (see earlier post), and my brother's bread pudding. My brother said this was the first dessert he has ever made! It turned out great for a first try! The bread was really nicely mushed up and it was a great dessert.
Overall it was a great feast and it was just like every other year... awesome... I love the fact that we get to cook together and eat together.
My family doesn't do presents. We stopped doing that since we became adults. Haha. I like the fact that we don't do presents as I am trying to be a minimalist. But my aunt gave us some presents and they were really thoughtful. I like them and it's no harm to get a few presents. Below are the presents. For my parents my aunt gave an aloe vera, cranberry and apple drink. It was really tasty. And for me I got The Body Shop's honey body butter and hand cream.
Anyway, I had a nice Christmas Eve and hope the holiday season goes well. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!Labels: celebration, dinner, home cooking
