Holiday Cooking : A Dickens of a Dinner

Alongside the thin gruel of “Oliver Twist” and Miss Havisham’s “Great Expectations” wedding cake, some of the most striking food images in the novels of Charles Dickens are, of course, the lush Christmas feasts. In “A Christmas Carol,” for instance, Dickens’ picture of the Cratchit family enjoying a holiday dinner in early Victorian London is, as “The Literary Gourmet” author Linda Wolfe puts it, “perhaps the most famous dinner scene in literature.”

In Dickens’ day, Christmas was a day when even the poorest families could justify luxuries, and their tables were loaded with food. The bird was considered the greatest extravagance, never mind that it was small and found at a bargain price.

“Bob said he didn’t believe there ever was such a goose cooked,” wrote Dickens of beleaguered clerk, Bob Cratchit. “Its tenderness and flavour, size and cheapness, were the themes of universal admiration. Eked out by the apple-sauce and mashed potatoes, it was a sufficient dinner for the whole family.”

The Christmas feast is celebrated at the start of another Dickens novel, “Great Expectations.” In it Mr. and Mrs. Joe Gargery are hosts to Mr. Wopsle, Mr. and Mrs. Hubble, Uncle Pumblechook and Pip. The splendid dinner consists of a leg of pickled pork and greens, two roast stuffed fowls, mince pie and pudding. Pip smuggled away the prized savory pork pie, as readers know, to feed the escaped convict.

Historical menus of Dickens’ time show that celebratory dinners were often heavy on meat like poultry, game, suckling pig, partridge cutlets, mutton, roast beef and turkey, while they were light on vegetables. They went on for course after course after course.

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A modern version of a Dickens’ holiday menu has been served up for the last four Christmases in Bernard’s, the lavish dining room in downtown Los Angeles’ Biltmore Hotel. Executive Chef Roger Pigozzi says the annual Dickensian bill of fare was offered because it felt right in the elegant old hotel, parts of which still have its original 1923 decor. Since this is a place where oyster forks, confiture spoons and elaborate service rituals are the order of the day, Pigozzi made his Dickensian menu much more luxurious than the Cratchit’s dinner, though he says the spirit is much the same.

“The dinner in ‘A Christmas Carol’ was one of poverty, but it was quite lavish in its own way because of the chestnuts, the goose and particularly the fresh fruit, which was quite difficult to get,” he explains. “When you read (the story), you see how opulent it was.

“In their day, people spent more than their means on Christmas. It was a treat. It was not frivolous, like having a car that’s too expensive in your driveway. It was considered a justified expense.”

Pigozzi’s menu, which is mostly authentic, but includes some non-Dickensian twists (pine nuts, for instance), reads this way: rich, buttery oyster stew and winter salad with pine nuts, followed by either roasted goose with lingonberry sauce, braised loin of venison, beef Wellington or white fish baked with bread crumb-and-shallot crust. Dense English plum pudding (a good recipe ran in Thursday’s Food Section, Dec. 16) is served with both hard sauce and Devonshire cream. After, Stilton cheese infused with Port wine arrives with water crackers and tangerines.

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To serve a Christmas dinner more like what the Cratchits served, Pigozzi offers the following tips: The goose can be stuffed and roasted as the recipe below indicates. With it, whip up mashed potatoes with butter and cream. Applesauce can be garnished with prunes or raisins. When roasting chestnuts, always remember to score each with an X first, or the nuts will explode over the fire.

OYSTER STEW

1 large shallot, minced

1 tablespoon sweet butter

12 large oysters, shucked, with juice

4 cups whipping cream

Salt

White pepper

Chopped parsley or paprika, optional

Saute shallot in butter until transparent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add oysters and their juice and saute over medium heat until oysters are plump, 8 to 10 minutes. Add cream and simmer 5 minutes longer.

Season to taste with salt and white pepper. Serve 1 cup liquid with 3 oysters per person. Garnish with parsley. Makes 4 servings.

ROAST GOOSE WITH SAGE, ONION AND APPLE STUFFING

1 (8- to 10-pound) goose

Salt, pepper

1/4 cup butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

Goose liver, finely chopped (should come with goose)

1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs

6 ounces sausage meat, such as sweet Italian sausage

Finely grated zest 1 lemon

1 teaspoon fresh sage or 1/2 teaspoon dried

2 cups peeled and coarsely chopped cooking apples

2 tablespoons Calvados or apple brandy or brandy

Lingonberry Sauce

Wipe bird inside and out with damp paper towels. Remove any lumps of fat from inside. Dry thoroughly with paper towels. Season well to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Melt butter in pan and saute onion until tender, about 5 minutes. Add goose liver and saute until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Cool mixture slightly before adding bread crumbs, sausage, lemon zest, sage, apples and Calvados. Mix well. Stuff body cavity loosely with mixture.

Truss goose neatly and place on rack in roasting pan. Pierce lower legs, breast and sides of bird to release fat as bird cooks. Roast, breast side up, at 400 degrees 20 minutes. Remove goose from oven and turn over onto breast side. Reduce temperature to 325 degrees and roast 1 hour. Turn goose onto back and roast another 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Pour off fat several times during cooking. Bird is cooked when skewer is inserted into leg and juices run clear.

When goose is cooked, leave in warm place 15 minutes before carving.

Meanwhile prepare Lingonberry Sauce, or serve with giblet gravy, to which Calvados may be added. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

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Lingonberry Sauce

1 shallot, diced

1 teaspoon butter or goose fat

2 3/4 cups chicken or turkey stock

1/4 cup lingonberry puree

Salt, pepper

Port wine

In skillet saute shallot in butter 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly add stock, stirring constantly, and cook over medium heat until mixture is reduced by 3/4. Stir in lingonberry puree. Adjust seasonings to taste with salt, pepper and Port. Makes about 3 cups.

Note : Same amount of cranberry puree can be substituted. To make, cook 1/2 cup cranberries until tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Process in blender until pureed, then cook down to 1/4 cup.

TENDERLOIN OF BEEF WELLINGTON

Butter

4 (6-ounce) beef tenderloin steaks

4 (1 ounce each) pieces fresh foie gras

1 (16-ounce) package frozen puff pastry dough

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

1 ounce brandy

1 large shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon ground green peppercorns

1/2 cup veal stock

Melt 2 teaspoons butter and brown tenderloins on both sides in hot pan 1 to 2 minutes each side. Remove from pan. Sear foie gras quickly on both sides. Remove from pan. Let cool.

Roll out 4 separate pieces puff pastry dough large enough to wrap individual steaks. Place 1 steak in center of each piece. Place foie gras on top of beef and enclose with puff pastry dough, sealing well. Make egg wash by combining egg and water and brush top and sides of puff pastry.

Place steaks on baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees about 15 minutes for medium rare. Place steaks on warm service plate in warm area while making brandy sauce.

Deglaze pan with brandy. Add shallot, garlic and peppercorns. Cook over medium heat until mixture is reduced by half, about 1 minute. Whisk in stock. Finish by whisking room-temperature 1/4 cup butter into sauce, 1 teaspoon at time. Serve sauce with steaks. Makes 4 servings.

BRAISED LOIN OF VENISON

4 (6-ounce) pieces domestic venison

Butter

1 (20-ounce) bottle Cabernet Sauvignon

1 carrot, diced

1/2 onion

1 celery stalk, diced

1/2 bunch fresh tarragon, chopped

1/2 bunch fresh chervil, chopped, or 1/3 cup chopped parsley

1/2 bunch fresh thyme, chopped

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1/2 cup brown sauce, consomme or beef broth

Brown both sides of venison pieces in butter in oven-proof skillet, 2 to 3 minutes. Add wine, carrot, onion, celery, tarragon, chervil, thyme and pepper. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees 10 to 15 minutes.

Place pan on top of range. Remove venison to warm serving plate. Add brown sauce to pan and cook over medium heat until liquid is reduced by half, 5 to 7 minutes.

Adjust seasonings to taste. Strain. Serve sauce with venison. Makes 4 servings.

WHITEFISH BAKED WITH BREAD CRUMBS AND SHALLOT CRUST

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs

1 large shallot, chopped

1 bunch fresh basil, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 (6-ounce) white fish fillets with skin on

Fresh lemon wedges

In bowl mix bread crumbs with shallot, basil and olive oil until well mixed. Place fish in buttered oven-proof pan, skin side down. Place crumb mixture on top of fish. Bake at 350 degrees 10 to 15 minutes or until done. Serve with squeeze of fresh lemon. Makes 4 servings.