Winter Holiday Entrees and Sides

[Angharad]

Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas (Yule for Wiccans) all have such traditional recipes and flavor profiles. Of course, they vary from culture to culture and family to family. Please post entrees or side dishes that your family looks forward to on the holiday table. And, if you have any tradition or story which goes with the recipe, we'd love to hear it!

[Angharad]

Here's an easy condiment which my mom made before every Thanksgiving and Christmas--and boy did it make the house smell good. We usually had a dollop of cranberry sauce and half a peach with our savory entree. 

M'Dear's Spiced Peaches

• 1 large can (27-29 ounces) Freestone or Cling peach halves with heavy syrup
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 2 whole sticks cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon whole allspice
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Drain the peach juice into a deep saucepan. Set peaches aside. 

Add the rest of the ingredients to the juice and boil for 5 minutes.

Add peaches into boiled syrup. Simmer for 5 minutes. (If you want a double batch, you may add another can of peaches to the boiled syrup, but they must be drained first. Don't add any more liquid.) 

Let cool on the stove, then pour into glass container and refrigerate overnight, at least. Several days is better. When ready to serve, remove peaches from liquid with a slotted spoon and place in serving dish.

[Layla]

This sounds like something I would love.

[Layla]

Great idea to have recipe categories instead of separate posts for each recipe.

My daughter likes to make cranberry compote for the holidays. It was always a side at the meal but at thanksgiving I included it with breakfast and found the addition of a fruit based side was very refreshing.

Cranberry Compote

1 bag of fresh cranberries

one or two large dice apples (skin on)

the zest and juice of 1 orange

a generous handful of walnut pieces

sugar to taste

Cook down the cranberries until they pop and soften slightly

add the other ingredients continue cooking just until everybody gets to know each other. The apples and walnuts should maintain their texture.

Chill and serve cold

[Angharad]

Looks delicious, Layla!! I love sour-ish fruit concoctions with savory things. I'll try this sometime! 

My mom's father was English, and we had many traditional British foods around as a child. Your recipe sounds very much like a plum conserve which my mom made. The only real differences are the cranberries instead of plums, of course, and the conserve was cooked down until it was a jam (conserve). 

[Aggie]

Hasenpfeffer (German Rabbit Stew) Recipe

Ingredients:

4 lb Rabbit
1 1/2 c Dry red wine
3/4 c Cider vinegar
2 ts Salt; optional
1/2 ts Freshly ground black pepper
1 Bay leaf
1/2 c Onions; chopped
1 tb Mixed pickling spice
1/2 c Flour
4 tb Butter
1 c Onions; thinly sliced
2 tb Sugar
1/2 c Sour cream

Directions:

Cut rabbit in serving-sized pieces. Wash, scrape, and soak in salted cold water for 1 hour. Drain and dry.
In a glass or pottery bowl mix together the wine, vinegar, salt, pepper, bay leaf, chopped onions, and pickling spice. Add the rabbit and let marinate in the refirgerator for 3 days. Turn the pieces occasinally. Drain the rabbit; strain and reserve the marinade. Dry the rabbit with paper towels and roll in flour.

Melt butter in a Dutch oven or deep heavy skillet; brown the rabbit and sliced onions in it. Pour off fat and add sugar and 1-1/2 cups marinade. Cover and cook over low heat 1-1/2 hours or until rabbit is tender. Turn the pieces occasionally and add more marinade if needed. Taste for seasoning. Mix the sour cream into the gravy just before serving.

[Angharad]

Thanks, Aggie! Nice traditional German entree with that classic slightly sweet/sour flavor. Do you serve it with spätzle? 

[Aggie]

ya

[Aggie]

PrunellaFarquar Chili
I use stock, but a little beer in there sounds good. There's no law against doing a little doctoring...its just that beans and ground beef sound a little extreme to me.
Prunella Farquar's Texas Chili
2 lbs lean beef, chunked
1 lb pork, chunked
1/2 tsp ground cumin seed
2 onions chopped
7 cloves of garlic
4-6 Tabs bacon fat
2 cups mighty fine beef stock
1 cup chopped canned tomatoes
6 -10 Tabs of chili powder (However hot you like it)
2 Tabs flour
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried basil
In heavy chili pot, brown the meat, onions and garlic in hot bacon fat. Add boiling beef stock and tomatoes and bring again to a boil. Cover and simmer very gently for about an hour. Blend chili powder and flour in a little hot liquid from the pot and then add this back to the pot along with the remaining seasonings. Continue gentle simmering until the meat is tender and the chili thickened.
You may want to keep your beer ice cold and have it handy.