We host a Christmas Eve dinner for family, a few friends, and neighbors. Every year, we have a theme or pick a country to “celebrate” during the dinner. Our theme dictates our menu, decorations, and the occasional costume.
I find it easier to pick a theme and stick with it to narrow my focus when I cook for large gatherings. Last year, our theme came from one of my husband’s family traditions. His mother had a copy of the “Cajun Night Before Christmas” and she would always get him to read the book to the younger family in his best and heaviest Cajun accent. It was always met with lots of laughs and fun, so we decided to plan a full Cajun Christmas around the book. An added bonus is that Creole and Cajun food are among the best, most diverse, and flavorful cuisines in the world.
Last week we covered the main course recipes. This week it’s all about the drinks and desserts.
Whiskey Sour Slush
A Cajun themed Christmas party would not be complete without a traditional New Orleans cocktail. Although there are lots of good options, we decided to trust one of the best New Orleans resources - Julia Reed. She may have been the queen of the cocktail party in New Orleans and she was one of my favorite cookbook authors and writers.
We opted to use her frozen whiskey sour recipe from her cookbook, “Julia Reed’s South.” She reminisced about serving frozen whiskey sours out of a large punch bowl at many a Christmas Eve Party. Hers are perfection.
3 fifth bottles (or 9 1/2 cups) of bourbon whiskey
2 quarts (or 8 cups) fresh orange juice
2 cups fresh lemon juice
2 cups sugar
4 10 ounce jars maraschino cherries
1 orange, thinly sliced, for garnish
Place the whiskey, orange juice, lemon juice, and sugar in a bowl or in a very large pitcher and stir until sugar has dissolved. Dump in one of the jars of cherries with the juice and mix well.
With a strainer, strain the rest of the cherries and reserve the juice. Add cherries to the whiskey mixture and sweeten to taste with the remaining cherry juice.
Mix well and pour into large plastic Ziploc bags or Tupperware containers and freeze until slushy. It actually never freezes hard so we added several scoops of crushed or “Sonic-style” ice to the mixture when served.
Serve the mixture in a large punch bowl, making sure some of the cherries rise to the top. Float a few orange slices on the top as well dotting them in the center with a cherry. Enjoy.
Praline Brownies
If you need a quick pick-up dessert, these brownies are one of the best. It was a recipe that a friend submitted for a school fundraiser and my only note by the recipe says: unbelievable! They really are that good.
1 stick of butter
2 cups light brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecans, chopped
Preheat oven to 375°. In the stand of a mixer or with electric beaters, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in pecans. Pour into a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes, watching carefully so that the edges do not get too dark. Top with caramel icing, working quickly so that the icing does not dry too quickly.
Caramel icing:
1 stick butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
3 cups powdered sugar
In a sauce pan, melt butter then add brown sugar. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for two minutes, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and cool slightly. Add milk and beat with a whisk until smooth. Add powdered sugar and blend until icing reaches a spreading consistency. Adding more milk if necessary. Quickly spread over warm brownies and allow to set.
Café Au Lait Panna Cotta
We love panna cotta and my children used to call it “congealed cream.” I knew I wanted to feature something from Café Du Moude and their classic coffee, café au lait. This is my version and it turned out to be a big hit.
2 tablespoons water
1 package unflavored powdered gelatin (found near the Jell-O section)
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup half and half
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 tablespoons of “good” instant coffee granules. We used decaf, but any variety will’ work.
Place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin gently over surface of water. Allow to bloom or rest for about five minutes. Do not stir.
Combine cream, half and half, coffee granules, sugar and vanilla in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and allow to cool to 160° on a candy thermometer. Meanwhile, microwave the gelatin mixture for about 20-30 seconds or just enough to dissolve gelatin. Whisk gelatin mixture into cream. Pour about 1/2 cup of mixture into separate ramekins or small glass bowls.
Refrigerate overnight to set.
Bread Pudding with Bananas Foster Sauce
I decided to combine the flavors of Bananas Foster with a traditional bread pudding recipe to keep with New Orleans theme.
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 pints (or 4 cups) half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
6-8 leftover dinner rolls, Croissants, or a small loaf of French bread, cut into small pieces (about 6-8 cups of bread cubes)
2 tablespoons butter, diced
Beat eggs well, add next four ingredients and blend together. In a large bowl, fold in torn bread pieces. Allow custard to soften the bread for about five minutes. Pour mixture into a greased 3-quart baking dish, dot with butter, and bake for 350° for one hour.
Baked Bananas Foster
I love bananas foster and wanted to serve something at the party that would remind me of one of my favorite desserts. You can serve this with bread pudding or a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.
6 bananas, sliced lengthwise
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon Brandy
Preheat oven to 350°. Line the bottom of a heavily buttered casserole dish with half of the bananas. Sprinkle with brown sugar and dot with butter. Layer over with half of the pecans, if using. Sprinkle with more brown sugar and dot with more butter. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients except Brandy.
Bake for 30 minutes. Pour Brandy over and serve immediately.
For the party, we decided to add the baked sauce over the bread pudding just before serving and it was delicious and much easier for guests to serve themselves.
Lisa can be contacted at LisaIreland2013@gmail.com .
