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Ingredients new and old create easy sides for the big day
Published Dec 20, 2016 • 5 minute read
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Christopher Chafe, executive chef at Jasper Park Lodge, created this side dish of Brussel sprouts. Photo by Donna Christensen /Postmedia
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Cooking shows portray chefs whipping up dishes, well-supported by staff who do all the chopping and prepping moments before a glamorous meal is due on the table.
The reality, even for chefs, is that when it comes to meal preparation, it’s best to leave very little until the last minute. Rather, it’s smart to do as much work on your meal beforehand as is humanly possible. Learning to execute this concept is at the root of a successful holiday meal.
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While at Christmas in November, the annual food festival in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, I surveyed several Canadian celebrity chefs, including Vancouver’s Vikram Vij (of Dragon’s Den fame), Toronto’s Mairlyn Smith (cookbook author and former standup comic) and Christopher Chafe (executive chef at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge). Come Christmas Day, they all want to enjoy their friends and families, rather than spend the entire time in the kitchen.
Smith said she learned to cook differently after spending years as ‘The Christmas Martyr.’ She worked so hard the day of the big meal that “by the time everyone came, I wanted them to go home.”
Now, Smith has some key, go-to dishes that she can put together ahead of time. She bakes cubed sweet potatoes with apples and cranberries a day or two early, and reheats just before dinner is served. When she makes the Wheatberry and Lentil salad below, she cooks the wheatberries and lentils a couple of days ahead, saving items such as green onions and walnuts to toss in at the last minute.
Likewise with chef Christopher Chafe. “Do as much as possible before, and then just impress your guests as if you are pulling it together last minute.”
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As a chef, Chafe likes lots of sides, but for regular folk, Chafe says three to four sides, including potatoes and a puréed root vegetable, is more than enough.
Here are three delicious and reliable dishes, all of which can be made in advance.
Mairlyn Smith’s wheatberry and lentil salad Photo by Donna Christensen /PostmediaMairlyn Smith’s Wheatberry and Lentil Salad
Wheatberries are available at bulk stores, or in the health food section of your local grocery store. Makes 5 1/2 cups (1.3 litres).
Salad ingredients:
3/4 cup (175 mL) wheatberries, rinsed and drained
1 cup (250 grams) cooked brown lentils
1 cup (250 mL) walnut halves, toasted
3 thinly sliced green onions
1 large, red-skinned apple, scrubbed well, cored and chopped
Dressing ingredients:
3 tablespoons (45 mL) Alberta canola oil
2 tablespoons (30 mL) white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons (10 mL) liquid honey
1/4 teaspoon (2 mL) iodized salt
1/8 teaspoon (1 mL) freshly ground black pepper
Method:
In a small sauce pan, cover wheatberries with 1 1/2 to 2 inches (4 to 5 centimetres) of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes. Drain and cool. Cook lentils as directed on the package, drain and cool.
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In a small bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, toss together the wheatberries, lentils, walnuts, green onion and apple. Pour dressing over top and toss well. Serve.
Brussel sprouts in cream sauce Photo by Donna ChristensenChristopher Chafe’s Brussels Sprouts in Cream Sauce
This dish takes about 20 minutes to prepare and serves 4 to 6. It can be made ahead and reheated. Garnish with dried cranberries as a finishing touch.
Ingredients:
2 pounds (1 kilogram) Brussels sprouts, trimmed
8 rashers cured bacon, cut into lardons
8 3/4 ounces (250 mL) whipping cream
1/4 cup (50 mL) white wine
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 shallots, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Cook the Brussels sprouts in a saucepan of boiling salted water for 8-10 minutes. Drain and refresh in a bowl of ice and water. Drain again when the sprouts have cooled.
Add the bacon lardons to a non-stick frying pan, and fry over a medium heat until crisp. Remove and set aside. In the same pan, sauté the garlic, and add the shallots in a little olive oil. Add the wine and reduce. Add the cream and bring to a boil.
In a large sauté pan, add a touch of olive oil, add the Brussels sprouts and sauté until hot. Add three quarters of the bacon lardons, add the cream reduction and continue to heat. Check seasoning; add salt and pepper as needed to taste. Place into a serving dish and top with the remaining bacon and dried cranberries for a festive air.
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Chef Vikram Vij cooks up a dish at Christmas in November at the Jasper Park Lodge. Photo by Donna Christensen /PostmediaVikram Vij’s Rajma Chawal
Vij says a good side for Christmas turkey is Rajma Chawal, kidney bean recipe. “They’re comforting, they’re slow cooked and they last a few days.” This recipe is from the 2011 book, Vij’s At Home: Relax, Honey, by Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala. Serves 6.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (125 mL) cooking oil
2 cups (500 mL) chopped onion
2 tablespoons (25 mL) finely chopped garlic, about 6 medium cloves
2 tablespoons (25 mL) finely chopped ginger
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) chopped tomatoes, about 3 medium
1 1/2 tablespoons (22 mL) mild Mexican chili powder
1 teaspoon (5 mL) turmeric
1 tablespoon (15 mL) ground cumin
1 tablespoon (15 mL) ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoon (7 mL) salt
1 teaspoon (5 mL) black pepper , optional
1 teaspoon (5 mL) ground cayenne, optional
1/2 cup (125 mL) plain yogurt, stirred, optional
5 to 6 cups (1250 to 1500 mL) water (6 for a soupier curry)
three, 14-oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
5 to 6 cups (1250 to 1500 mL) cooked white or brown basmati rice
Preparation:
Heat oil in a medium pot on medium-high for 30 seconds. Add onion and sauté for 8 minutes, or until slightly dark brown. Add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes, then stir in ginger and tomatoes. Add chili powder, turmeric, cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper and cayenne and sauté this masala for 5 to 8 minutes, or until oil glistens on top.
Place yogurt in a small bowl. To prevent curdling, spoon about 3 tbsp of the hot masala into the yogurt. Stir well, then pour yogurt into the pot of masala. Sauté for 2 minutes, or until oil glistens again.
Add water, stir and bring to a boil on high heat. Add kidney beans, stir and bring to a boil again. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 3 minutes.
Serve the rice and beans buffet-style in separate bowls.
lfaulder@postmedia.com
Follow me on Twitter @eatmywordsblog.
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