Alix and Zoya’s Winter Solstice Feast | Star Dish

Get ready for the winter solstice with some delicious eats on Star Dish! Alix and Zoya are cooking up Fesenjān, a delicious Persian stew, along with a bright salad and a bourbon cocktail that’s out of this world 💫 It’s a cosmic treat for your taste buds!

Check out all the recipes below! ⬇️

❄️Winter Solstice Menu

INGREDIENTS:
🍹Bourbon Smash
12 ounces bourbon, divided
6 ounce freshly squeezed blood orange juice, divided
6 ounce pomegranate molasses, divided
1 bunch mint leaves
Ginger beer, to top
Candied ginger or pomegranate seeds, for garnish

⭐️Fesenjān-inspired Short Ribs
4 pounds (1.5 Kg) bone-in, English-cut short ribs
Kosher salt
1 pound (450 grams) walnut halves, toasted
1 pinch Saffron threads
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1 large yellow onion, diced, about 8 ounces
1 teaspoon (2 grams) ground turmeric
1 cup (250 mL) pomegranate molasses
4 cups (1 L) water
Pomegranate seeds, for garnishing
Parsnip puree, for serving

✨Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons (25 grams) sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon (15 grams) honey
4 tablespoons (60 mL) olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

🥗Salad
1 head radicchio, cored and chopped
1 red grapefruit, segmented
1 blood orange, segmented
1 navel orange, segmented
2 ounces toasted walnuts
Mint leaves, for garnish

PROCEDURE:
1. Make the cocktail: Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and combine 2 ounces bourbon, 1 ounce orange juice, 1 ounce pomegranate molasses, and 4-6 mint leaves. Shake vigorously and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Top with ginger beer and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.
2. Make the short ribs: Season the short ribs liberally with kosher salt and set aside to come to room temperature.
3. Place the toasted walnuts into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the nuts become the texture of a cookie dough.
4. Crush the saffron in a mortar using a pestle and then cover with ¼ cup (60 mL) hot water.
5. Heat a large, heavy bottom pot over medium heat. Pour the oil into the pan and add the short ribs in a single layer. Sear all sides of the short ribs then remove from the pan and set aside. Add the onions to the pan and cook until they begin to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Add the turmeric to the onions and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the pomegranate molasses and stir to combine. Add the water and bring the mixture to a boil.
6. Add the short ribs back to the pot, reduce the heat to low and cover with a lid. Continue cooking, stirring often, until the ribs are tender and falling off the bone, about 3 hours.
7. Serve the short ribs with parsnip puree and sprinkle pomegranate seeds over the top.
8. Make the salad: In a large mixing bowl, combine the sherry vinegar and honey and whisk until smooth. Continue whisking while you slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Season the vinaigrette with salt and black pepper.
9. Toss the radicchio with the dressing and plate with the segmented citrus. Top with toasted walnuts and mint leaves.

👋 Follow Us!
IG: https://www.instagram.com/biteoriginals/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@biteoriginals
FB: https://www.facebook.com/biteoriginals/

Winter solstice is ruled by the moon this has got all the elements of a nice winter dish it’s bright it’s colorful oh my gosh this plate is luxury oh my that was what what was that Omen hi it’s Alex and Zoya welcome to Star dis on bite the place to watch

Explore and cook it’s the holidays and we’re in our most festive sweaters yeah your festive sweater all black but it’s festive black so we’ve made it to the end of the year the winter solstice which is actually the longest night of the year in the shortest day it’s the

Official end of autumn the first day of winter actually winter solstice is ruled by the moon so during this time we may be more emotional and intuitive but we’re looking forward to the year ahead and preparing for our future in hibernation we don’t hibernate babe well

I like to I’m a Taurus Aries are like notorious iously struggling during winter we don’t like the darkness usually so I just cannot wait for this un feedback we get you a little lamp I know I need one those emotional lamps yeah yeah the reason why we’re having a

Winter solstice party is because we want to be really intentional with the people that we allow into our lives for this upcoming season since we have all this time to reflect and introspect let’s make a dish that takes some time to cook today we’re going to do a combination of Alex’s favorite dishes

Hers being short ribs mine being a Persian stew called Fen Jun which is a very wintry stew it’s going to be delicious it’s tender and juicy and Hearty and comforting but it’s also going to be really complex and fun and if you have never made or heard of fen

Jun before you’re in for a good surprise let’s get this party started all right so we have our short ribs I’m going to season these with salt these are some Hefty guys we like Hefty guys well we don’t but you know astrologically speaking this is the time

Of the cardinal signs and as an Aries I have a lot to say about that this is the time for us to kind of take charge and we’re supposed to be the best at adapting to new situation now we have a Fest and June short I’m doing most of

The work that’s cuz you’re a tourist and you’re a hard worker bab some oil in a hot pot oh good sizzled I feel like short ribs are such a great meal for the winter month we’re not sourcing some of the comfort that we usually get from

Like the sun we have to find other sources and I think we do that through food I agree we’re going to prepare the rest of our ingredients for our brazing liquid we’re going to start with a pound of toasted walnuts walnuts are good for brain health they’re a great winter food

We’re going to get these ground to a nice paste oh you see the oil starting to come out looks nice it smells so good okay all right you’re looking for a cookie dough type consistency don’t take it all the way to a nut butter yeah

We’ll let that sit to the side while we Bloom some saffron cuz nothing says winter solstice just like saffron I think my short ribs are looking pretty good I’m going to take these out of the pot and set them aside perfect I’ll go ahead and Bloom this so I’ll drop it in

Here add a pinch of salt saffron is supposed to be an anti-depressant and it is winter so let’s just just put it all let’s just put it all in it’s going to be an expensive winter We’ll add a bit of warm water in here just to bloom the

Saffron that’s some great color we’ll let this sit and extract while we build the base of our FES all right onions onions have a lot of energy they take some time to grow so we’re going to transfer all of that energy into our dish you know what the

Onions might need though is some turmeric turmeric they always need turmeric help with our immunity anti-inflammatories turmeric is amazing for that also a beautiful color kind of reminds you of sunshine yeah bring some sunshine elements into your winter a little salt is the season is the season

Now I think as soon as those get a bit more translucent we can add our pomegranate molasses this is an important ingredient because pomegranates represent rebirth there is this big crossover between seasonal cooking and astrology they they kind of go hand in hand yeah if you’re talking about astrology it’s all about like

Intuition going with nature the Stars so it all ties together eating seasonally you’re already One Step there the syrup of pomegranate it’s a really cool ingredient to start playing with because it’s not just sweet it’s got that really nice sour kick yeah I think it’s time to

Add our walnuts oo and this is going to transform it completely we’re just going to kind of melt that Walnut paste into our sauce those walnuts are full of these fatty oils that will release this sauce will be so rich and luxurious that’s a Taurus for you rich and

Luxurious yeah oh my gosh guys that smells smells really good it’s already getting really thick now we’re going to loosen it up with some water make sure you’re hydrating in the winter months let’s add in our saffron saffon o that helps with the color a little that looks

Really good so we’re going to let this liquid come to a bit of a simmer and now I’m going to add our short ribs back in the pot short ribs are something you want to take your time with they’re a low and slow ingredient just like the

Winter you have to get through it it takes some time but once you get through it you have a delicious short rib to eat I don’t think that’s yeah that’s how Winter works baby that’s exactly how Winter works all right I’m going to reduce this to a simmer and cover it

Partially with the lid now we have to wait about 3 hours until they’re fully tender what goes great when you’re waiting a cocktail a cocktail a cocktail bourbon smash is a great wintry cocktail we’ve got the bourbon we’ve got some Citrus I think bourbon is great in the

Winter cuz it’s again that warming kind of sensation of an alcohol let’s make both cocktails at once I’m going to do four oun so two of these listen we got to do a stiff drink it’s the winter months top that off with some blood you don’t want to measure it I was just

Going to wing it let’s measure it I like it I like it I’m in Aries it’s kind of like a trust a vision thing so let’s add in some blood orange juice look at that beautiful color let’s add nice baby this is pomegranate molasses now we’re going to again lean really into pomegranate

Here not too much because we want to control the sweetness but pomegranate really signifies rebirth and fertility and fertility so if you’re going to get it on in the winter careful we called it a bougie bourbon Smash and that’s because we’re going to add in some saffron again anti-depressant I’m trying to help

Myself yeah and also I’m going to add in some mint o ooh mint will just wake you up all right we got all of our ingredients in oh my that was what what was that Omen do it before this EXP again give it a nice Shake

Going to do a nice Shake be sure to hold the top and bottom like a real shake like a winter Shake it’s like a winter Shake let’s see what the color looks like wow look at that that is nice that is beautiful okay so I’ll pour about 34s

Of the way we’re going to top it off with some ginger beer now Ginger is a very small root vegetable that has a lot of power packs a punch packs a punch and it has the ability to warm things up we’ll garnish with some mint because we’re civilized and that looks pretty

Good to me what do you think it’s a big drink cheers cheers we need it wow that’s really good oh my God that’s delicious that’s really really good maybe too good really like earthy warming you definitely get that bourbon let me just try a couple more sips T and

Sweet the ginger and the pomegranate are coming through the most I think this is really good I literally feel the ginger running through my bones that might be the bourbon but be both actually you might be right well now that we’re all nice and warm on the inside let’s keep

It going and make our salad it’s salad time this is a drink oh we’re also going to make a delicious and bright citrus salad that’s going to give us a lot of Hope for what’s to come a lot of immunity as well a lot of just overall brightness to balance out this

Rich hearty meal and this dark time very dark time let’s get some stuff peeled go for it oh so the best way of getting Citrus peeled it’s easy she’s really good at peel all you got to do is use your thumb I’ve never seen an orange

Peeled so fast in my life until I met Zoya it needs to be efficient it’s winter time we don’t have like extra energy right now especially for the Capricorn which is the sign of the season they need to eat these foods to balance out their bodies and learn a

Little bit of patience right okay I guess so so we’re going to have an orange we have a blood orange and a grapefruit we’re kind of hitting it at all angles so while she continues on with the citrus I’m just going to cut this head of rikio in half you’re Rio

You’re rikio you’re Rio rikio is great because I feel like any salad in the winter should have a hearty stable lettuce like ridicul like cabbage that will hold up nicely I’m just also going to core out my rikio and we can kind of break these up interestingly if you look

At like a blood orange LW Citrus kind of represents the sun in Persian culture we call the winter solstice shabala which actually means the night that is The Rebirth of the sun because essentially you’re celebrating the death of the darkness you know the longest night and you’re embracing the birth of the Sun

From that moment forward the sun is coming back into the picture I love that look at how beautiful that is nature is amazing nature is amazing now as she finishes up the Citrus I’m going to build our vinegret so for my vinegar I’m going to do some oil we also have cherry

Vinegar which is a great like like I mean vinegar is just a very like pungent ingredient it’s bright it wakes you up I like to eyeball my vinegrets a little honey for Sweetness in the winter time so we also eat a lot of sweets during chabala AKA winter solstice to represent

Bringing some sweetness into our upcoming year wow a little pepper now I’m going to whisk this up you know making your own vinegret takes a lot of ambition and patience which really ties into the sign of the Season Capricorn you just want to keep whisking until that vinegarette emulsifies I’m just

Going to toss our redico right into my bowl with the vinegret do I take a sip every time I say rido I think so let’s both do it ridicul baby choose all right I’m just tossing our rido in all of my sorry gosh okay I’m tossing my salad that looks

Really good looks great it’s vinegarette and I’m not going to say it Rio now I just want to take a sip of a drink I can’t keep playing your game wind up on the floor it looks so wintry love the color oh my gosh such beautiful color this is just making me happy

Looking at it it’s very bright I really think food has like such great potential to make you so happy at least it does for me all right let’s top it with a few of these wow segments kind of just like a canvas you know a redico canvas I

Can’t not going to get through this episode rules are rules them’s the rules and for some finishing touches we have pomegranate seeds toasted walnuts and mint they tie in the ingredients of the other dishes that we’re making which really reinforces the message of each dish again we’re leading with

Intuition with intention it’s all about going into the next year as the best possible you it’s about about preparing so that you are your strongest self as you carry on through the winter cuz again it’s the first day of winter so you have a whole winter ahead of you

This feels alive it’s bright it’s colorful it’s gorgeous it’s fragrant I think the sun god approves do you approve and I think our short ribs are ready so maybe it’s time to go grab them let’s go check look at that oh my God that looks

Good W so our short ribs have fallen off of the bone they are nice and tender that sauce is looking so good look at the layer of walnut oil on top there you go that’s what you’re looking for we’ve got these beautiful pureed parsnips another amazing root vegetable to just

Pack in some power I’m going to Plate cuz Alex sometimes gets a little trigger happy I’m not good at it all right so we’ll start with some sauce right on the side here some chunks of that beautiful meat this has got all the elements of a nice winter dish that looks pretty good

Wow that’s pretty hearty and guys we’re bringing it back to the pomegranates it’s the fruit of the Season always just a little bit more pomegranate yeah and that’s that over to the side it’s the perfect pair just like us I feel like you’re the sharp citrus salad and I’m the fatty warming hearty

Meat time to eat I’m going to go with like the bright Vibes first I’m going to go with the short rib all right [Applause] cheers oh my gosh mhm wow I could eat this forever not just in the winter M Pur root vegetable underneath that delicious Rich again luxurious sauce this plate is

Luxury that is luxury we need some luxury wow that is so good there’s this great tartness from the pomegranates that really balances out the fattiness from the right after that bite it’s going to blow your mind oh my God the vinegret really ties that together

Yeah well I think the moral of the story here is to really lean in Let the Season let the signs guide you in what to eat and the winter solstice led us to these beautiful dishes and Cocktails here today thank you for stopping by and watching Star dish these recipes are in

The description box below and be sure to subscribe to bite for more episodes Cheers Cheers ridicul ridicul