Make your holidays a hit with two basic dishes
November 12th, 2009 | Author: Erin
Are you looking for that special something to make your holidays simple, yet unforgettable? Well, I’ve been making these two basic holiday staples for years and am happy to share them with you today. These are recipes that I have created and are so simple and easy you’ll think it’s too good to be true!! You can even prepare these a day ahead to save time.
so yummy my 2yr old had thirds!
The first is my Yukon gold gratin. If you don’t enjoy Yukon gold potatoes feel free to switch it up for baby reds or even the basic Idaho baker! You can use the cheeses included in the recipe or switch it up with your familys’ favorites. So easy my three year old could probably do it!
Yukon Gold Gratin w/ Gruyere and Dill Havarti
yields 8 servings
cook time 40 min
prep time 10 min
5 Yukon gold potatoes (partially skinned and sliced thin)
8 0z (1/2 lb) gruyere cheese (I heart boarshead brand)
8 0z (1/2 lb) dill havarti cheese (both cheeses sliced thin)
1/2 sweet onion (thin sliced or diced)
1/4 to 1/2 cup half and half
salted butter
fresh cracked pepper
salt
Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Grease a rectangular baking dish. Lay one layer of potatoes on bottom of dish. Sprinkle with a few onion slices, a few pats of butter, lightly salt and pepper, then almost cover completely with cheeses. Do this for each layer, you may have 3 or 4 layers. Keep enough cheese to cover the top of the dish with lots of cheese! Slowly pour half and half into dish around the edges, then shake the dish a little to make sure cream is distributed. Pop into the oven until cheese is golden brown and bubbly.
cranberries dancing in the pan
My next simple delicious dish is my cranberry compote. It is almost too easy and I haven’t had canned sauce in years now. One hint…at this time of year when you can find the oceanspray fresh cranberries in produce buy a bunch and freeze what you don’t use. Then you can make fresh cranberries any time of the year!!
Fresh Cranberry Compote
yields 10 servings
cook time 20-30 min
1 bag fresh cranberries
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
5 whole cloves
orange/tangerine/minneola peels (just a few small peels)
In a sauce pan, add water, sugar and orange peel, cranberries, and cloves. Turn heat to med/ high, cranberries will start to pop open, you will hear them popping. When the popping stops turn heat to low and let simmer for another ten minutes or so. With a slotted spoon remove cloves and orange peel. Turn heat completely off and leave pan on burner and let the compote set and cool. This can be served still warm or you can transfer it into an airtight container and refrigerate for future use. Served warm it is more tart, served cold it is a tad more sweet.
the finsihed product, I prefer chilled
Posted in
It’s up to you Tim! I take a knife and sliver off about 4 thin peels off an orange. After cooking I take the orange peels out. You could use zest and leave it in, it would have an even better orange flavor! Can you believe I do not have a citrus zester?
Yum! I saw a bag of cranberries at the store recently. I will have to give this a try. When you say Orange peel, do you mean the zest of the orange? Or do you mean a peel including the rind?