Holiday How-To: A Weekend Full of Fine Dining

Gourmet cook Tarla Fallgatter of Newport Beach created the menus for a weekend filled with easy holiday meals. Plan to prepare as many dishes ahead as possible, especially for the most lavish meal, Christmas dinner on Sunday. All recipes serve 8. Bon appetit!

BEEF AND VEGETABLES FOR STIR-FRY AND CHINESE BURRITOS

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds flank steak, cut against the grain into thin slices

Marinade

Vegetable mixture

Fresh Chinese noodles (lo mein is available in most grocery stores)

Sauce (for burritos)

12 flour tortillas (for burritos)

Marinade

3 teaspoons mushroom soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons dry sherry

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 drop hot chili oil (optional)

Vegetable Mixture

4 1/2 green onions, diagonally cut (set aside)

3/4 cup broccoli flowerettes, steamed and sliced

1/2 cup jicama, peeled and cut into julienne strips

1 1/2 carrots, striped with a zester

1/2 cup snow peas, blanched and cut into 3 slices each

1/2 cup bean sprouts

3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

3 thin slices fresh ginger, finely minced

3 tablespoons peanut oil

Sauce (for burritos)

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon dry sherry

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon imported sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon white sugar

1/4 teaspoon hot chili oil (or to taste)

2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons cold water (optional thickener)

Preparation

Mix meat with marinade. Prepare all vegetables and seasonings for the vegetable mixture. Mix together the sauce ingredients for Saturday’s burritos and refrigerate.

Heat a fry pan or wok on high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the peanut oil and stir-fry the meat until it loses its raw color. Remove meat to platter and keep warm. Return pan to high heat and add remaining tablespoon of peanut oil until hot. Add garlic and ginger and fry 2 minutes, then add all vegetables except green onions and stir-fry until they are heated but still crisp. Stir in the green onions and pour the sauce in with cornstarch/water mixture. Serve with fresh Chinese noodles. Refrigerate remaining stir-fry for burritos.

CHINESE BURRITOS

Heat flour tortillas until warm. Spread each with small amount of sauce mixture. Top with remaining stir-fry from night before and wrap like a burrito. Serve spread with a little more sauce mixture and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

LEMON CURD CAKE

Ingredients

4 eggs, separated

Pinch salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 cup cream

Lemon curd (recipe below--or can be purchased at most grocery stores)

Sifted powdered sugar

Raspberry puree (recipe below)

Mint leaves

Parchment paper

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat yolks and sugar until thick and light-colored. In another bowl, beat egg whites with pinch of salt until they hold stiff peaks, and beat in lemon juice and peel. Add one-fourth of the egg whites to the yolk mixture and fold them in gently but thoroughly. Pour yolk mixture onto the remaining whites and sift the flour over the mixture. Fold mixture together gently until there are no traces of white. Line a jelly roll pan with a piece of parchment paper and spread the batter evenly in the pan. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool, remove from pan turning top side down onto a towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. Remove parchment paper.

Whip the cream and fold two-thirds of the lemon curd into it. Spread remaining third of the lemon curd on cake, top with the cream/lemon curd mixture and roll up, using the towel to help. Dust the top with sifted powdered sugar.

Slice cake, place on plate, spooning some raspberry puree around slice. Garnish with mint leaves.

Lemon Curd

4 large eggs

1 1/4 cups sugar

Zest of two lemons

6 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

Dash lemon food coloring (optional)

Process eggs, sugar and zest in food processor fitted with a metal blade for 1 minute. Add the butter and process 1 minute more. Add lemon juice and salt and process 10 seconds. Put mixture in a heavy 2-quart pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon just until mixture starts to boil and coats the spoon. Strain and chill well.

Raspberry Puree

1 basket fresh raspberries or 1 small package of frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed

Sugar to taste (about one tablespoon)

Framboise, Chambord or Kirsch liqueur (optional)

Puree raspberries and sugar to taste in a food processor. Add liqueur, if desired, and puree until smooth. Strain through sieve.

BREAKFAST FRITTATA

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons chopped onion

8 eggs

1/2 cup milk

Dash of freshly ground white pepper

8 slices of bacon

2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese

Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in 10-inch oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute until softened. Remove from heat and spread onions evenly over bottom of skillet. Beat eggs with milk and pepper in medium bowl. Pour over onion mixture in skillet. Arrange bacon on top and sprinkle with cheese. Transfer to oven and bake until cheese is melted and eggs are fluffy, about 15 minutes. Season with salt to taste. Cut in wedges and serve.

SPICY SHRIMP ON BAMBOO SKEWERS

Ingredients

1 3/4 pounds large raw shrimp

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon finely minced garlic

2 tablespoons finely minced shallots

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons lemon juice, or more to taste

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander

Peel and de-vein shrimp. Melt butter with oil over low heat. Add garlic and shallots and saute for 2 minutes without browning. Add shrimp, increase heat slightly and cook shrimp for 3 minutes or until just done to taste. Add salt and pepper to taste and toss well. Remove to a bowl, scraping in all the sauce. Add lemon juice and coriander; toss together well. Cover and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours before serving. Serve on bamboo skewers on buffet table.

PUFFS FILLED WITH CREAMED MUSHROOMS

Puffs

1/2 cup sweet butter

1 cup boiling water

1 cup sifted unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

Melt butter in boiling water. Add flour and salt all at once; stir vigorously. Cook, stirring constantly, till mixture forms a ball that doesn’t separate. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Add eggs, one at a time, beating vigorously after each until smooth. Drop dough by heaping tablespoons 3 inches apart on greased cookie sheet.

Bake in very hot oven (450 degrees) 15 minutes, then in slow oven (325 degrees) for 25 minutes. Remove cream puffs from oven; slice off tops. Turn oven off and put cream puffs back in oven to dry out, about 20 minutes. Cool on rack.

Just before serving, fill centers with creamed mushrooms. Makes about 10 large puffs.

Creamed Mushrooms

1 1/2 pounds white mushrooms

2 medium green onions

4 tablespoons butter or margarine

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon dry sherry

1/2 cup half-and-half

Remove stems from mushrooms. Slice mushrooms. Cut green onions into 1-inch pieces. In 10-inch skillet over medium heat, cook mushrooms, green onions, salt and pepper in hot butter or margarine until mushrooms are tender (about 10 minutes), stirring often.

In cup, stir flour and sherry until blended. Gradually stir half-and-half and sherry mixture into mushroom mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, until mushroom mixture is boiling and slightly thickened.

MUSHROOM ROULADE

Souffle

1 1/4 cup Swiss cheese, grated

1 cup whole milk, heated to boiling

4 eggs, separated, the whites stiffly beaten

7 tablespoons butter

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

3 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons melted butter

Melt 5 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in flour until blended. Return to heat and cook slowly until thickened. Remove from heat and add hot milk, whisking until smooth. Return to heat and bring to boil, simmer about 3 minutes or until thickened, season with salt and pepper to taste. Let cool.

Add yolks one by one to the milk mixture, stirring well after each addition. Add all but 2 tablespoons of cheese and gently fold in egg whites. Spread mixture in buttered jellyroll pan that has been lined with waxed paper, keeping mixture in a uniform layer. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 15 minutes or until puffed and golden. Let cool.

Cover mixture with towel and flip onto flat surface. Remove pan and paper and roll up the long way. Set on a rack to cool.

Filling

1 cup shrimp, cooked and cut into pieces

1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced

2 shallots, minced

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup vermouth

1 cup cream

2 tablespoons fresh basil, minced

Salt to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Melt butter and add shallots. Saute until soft. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper, and cook over high heat until soft. Add vermouth and cook until evaporated, then add cream and cook until thickened. Stir in shrimp, fresh basil, salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble . . .

Unfold souffle roll, spread with filling, roll up and place seam side down on a cookie sheet. Melt remaining butter and spoon over souffle roll and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Return to 350-degree oven to reheat. Let cool slightly, then slice. Serve warm or at room temperature.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

Ingredients

1 2-pound butternut squash

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 1/2 ounces butter

4 cups stock

Salt to taste

Freshly ground white pepper to taste

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 cup cream

Croutons

1 ounce freshly grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

Finely chopped Italian parsley

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake squash in shallow baking pan in center of oven until tip of a knife easily penetrates skin, about one hour. Remove from oven, cut in half lengthwise and cool to room temperature.

Cook onions in butter, over low heat, partially covered, until soft, about 15 minutes. Stir often. Remove seeds from the squash and scoop out the pulp. Puree the pulp and onions with the metal blade, about 1 minute. Whisk puree into the stock and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Add cream and season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg. (If making in advance, add cream just before heating and serving.) Serve hot with croutons, Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.

ROASTED CHATEAUBRIAND WITH TWO SAUCES

Ingredients

2 2-to- 2 1/2-pound beef tenderloins, trimmed

3 tablespoons peanut oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush meat with oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Place on a rack over a baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes or until browned. Turn heat to 400 degrees and bake until an instant-read thermometer registers 120 degrees for medium rare (about 40 minutes). Turn oven off, open door and let meat rest 15 minutes before slicing. Arrange slices on warm platter and serve sauces separately.

Fresh Boggs Cranberry Sauce

2 shallots, minced

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup Boggs cranberry liqueur

3/4 cup cream

2 tablespoons fresh cranberry sauce, pureed

3 basil leaves, cut in julienne strips (optional)

Saute the shallots in butter until soft. Add cranberry liqueur and heat until reduced to 2 tablespoons. Add cream and reduce to thicken. Stir in cranberry sauce and strain. If desired, stir in julienne of basil. Salt and pepper to taste.

Cognac-Mustard Sauce

2 shallots, minced

1 tablespoon butter

1/3 cup cognac

2/3 cup beef or chicken stock

3/4 cup cream

2 tablespoons grainy-type mustard

1 tablespoon Italian parsley, minced

Salt, freshly ground pepper to taste

Saute the shallots in butter until soft. Add cognac and heat until reduced to 2 tablespoons. Add stock and reduce to 3 tablespoons. Add cream and reduce to thicken. Off the heat, whisk in mustard, Italian parsley, salt and pepper to taste.

CHOCOLATE CHESTNUT BUCHE de NOEL

Ingredients

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut in pieces

3 tablespoons milk

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons dark rum

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 stick plus 3 tablespoons butter, softened

2 15 1/2-ounce cans unsweetened chestnut puree (in gourmet section of most grocery stores)

Green almond paste, formed into holly leaf shapes

Red almond paste, rolled into holly berries

1 cup heavy cream, whipped with sugar and rum to taste

Combine the chocolate and milk in top of a double boiler and stir until chocolate is melted. Add half the sugar and stir to dissolve. Add rum and vanilla and let mixture come to room temperature.

Cream with butter and add remaining sugar until fluffy. Add chocolate mixture and chestnut puree and beat until smooth. Transfer to large piece of foil. Shape into 10-inch log and chill covered overnight.

Transfer log carefully to a large platter. Decorate with whipped cream, almond paste leaves and berries.