Christmas dinner is always special, but the country French holiday feast held this year at the home of Cheryl Ririe-Kurz, Matt Kurz and their two children, Doug and Mimi, was nothing short of spectacular.
There was a lamb roast with rosemary and wild mushrooms; poached salmon with orange sauce; a celery root apple salad and a vegetable dish of leeks, white beans and tomatoes served in a red wine sauce; several different pates with shallot mayonnaise; and platters brimming with breads, cheeses and fruits.
Desserts beckoned from the sideboard. A cream-puff tree, called a croquembouche, glistening with spun sugar, was surrounded by luscious stemmed strawberries. A silver platter was filled with chocolate mousse pastry cups and fresh figs.
Dark green wallpaper, a muted red area rug, candles glowing in crystal candleholders, and a graceful, softly lit chandelier completed the Christmas image.
Feast for the eyes
This was a feast for the eyes as well as the palate.
And more than 700 people feasted-mostly with their eyes-as they strolled through the home, exclaiming and sometimes taking notes, about the food and the decorations.
Obviously, this was no ordinary Christmas party. In fact, it occurred on a muggy day in September. The Kurz home was part of a party showcase housewalk sponsored by the Beverly Hills Auxiliary of the Chicago Child Care Society that featured several homes in the Beverly area on the city`s Southwest Side. Ririe-Kurz was chairman of the event.
Although the reality of snow and ice was still weeks away, the Christmas aura inside the house was so realistic that the arrival of Santa would not have seemed implausible.
Certainly the food, prepared to demonstrate a sumptuous Christmas feast, was worthy of a repeat performance now that the actual day is soon upon us.
Doing a Christmas party of this sort-in September, and for that many people-has both pluses and minuses.
Magical transformation
For several days in advance of the party the life of the Kurz family was turned thoroughly upside down as interior designers took over their home and James Boardman, chef-owner of Chef Out of Water caterers in Chicago, assumed control of their kitchen. But they benefited from seeing an almost magical transformation of the house as a regal feast appeared on the dining room table.
”That salmon pate: I would fix that again in a minute. It was absolutely incredibly delicious,” said Ririe-Kurz.
Chef Boardman prepared a dinner that he describes as ”warm and hearty. … That`s what you want at Christmas. It`s the time of year when people are hibernating, and you want a great assortment of food, filling food, not light things. It should look rich and colorful.
”The roast lamb is used in France a lot, and it`s great rubbed with fresh rosemary and lots of garlic and served with wild mushrooms. The poached salmon, that has a rich, orange color. You want a variety of things, not just a plate of lamb and potatoes. This is Christmas. Special.”
”Matt was very skeptical about all this at first, but we were both overwhelmed by everything that was done,” Ririe-Kurz said after the party.
”They made our house feel like we`d like it to feel at Christmas. And Christmas is always a very special time for us. We met at Christmas, we were married at Christmastime, we always have a party at Christmas. . . This year, we`ll use a lot of the ideas we got in September.”
Also special were decorations. There were two Christmas trees instead of one, greenery draped around the dining room chairs, white tulle skirted around the dining room table, bundles of wheat on top of the entertainment center, a huge basket of green ivy with one perfect red flower nestled in the middle-never mind that this was September. It all said Christmas. –
A French country Christmas
Crudites with walnut dip
Assorted pates with shallot mayonnaise
Beet, celery root and apple salad+
Roast lamb with garlic, herbs and wild mushrooms+
Poached salmon with orange sauce
Leek, bean, tomato and Roquefort salad+
Country bread, cheeses and fruits
Cream-puff tree with caramel+
Chocolate mousse+
Wine, Christmas punch
+Recipes included in this issue
Chef James Boardman, of Chef Out of Water catering in Chicago, shared these French holiday recipes used for the festive open house at the home of Cheryl Ririe-Kurz, Matt Kurz and their children, Doug and Mimi, in Beverly, to benefit the Chicago Child Care Society.
BEET, CELERY ROOT AND APPLE SALAD
Celeri rave aux pommes et betteraves
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Chilling time: 2 hours
Yield: 10 to 12 servings
Salad:
1 pound each, peeled: fresh beets, celery root (celeriac)
2 pounds Granny Smith apples, unpeeled
Lemon juice
Dressing:
3/4 cup avocado oil or extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup tarragon wine vinegar
2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
1 tablespoon each: minced shallot, sugar
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Salt to taste
1. Cook beets in boiling water until tender, about 45 minutes. Cool, then cut into julienne strips. Cut celery root into strips. Cut apples in half lengthwise and remove cores with a melon baller; cut into thin wedges. If preparing the celery root and apples in advance, keep in water mixed with lemon juice to keep from discoloring.
2. Combine dressing ingredients. Two hours before serving, toss apples and celery root with dressing to taste; cover and refrigerate. Add beets at serving time. Add more dressing if desired; adjust seasoning.
ROAST LAMB WITH GARLIC, HERBS AND WILD MUSHROOMS
Gigot a la cepes
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 3/4 to 2 hours
Yield: 10 servings
Boardman serves this with bordelaise sauce, made from beef stock and red wine.
1/4 cup each, fresh: sage, rosemary, thyme
3-4 large cloves garlic
2 large shallots, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon each: celery seed, salt
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
1 large leg of lamb, boned, rolled and tied, about 5 pounds
2 tablespoons each: olive oil, unsalted butter
3 pounds mushrooms, preferably a mix of wild and domestic
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mince herbs, garlic and shallots in a food processor or blender. Add 1/4 cup oil, vinegar, celery seed, salt and pepper and mix to a paste. Spead over lamb and place in shallow roasting pan.
2. Roast until lamb is cooked as desired, about 20 to 25 minutes a pound; internal temperature of 140 degrees for rare, 145 to 150 degrees medium-rare. 3. Shortly before the lamb is fully cooked, melt oil with butter over high heat in a large skillet. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste. Cook until soft, about 10 minutes.
4. To serve, carve lamb into thin slices and overlap slices on a large platter. Surround with mushrooms.
LEEK, BEAN, TOMATO AND ROQUEFORT SALAD
Fricasee de jardiner Roquefort
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Chilling time: 4 hours
Yield: 10 to 12 servings
Dressing:
2 egg yolks; see note
6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Juice and grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salad:
1 pound small leeks, cleaned, julienned
1 pound wax or green beans, trimmed, boiled until tender
1 pound plum tomatoes, cut in wedges
3 ounces crumbled Roquefort cheese
2 tablespoons drained capers
1. For dressing, combine egg yolks, vinegar, lemon juice and rind, tarragon, salt and pepper in a blender; mix 1 minute. Slowly add oil while blender is running; mix well.
2. Combine leeks, wax beans and tomatoes in a large bowl. (If using green beans, add them just before serving as they will turn olive green after mixing with vinegar in dressing.) Add dressing to taste, toss lightly and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
3. At serving time, toss salad and add more dressing if desired. Top with cheese and capers.
Note: This recipe uses raw egg yolks. Some cases of salmonella food poisoning have been traced to raw eggs, although this is rare.
CREAM-PUFF TREE WITH CARAMEL CROQUEMBOUCHE
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Yield: 12 servings
This recipe, from the Tribune test kitchen, can be started several days in advance. The final assembly is best done only a few hours before serving. A special conical-shaped croquembouche mold or a wine bottle is helpful for making one large tree.
Cream-puff shells:
3 cups water
1 cup (2 sticks) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch salt, grated nutmeg
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
12 large eggs, beaten
Glaze:
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
Custard filling:
2 cups milk
5 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons each: cornstarch, flour
1 tablespoon orange-flavored liqueur, optional
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Caramel:
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
Chocolate sauce for serving, optional
1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease and flour several baking sheets.
2. For cream-puff shells, put water, butter, sugar, salt and nutmeg into large heavy saucepan. Heat to boil. When butter melts and foams, remove from heat and add the flour all at once. Stir vigorously to combine. Return the pan to very low heat and stir until mixture forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Transfer dough to an electric mixer (fitted with flat paddle if you have one). Gradually beat in eggs on medium speed until incorporated. Mixture will have the consistency of thick, heavy mayonnaise.
4. Transfer some of the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip. Pipe mixture in mounds about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. (Or use a buttered teaspoon to shape the mounds.) Repeat to make about 5 dozen mounds. Brush each with some of the egg glaze.
5. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and continue baking until golden, about 20 minutes more. Test one for doneness by breaking it open; it should be crisp on the exterior and moist and steamy inside. Let cool in the oven with the door ajar for a few minutes, then cool completely on wire rack. (Puffs can be baked up to several days in advance and stored in an airtight container. Re-crisp in a low oven the day of assembly.)
6. For custard filling, heat milk to simmer in large saucepan; remove from heat. Beat egg yolks with sugar in large bowl of electric mixer until mixture falls in ribbons when the beaters are lifted. Beat in cornstarch and flour. Slowly beat in warm milk until smooth.
7. Return mixture to saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth. Strain into large bowl. Stir in liqueur, if using, and vanilla. Rub surface with butter and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until very cold or up to 3 days.
8. To assemble, make a small hole in bottom of each puff shell. Put custard filling into pastry bag fitted with a small round tip. Pipe some of the filling into each puff shell. Set mold in center of large serving platter. 9. For caramel, put sugar and corn syrup into heavy saucepan. Cook and stir until sugar dissolves completely. Cook, without stirring, until mixture turns a medium brown caramel color. Remove from heat.
10. Working quickly and carefully, dip bottom of filled puff shell in hot caramel. Put shell at base of mold on plate with caramel side acting as
”glue.” Repeat to ”glue” puff shells around mold.
11. If caramel hardens during the assembly, reheat it gently. Drizzle any remaining caramel over the finished tree. Store assembled dessert in a cool place (not the refrigerator) up to 3 hours.
Note: Make individual desserts by ”gluing” 3 filled puffs next to each other on dessert plate and putting a fourth on the top.
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
Mousse au chocolait
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Chilling time: Several hours
Yield: About 5 cups
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut in small pieces
8 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/2 cup confectioners` sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons each: Cognac, vanilla
1. Heat 1 cup of the cream, milk and granulated sugar in a medium pan to a boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate, whisking until smooth. Add egg yolks and cook gently, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Strain through a fine strainer and refrigerate until well-chilled.
2. Whip remaining 1 cup cream until it holds soft peaks. Mix in confectioners` sugar, Cognac and vanilla. Gently fold into cooled chocolate mixture. Refrigerate until set, 2 to 3 hours or as long as 2 days before serving.
