This is a group project.  What are your 10 favorite eats from this Christmas Holiday?

Here are mine, in no order necessarily. I should mention that I journey to Milwaukee every year for a five day stint with my large Polish extended family.  The holiday involves Bowling at 9am on December 24th and drinking the obligatory shorty beers that only seem to inhabit the south side, many vodka tonics and a fare amount of meat, herring and sweet pastries.  So, with out further ado, here we go.

1. My once-a-year Polish Sausage on Christmas Eve
2. Malpeque Oysters at Maxie’s Southern Comfort Restaurant and Bar in Milwaukee
3. Prime Rib at Bluemound Country Club on Christmas Day
4. Artichoke salad with Arugula, red pepper and sun dried tomatoes
5. Milwaukee-Style Chocolate Custard
6. Creamed Herring
7. Cranberry-Almond Biscotti (I made this one!)
8. Duck Breast with dried cherries
9. Copious amounts of Peel-and-eat Shrimp with homemade cocktail sauce
10. Pan Fried Lake Trout

This was a wonderful Christmas.  I hope that yours has been equally as satisfying. I’ve returned home and how its time to kick into New Years: we’re having a huge bash, and I’m making stew! More on that later….

While Christmas posts will abound soon, I wanted to share this little gem with you. Pomegranate Ice Cream

I’ve been privileged to grow up next to the best ice cream in the entire universe. Sebastian Joe’s is the tastiest vanilla, my mother is an addict, and I consider it the best base for extrapolation. So naturally, I called them to figure out whether or not to use eggs, egg yolks or no eggs at all for the base of my  Pomegranate ice creams for Thanksgiving.  The verdict: whole eggs.

I’ve made many a quart using Mark Bittman’s Basic French Recipe, which yields a rich and smooth flavor.  I’m curious to see what happens when the whites are included. There is also the Basic Philadelphia style, which has no eggs at all, but that is for another day. 

This had to be one of the best ever. I boiled down pom juice to a thickened syrup, with a little less than a cup of sugar to two cups juice and added it to the custard as it turned in the machine–way good. By brother actually put down his spoon, looked me in the eye and asked: “Ellie, what is this!?! I love it!”  That’s the greatest compliment ever. He’s a tough ice cream judge.

I wrote about the health benefits on an earlier post, but I had to share this recipe.  I used a rough version of the POM Wonderful recipe, but didn’t add nearly as much sugar.  Using my own base custard and ommiting the nuts gave a smooth, silky and intense taste.

Photo curtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/hsquaredthefoodie/2886353002/

It seems to me that there is never a wrong time to make an angel food cake.  In the summer the light, air texture fits the warm breezes and perfectly ripe berries, and in the winter its tender powder white crumb goes tuxedo with chocolate sauce. And near Christmas? A prefect moment for an angel.

First, a pause to address my blogging absence. Apologies for my lack of postings.  The end of the term got busy, busy, busy (though this is no excuse for not sharing my Thanksgiving day post.) Thanks for sticking with me, its much a appreciated.

Now back to the cake.  I adore the eggy angel food cake. I made it this year on my father’s birthday, a man who must vigilantly monitor his cholesterol, but has a pension for cookies of any kind. With no egg yolks and no fat, this was the perfect birthday treat (and lest the day go un-indulged, we added chocolate gelato, raspberries and whipped cream!).

As usual, here’s a little history and a little science.   Though its often overlooked now, this cake was wildly popular in the 1870’s because it was a favorite First Lady Lucy Hayes (wife of Rutherford B).  The cake’s origin is shrouded in questionable information but the story goes that a family from Atlantic City moved opened a boarding house along the Hudson Valley and met a man who gave them the recipe which he got from another friend who’d traveled in India.  He said, she said? I think so. Well, in any event, I’m pleased it made it here.

There are six ingredients in every angel food cake recipe: egg whites, cream of tartar, sugar, flour, salt and flavorings (vanilla, orange, almond other extract), and each do their part. Whipping egg whites can be intimidating, and since the air beaten into the whites is the only leavening agent, this step is vital to get right.   Cream of tartar’s acidic quality helps stabilize the egg whites and is added just as the whites are getting foamy in the whipping process.   When they look like soft, light, clouds, the sugar is added. The sugar gives body to the whites, and when the whites have turned shiny and hold stiff peaks, the whipping is done.  Then any flavor can be added, mixing just enough to incorporate. Then they look like this–>

Finally, the meager amount of flour is sifted over the top of the whites and folded in to finish the batter.  Check here for some good ideas.

I was really happy with the result I got on Sunday.  The texture was little bit more moist than I was expecting, but this only enhanced the deliciousness.  This cake has so many virtues, heathy, taste, and angelic.  I’m going to try some fun things with it next time, I’m thinking tie-dye. Oh, one last thought, save the egg yolks for a homemade ice cream or feed them to your dog.  My golden retreiver knows the sound of eggs cracking…..