An Update Finally - Part II (Christmas Feasts)

So this year, we tried a few new recipes over the Christmas holiday. A lot of them were big successes. I decided to share my three favorites with you all.

On Christmas, we made a crown roast of pork. I brined the pork in cider, water, salt and a little bit of sugar overnight and then pretty much followed the recipe for the rest of it. I really loved this, as did my dad. The stuffing needed a good deal more broth than was called for and I did cook some of it separately from the pork. I also cooked the onions with a bit more butter than the recipe called for because I love buttery onions. The only thing was that the sauce ended up pretty salty so I added a lot more broth and some water and let it reduce to dilute some of the salt. I think part of the problem was that the broth I used had a good deal of salt in it to begin with. So I'd be careful and make sure you taste the sauce as you're cooking it to make sure the seasoning is correct.

The Crowning Glory of the Christmas Table

The other fabulous addition that we'll likely make again and well we even made twice during the christmas week was pureed carrot and parsnips. This was such a simple side and it was really delicious.

My other favorite dish of the week was the salt crusted baked salmon. I can't even begin to describe how moist this fish was. Mom got an 8lb salmon that was caught the morning she bought it. Cooking the fish this way was really cool. I would definitely like to make fish this way again.

I seasoned the inside of the fish with some toasted spices (I actually would try different spices next time as I don't love coriander). As the fish bakes, the salt mixture hardens. Once the fish reached the required temperature for doneness, I took it out of the oven and then with the handle of a sharpening steel I smashed the crust. It took a good deal of force to break through the crust. The cool thing is that the salt took a good deal of the salmon bones out. This was a huge hit with the family. With the leftovers we made some fantastic salmon cakes as well.

Whole salmon baked in Salt

Both of these entree recipes and the parsnip and carrot puree are worthy of special occasions. They certainly made our holidays tastier!