This feast is the perfect meal to end the year and holiday season. Much easier than it appears, this meal will impress and quench the appetite of any crowd—and it all can be made or prepped a day ahead, leaving you more time to relax and enjoy your special guests. While this spread makes for an especially decadent New Year’s Eve table, this meal could also serve you well for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.
Photo by iStock
CROWN ROAST OF PORK
SERVES 12 OR MORE (DEPENDING ON SIZE OF ROAST)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3–4 cloves garlic, finely minced or grated
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons herbes de Provence
1 crown roast, bound and frenched (see tips below)
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 head of green leaf lettuce, washed and spin-dried
Mix oil, garlic, salt, pepper and herbs together. Rub mixture all over roast, concentrating on areas between the chops. Transfer to roasting pan and cover tightly with foil. Refrigerate overnight. Remove from refrigerator 1 hour before roasting.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Put roast on a rack in the roasting pan, with ribs pointing up. Roast, uncovered, until the internal temperature is 140 F. Start checking temperature at 1 ½ hour into roasting time. (Oven temperatures vary, so make sure you have a backup portable thermometer in your oven to ensure accuracy.) Remove from oven when roast reaches 145 F. Turn oven to 475 F.
Transfer roast to clean baking pan. Pour drippings out of original roasting pan into a skillet or sauté pan. Put roast back into oven, uncovered, for 10 minutes until nicely browned and meat temperature reaches 150 F. Remove from oven, tent and let rest 15–20 minutes while making gravy.
Place sauté pan with drippings over medium heat—there should be 3–4 tablespoons of fat in pan. Drain off any excess. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Whisk in wine and chicken stock and bring to a boil, stirring up brown bits from bottom of pan. Cook until mixture boils and thickens, 2–3 minutes. Pour through a sieve into a clean saucepan and season with salt and pepper. Pour into a gravy server and keep warm until ready to use.
To serve roast, transfer to a large serving platter or cutting board lined with lettuce.
Spoon half of the cranberry pecan cornbread dressing (see recipe below) into the cavity of the crown roast to enhance the presentation. Slice between the ribs to serve pork chops and dressing. Pass the gravy boat.
Chef’s tips:
Crown roast of pork is a pork loin roast consisting of two 8-rib racks tied together in a circle. The hassle-free part of this is that your butcher will do most of the work for you, from tying the roast to frenching the rib bones. “Frenching” is the process of removing the meat from the tips of the rib bones.
A crown roast can be made with more racks to feed more guests, but be aware of how big of a roast your oven will hold.
The one last key to making a good crown roast even better is brining. If you have a container large enough to hold the tied roast, this is a step you will not want to miss. Brining is soaking the roast in a mixture of water, salt, sugar, citrus and herbs.
Cranberry pecan cornbread dressing
Photo by Iuliia Nedrygailova
Serves 10–12
1 8-inch cast-iron skillet of cornbread, crumbled
3–4 cups dry white bread, cubed
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
½ cup canola or vegetable oil, divided
1 ½ cups chopped shallots
1 cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon ground sage
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 large eggs
2 cups chicken stock (more if needed)
1 cup chopped toasted pecans
1 cup dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine cornbread and bread in a very large mixing bowl. Heat 6 tablespoons butter and ¼ cup oil in a large sauté pan/skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and celery and sauté until soft. Let cool slightly and add to cornbread mixture. Add parsley, thyme, sage, salt and black pepper and toss. Add eggs and toss again lightly. Add enough chicken broth to moisten (moist but not “runny”). Fold in pecans and cranberries enough to incorporate all ingredients, but do not overmix.
Spoon into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish—do not pack. Dot top with remaining 2 tablespoons butter, and drizzle lightly with remaining oil. (At this point, you can refrigerate and bake the next day—a great make-ahead option.) Bake, uncovered, for approximately 45 minutes or until slightly brown on top. Remove from oven, tent with foil and keep warm. To serve, spoon half of the dressing into the cavity of the crown roast to enhance the presentation, and serve the rest in a smaller serving dish on the side.
Haricots verts (French green beans) with caramelized shallots
Photo by Iuliia Nedrygailova
1 ½ pounds haricots verts, ends trimmed
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter
2–3 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon all-purpose seasoning
Squeeze lemon juice, optional
Lemon zest, optional
Blanch beans in a large pot of boiling salted water, over medium-high heat, for 1 ½ minutes. Alternately, beans may be steamed instead of boiled. Drain immediately and immerse in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Set aside until ready to finish preparation. This step can be done a day ahead. Store beans in fridge in a zip-top bag.
Heat oil and butter in a very large sauté pan or cast-iron skillet over medium heat and sauté the shallots for 5 to 10 minutes, tossing occasionally until lightly browned. Add beans to the shallots and add seasoning and the optional lemon juice and zest. Stir and heat only until beans are hot.
Chef’s tips:
Haricots verts versus traditional green beans. Haricots verts are simply a different variety of green beans. They are long, thin, more tender and cook in much less time than it takes to cook traditional green beans.
If using traditional green beans, blanch beans for 3 minutes, and use yellow onions instead of shallots.
Fig cheesecake with lemon honey fig sauce
Photo by Gina Moore
Serves 10–12
Crust
1 ¾ cup graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup dried figs, stemmed and chopped
Filling
24 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh squeezed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Coulis
½ cup water
½ cup honey
1/3 cup lemon juice, fresh squeezed
2 teaspoons arrowroot or cornstarch mixed with 1 teaspoon water
1 ½ cup dried figs, stemmed and quartered or sliced
Preheat oven to 350 F. Wrap the bottom and outside of a 9-inch springform pan with foil.
In a medium bowl, blend graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar and press into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the figs over the crust.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually add sugar, then add in eggs one at a time. Add lemon zest, juice and vanilla, and beat until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan. Place cheesecake pan in another larger pan and place in preheated oven. Fill the larger pan halfway with hot water. Bake for 60–70 minutes or until slightly firm in the center. Turn off oven, leaving door ajar about 8 inches, and allow to cool in oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven and cool completely in pan. Chill in refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, remove sides of pan and place on a large serving plate.
In a small saucepan, combine water, honey and lemon juice and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add arrowroot or cornstarch mixture and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and let cool. Arrange figs on top of cheesecake and drizzle on the sauce.
Chef’s tips:
Using dried figs versus fresh figs. When using dried figs, simmer briefly, 10–15 minutes, in water, wine or a liqueur and allow to soak until soft. Drain and discard water.