Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Our Holiday Dinner 2010


For the third year running, we shared our holiday cheer with our close friends the only way we know how..... by hosting a fabulous dinner party! As is now tradition, our meal is completely vegan so that every guest can have their fill without worrying. It's definitely worth all the time and effort we spent testing recipes, planning the menu, and preparing the food in order to give our friends the gift of this wonderful meal among great company. What a great way to celebrate another year of friendship!

Here's the menu for our six-course dinner. Enjoy!!


Aperitif
Glühwein
A German Holiday Favorite!


Appetizers
Vegan Chopped Liver and Vegan Caviar
Quick and easy appetizer options that goes well with crudites and crackers! And without the metallic liver aftertaste of real liver or the fishiness of real caviar!

Latkes, served with applesauce and vegan sour cream
To infuse a little Chanukah into the Holiday dinner, we served some warm latkes and sweet potato latkes to nibble on before dinner!


Salad
Poached Pear Salad
Such a simple & elegant salad, we've used it all three years! This year, we used a white balsamic raspberry vinegar in the dressing.


Soup
Cream of Squash Soup
A nice, pumpkin based soup. The final sprinkling of nutmeg and dollop of sour cream definitely make this soup!


Main Course
Cassoulet
A French peasant dish, veganized and served with some holiday flair!

Acorn Squash with Apple, Sage, and Quinoa Stuffing, served with Field Roast Apple Sage Sausages
An all-time favorite at our holiday dinner! This dish never ceases to impress people! Adding diced apple sage seitan sausages to the stuffing gives it a nice extra depth. This year, tripled the recipe for the party, but only served it with the indicated number of squashes... As always, the stuffing is more popular than its serving vessel!

Fennel Spiced Flatbread with Apricot Fig Chutney and Smoked Tofu Bacon
Another crowd-pleaser, this dish has made it back onto our holiday menu for the second year in a row. This time, though, we made our chutney from scratch, and we made sure to have enough so it doesn't run out like last year!

Mustard & Maple Glazed Brussels Sprouts, served with vegan ham
We also brought this recipe back for the third year in a row! This year, we changed it up a little by pan frying a little bit of diced vegan ham and throwing it into the recipe. Delicious, and just as popular as always!

Assorted Vegetables
A simple staple at dinner. Steamed asparagus served with Hollandaise sauce. Steamed broccoli served with pine nuts. Zucchini, summer squash, turnips, carrots, parsnips, and kohlrabi drizzled in olive oil and tossed with garlic, salt, and pepper.

Garlic Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes
Another very simple side that's just simply delicious! Modeled after the garlic cream cheese mashed potatoes at one of our favorite breweries in Chicago, this dish has been a hit since the first time it was re-invented in our kitchen!



Dessert
Sweet Potato Pie
Again, another menu item making its third appearance for the holidays. I only have this once a year, so it's nice to have it back on the menu!

Apple Pie
An American classic :) Nothing says home quite like a homemade apple pie!

Assorted Cupcakes
Delicious bites of heaven!

Assorted Truffles
Decadent little mouthfuls!

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