Donne Tempo - Food & Spirits - Bolzano
Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?
An easy, step-by-step guide to creating a holiday feast!
by Jacquie Kubin, DONNE TEMPO
No matter how much you prepare, plan and prep, serving a festive Holiday Dinner can result in nothing short of pure panic.
Face it; we are not Martha Stewart.
But a beautiful, tasteful, and easy holiday feast can be set before your guests with little fuss or fear, if you have a quality grocery store, such as Whole Foods, in your neighborhood.
The secret to holiday success is to buy as much prepared and deli-ready foods as possible, serving them on elegant dishes as though fresh from your kitchen. Just make sure all evidence of boxes and tin wrappings have been removed from site!
To your pre-pared dishes, add a few “homemade” touches that are easy to create, some incredible cocktails that can be mixed ahead and wait for your guests to arrive.
Then, in the French fashion, don’t explain how you are able to create such divinity, just smile and accept the compliments.
The
Donne Tempo Happy Holiday Feast menu includes a
sumptuous four course meal that includes a:
The pre-dinner fruit and cheese tray is a simple way to start your holiday entertaining because your tray can be prepped the day before as long as you store your cheeses separately. Pair your cheese course with a dry white wine, fruity and sharp, but light and not too spicy or exotic such as a Sauvignon Blanc or a Fumé Blanc and the Beaujolais Nouveau.
Your guests will be impressed with your culinary knowledge as the nibble on exotic and flavorful fromage such as the Whole Foods Whole Kitchen™ Cheese Soufflé with Emmental. This is a taste perfect soufflé consisting of a blend of Emmental cheese with a mixture of eggs, flour and crème fraiche.
It's impressive to serve and delicious to eat, yet as simple as warming them up to present.
Add to the warm soufflé, an exotic cheese such as the Persillé du Beaujolais. This incredible, soft blue cow's milk cheese pairs exquisitely with the Beaujolais Nouveau.
The Persillé du Beaujolais cheese hails from a small, artisan dairy in the Rhone Alps that produces a limited amount of this unique cheese, so it's very difficult to find.
A fondue of melted Isigny Ste. Mère French Brie with raspberry coulis (a simple, raspberry sauce or quality jam works well) and slices of toasted crusty bread.
Finish your tray with a sliced cheese, a nice, but simple, cheddar for example. Add some assorted finger fruits, grapes and berries, nuts and vegetables; small cherry tomatoes are bright and festive addition to the plate. Serve your tray with baskets of crackers and thinly sliced breads.
If these cheeses are not available, ask your cheese Fromager, or store’s cheese expert, for help in selecting distinct and flavorful cheeses.
The salad is destined to impress, but easy to assemble with a bit of preparation. Bake your almonds 2-3 days in advance and warm in the microwave for a few seconds prior to serving. Peaches can be prepared that morning, or even the night before if stored in the Handi-Vac bags. The spinach should be well rinsed the night before, wrapped in a flour sack towel and kept in the lettuce bin overnight.
Day of preparation should be a snap, as you should only need to tear the room temperature spinach and toss with the dressing. Add the peaches, toss again and then the pecans. Add a drizzle of dressing to the top if necessary. A hint – don’t serve too large a portion of the salad. You do not want salad left on the plates, as they are easier to clean if you only need to rinse.
From
the kitchen to the table, your main entrée should
be simple to prepare and easy to present. One of my
favorite holiday meats is a Niman Ranch
Pre-cooked,
spiral sliced Ham with a sweet and tart Black
Cherry and mustard glaze served with plenty of
pre-prepared sides.
Any quality, pre-sliced ham will work, however for maximum taste, choose a natural ham product, raised without antibiotics or hormones. There is a significant taste difference.
Creating festive side dishes is as easy as perusing the frozen foods sections. For example, at Whole Foods, find the Whole Kitchen™ Potato Gratin with Tartiflette Sauce.
Serve fresh pre-made green beans and cranberry sauce found at the prepared food counter or you can purchase frozen Haricot Vert French style green beans and microwave in short bursts so that they are crisp, toss with a very small amount of olive oil and fresh lemon juice and sprinkle with touch of lemon zest or slivered almonds.
Place a basket of assorted breads and rolls, served with a quality, French butter, at each end of the table.
Dessert should always be the easiest course to serve. An assortment of chocolates, sugared fruits and miniature desert cakes served with Belgian Chocolate cups, available at Whole Foods, and an after dinner liqueur assortment of Frangelica, Amaretto and Bailey’s Irish Cream, teas and coffee.
All that is left is to set the table with some lovely linens, plates and goblets and even the most unenthusiastic cook can create a gourmet meal.
And Dinner is done.
Recipes
Martin
Miller's Sugar & Spice Martini
2 ounces Martin Miller's
2 ounces apple cider
3/4-ounce fresh orange
Splash of Brown Sugar Simple Syrup
Shake with ice. Serve in martini glass that has been rimmed with a mixture of cinnamon, superfine sugar.
Merry
Irishman
2 parts Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey
1 part Kahlua
½ part Mint Schnapps to taste
Serve over ice in a Rocks glass
Garnish with candy cane
Spinach
Salad with Peaches and Pecans
Ingredients:
3/4-cup pecans
2 ripe peaches
Honey to drizzle
4 cups baby spinach, rinsed and dried
1/4-cup poppy seed salad dressing or olive oil and champagne vinegar dressing.
Preparation:
Up to three days before, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Arrange pecans on a single layer on a baking sheet and roast in preheated oven for 7-10 minutes, until they just begin to darken. Remove from oven and set aside.
The day before let fresh spinach soak, changing water frequently, to remove any sand, shake excess water wrap in flour sack towel and return to lettuce drawer. Peel peaches and slice, place in Handi-Vac sealed plastic bag.
Day of dinner, place peaches in bowl and drizzling with honey and coat spinach with dressing and allow both to reach room temperature. To serve, combine peaches, spinach and pecans in a large bowl. Toss with additional dressing or oil and vinegar to your personal taste.
Variations include using apple with Gorgonzola cheese, but omit honey.
Donne
Tempo Holiday Ham
Ingredients:
Pre-sliced Niman Ranch Ham
Jar of Black Cherry preserves (no sugar added)
Jar of Dijon Mustard
Brown Sugar, ground cloves or All Spice (available in your seasonings section) or the package of ham glaze that may come with your ham.
Preparation:
The night before, remove your ham from its wrappings and set onto a large piece of foil (large enough to cover.)
In a saucepan, combine 1/2 a jar of black cherry jam and Dijon mustard to taste and heat to very warm, but not boiling. Add small increments of brown sugar and allspice, or ham glaze, to taste. The prominent flavor should be the sweet of the cherry’s and sugar, with mid-tones of the mustard and under tones of the allspice.
Completely and generously cover the ham with the mixture, wrap and return to refrigerator overnight.
Remove ham from refrigerator and bring to room temperature to touch. Do not unwrap. Two hours before serving (depending on size) place the room temperature and still wrapped ham on a rack and place over 2 inches of water in a large pan. Place in 325-degree oven. Time to cook depends on the size and quality of the ham; check with your Whole Foods butcher as to the amount of time required to fully heat the ham.
You are basically warming, but you do not want to do so quickly, a lower degree will help pull the flavor of the marinade into the meat.
Combine the remaining black cherry and Dijon mustard to taste to serve on the side. Also makes a wonderful sandwich spread for leftovers.
An easy, step-by-step guide to creating a holiday feast!
by Jacquie Kubin, DONNE TEMPO
No matter how much you prepare, plan and prep, serving a festive Holiday Dinner can result in nothing short of pure panic.
Face it; we are not Martha Stewart.
But a beautiful, tasteful, and easy holiday feast can be set before your guests with little fuss or fear, if you have a quality grocery store, such as Whole Foods, in your neighborhood.
The secret to holiday success is to buy as much prepared and deli-ready foods as possible, serving them on elegant dishes as though fresh from your kitchen. Just make sure all evidence of boxes and tin wrappings have been removed from site!
To your pre-pared dishes, add a few “homemade” touches that are easy to create, some incredible cocktails that can be mixed ahead and wait for your guests to arrive.
Then, in the French fashion, don’t explain how you are able to create such divinity, just smile and accept the compliments.
- Fruit and Cheese appetizer served with wines and festive spirits.
- An easy to prepare Spinach and Peach Fruit Salad.
- Ham entrée dinner with individual Potato Gratins, Haricot Vert green beans and cranberry sauce.
- Finish the table with assorted sliced breads served with French butter and pair the meal with a Clean Slate Riesling wine. The Clean Slate offers a fresh and balanced taste of ripe peach flavors with a pleasing minerality that comes from the slate soil for which it is named, and a hint of spiciness that pairs well with pork.
- Assorted chocolates, miniature cakes and candied fruits served with whole leaf world teas and honey and after dinner liqueurs served in Belgian Chocolate cups.
The pre-dinner fruit and cheese tray is a simple way to start your holiday entertaining because your tray can be prepped the day before as long as you store your cheeses separately. Pair your cheese course with a dry white wine, fruity and sharp, but light and not too spicy or exotic such as a Sauvignon Blanc or a Fumé Blanc and the Beaujolais Nouveau.
Your guests will be impressed with your culinary knowledge as the nibble on exotic and flavorful fromage such as the Whole Foods Whole Kitchen™ Cheese Soufflé with Emmental. This is a taste perfect soufflé consisting of a blend of Emmental cheese with a mixture of eggs, flour and crème fraiche.
It's impressive to serve and delicious to eat, yet as simple as warming them up to present.
Add to the warm soufflé, an exotic cheese such as the Persillé du Beaujolais. This incredible, soft blue cow's milk cheese pairs exquisitely with the Beaujolais Nouveau.
The Persillé du Beaujolais cheese hails from a small, artisan dairy in the Rhone Alps that produces a limited amount of this unique cheese, so it's very difficult to find.
A fondue of melted Isigny Ste. Mère French Brie with raspberry coulis (a simple, raspberry sauce or quality jam works well) and slices of toasted crusty bread.
Finish your tray with a sliced cheese, a nice, but simple, cheddar for example. Add some assorted finger fruits, grapes and berries, nuts and vegetables; small cherry tomatoes are bright and festive addition to the plate. Serve your tray with baskets of crackers and thinly sliced breads.
If these cheeses are not available, ask your cheese Fromager, or store’s cheese expert, for help in selecting distinct and flavorful cheeses.
The salad is destined to impress, but easy to assemble with a bit of preparation. Bake your almonds 2-3 days in advance and warm in the microwave for a few seconds prior to serving. Peaches can be prepared that morning, or even the night before if stored in the Handi-Vac bags. The spinach should be well rinsed the night before, wrapped in a flour sack towel and kept in the lettuce bin overnight.
Day of preparation should be a snap, as you should only need to tear the room temperature spinach and toss with the dressing. Add the peaches, toss again and then the pecans. Add a drizzle of dressing to the top if necessary. A hint – don’t serve too large a portion of the salad. You do not want salad left on the plates, as they are easier to clean if you only need to rinse.
Any quality, pre-sliced ham will work, however for maximum taste, choose a natural ham product, raised without antibiotics or hormones. There is a significant taste difference.
Creating festive side dishes is as easy as perusing the frozen foods sections. For example, at Whole Foods, find the Whole Kitchen™ Potato Gratin with Tartiflette Sauce.
Serve fresh pre-made green beans and cranberry sauce found at the prepared food counter or you can purchase frozen Haricot Vert French style green beans and microwave in short bursts so that they are crisp, toss with a very small amount of olive oil and fresh lemon juice and sprinkle with touch of lemon zest or slivered almonds.
Place a basket of assorted breads and rolls, served with a quality, French butter, at each end of the table.
Dessert should always be the easiest course to serve. An assortment of chocolates, sugared fruits and miniature desert cakes served with Belgian Chocolate cups, available at Whole Foods, and an after dinner liqueur assortment of Frangelica, Amaretto and Bailey’s Irish Cream, teas and coffee.
All that is left is to set the table with some lovely linens, plates and goblets and even the most unenthusiastic cook can create a gourmet meal.
And Dinner is done.
Recipes
Festive Cocktails
2 ounces Martin Miller's
2 ounces apple cider
3/4-ounce fresh orange
Splash of Brown Sugar Simple Syrup
Shake with ice. Serve in martini glass that has been rimmed with a mixture of cinnamon, superfine sugar.
2 parts Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey
1 part Kahlua
½ part Mint Schnapps to taste
Serve over ice in a Rocks glass
Garnish with candy cane
Melted Brie Fondue with Raspberry Drizzle
Melted Brie Fondue with Raspberry Drizzle
Ingredients:
1 – 6 inch wheel of Brie, with rind removed (makes about 1 cup)
1 French bread Baguette.
Raspberry Coulis (recipe follows)
Preparation:
Place the Brie in the top of your fondue and melt over a low heat or in the microwave. Thinly slice a French baguette and lightly toast. Prior to serving drizzle the raspberry coulis over the toast and serve alongside the melted Brie.
Raspberry Coulis – this may be made up to three days before and warmed in the microwave or you may use a jar of raspberry preserves, warmed and strained to remove most of the seeds if you cannot find seedless.
Ingredients:
1/4-cup sugar
1/4-water
2 cups fresh raspberries, rinsed and picked over
Preparation:
In a heavy medium pot, combine the sugar and water in a medium and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, about 2 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Add the raspberries and cook, stirring occasionally, until the syrup thickens and reduces by 3/4 in volume, about 5 minutes.
Transfer to a blender or food processor, and puree on high speed. Strain through a fine mesh strainer, pressing down with a rubber spatula to extract as much juice as possible.
If the sauce is too thick, add water a teaspoon at a time to reach the desired consistency.
Cover and refrigerate in an airtight container (up to three days) until ready to use.
Ingredients:
1 – 6 inch wheel of Brie, with rind removed (makes about 1 cup)
1 French bread Baguette.
Raspberry Coulis (recipe follows)
Preparation:
Place the Brie in the top of your fondue and melt over a low heat or in the microwave. Thinly slice a French baguette and lightly toast. Prior to serving drizzle the raspberry coulis over the toast and serve alongside the melted Brie.
Raspberry Coulis – this may be made up to three days before and warmed in the microwave or you may use a jar of raspberry preserves, warmed and strained to remove most of the seeds if you cannot find seedless.
Ingredients:
1/4-cup sugar
1/4-water
2 cups fresh raspberries, rinsed and picked over
Preparation:
In a heavy medium pot, combine the sugar and water in a medium and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, about 2 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Add the raspberries and cook, stirring occasionally, until the syrup thickens and reduces by 3/4 in volume, about 5 minutes.
Transfer to a blender or food processor, and puree on high speed. Strain through a fine mesh strainer, pressing down with a rubber spatula to extract as much juice as possible.
If the sauce is too thick, add water a teaspoon at a time to reach the desired consistency.
Cover and refrigerate in an airtight container (up to three days) until ready to use.
Spinach Salad with Peaches and Pecans
Ingredients:
3/4-cup pecans
2 ripe peaches
Honey to drizzle
4 cups baby spinach, rinsed and dried
1/4-cup poppy seed salad dressing or olive oil and champagne vinegar dressing.
Preparation:
Up to three days before, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Arrange pecans on a single layer on a baking sheet and roast in preheated oven for 7-10 minutes, until they just begin to darken. Remove from oven and set aside.
The day before let fresh spinach soak, changing water frequently, to remove any sand, shake excess water wrap in flour sack towel and return to lettuce drawer. Peel peaches and slice, place in Handi-Vac sealed plastic bag.
Day of dinner, place peaches in bowl and drizzling with honey and coat spinach with dressing and allow both to reach room temperature. To serve, combine peaches, spinach and pecans in a large bowl. Toss with additional dressing or oil and vinegar to your personal taste.
Variations include using apple with Gorgonzola cheese, but omit honey.
Donne Tempo Holiday Ham
Ingredients:
Pre-sliced Niman Ranch Ham
Jar of Black Cherry preserves (no sugar added)
Jar of Dijon Mustard
Brown Sugar, ground cloves or All Spice (available in your seasonings section) or the package of ham glaze that may come with your ham.
Preparation:
The night before, remove your ham from its wrappings and set onto a large piece of foil (large enough to cover.)
In a saucepan, combine 1/2 a jar of black cherry jam and Dijon mustard to taste and heat to very warm, but not boiling. Add small increments of brown sugar and allspice, or ham glaze, to taste. The prominent flavor should be the sweet of the cherry’s and sugar, with mid-tones of the mustard and under tones of the allspice.
Completely and generously cover the ham with the mixture, wrap and return to refrigerator overnight.
Remove ham from refrigerator and bring to room temperature to touch. Do not unwrap. Two hours before serving (depending on size) place the room temperature and still wrapped ham on a rack and place over 2 inches of water in a large pan. Place in 325-degree oven. Time to cook depends on the size and quality of the ham; check with your Whole Foods butcher as to the amount of time required to fully heat the ham.
You are basically warming, but you do not want to do so quickly, a lower degree will help pull the flavor of the marinade into the meat.
Combine the remaining black cherry and Dijon mustard to taste to serve on the side. Also makes a wonderful sandwich spread for leftovers.
Making It Easy Tips
For The Cheese Tray
For best results, always cut cheese while it is cold.
Cut round or square cheeses in wedges from the centre, cylindrical and rectangular cheeses in thin slices, and smaller block cheeses in pieces.
Store your cut cheeses in a Reynold’s Handi-Vac bag in the cheese drawer and they will retain their freshness and not mingle tastes or flavors.
Bring the cheese out of the refrigerator and assemble your cheese board at least 45 minutes to an hour in advance of serving.
Keep your prepared cheese board fresh by covering it with a damp cloth. This will keep the cheese moist and prevent the flavors from mixing. For this same reason, keep your cheeses separated and provide a separate knife or fork for each cheese.
Pre-Preparation:
Wash and dry your fruits, slice your peaches, clean vegetables and slice cheeses and roast your nuts up to two days in advance and then store in the Reynolds Handi-Vac Vacuum Sealer bags.
Purchase a couple of packs of “flour sack” towels (available at Linens N’ Things, Crate & Barrel or Amazon.com). Moistened they will keep the cheese tray fresh, look attractive beneath, and act as a cover for, the bread basket, great for mopping up spills, tucking into your apron for a handy hand wipe, folded as a trivet, and more.
Remember what mom did, and set your table the night before. Mix up your dishes and stemware. It doesn’t all have to match anymore.
Small bud vases of flowers on the table and around the room make a festive, yet unobtrusive, statement.
Have one friend designated as bar tender. Have them come early and pre-make your mixed drinks, uncork and decant the red wine, make sure the white wine is chilling.
For best results, always cut cheese while it is cold.
Cut round or square cheeses in wedges from the centre, cylindrical and rectangular cheeses in thin slices, and smaller block cheeses in pieces.
Store your cut cheeses in a Reynold’s Handi-Vac bag in the cheese drawer and they will retain their freshness and not mingle tastes or flavors.
Bring the cheese out of the refrigerator and assemble your cheese board at least 45 minutes to an hour in advance of serving.
Keep your prepared cheese board fresh by covering it with a damp cloth. This will keep the cheese moist and prevent the flavors from mixing. For this same reason, keep your cheeses separated and provide a separate knife or fork for each cheese.
Pre-Preparation:
Wash and dry your fruits, slice your peaches, clean vegetables and slice cheeses and roast your nuts up to two days in advance and then store in the Reynolds Handi-Vac Vacuum Sealer bags.
Purchase a couple of packs of “flour sack” towels (available at Linens N’ Things, Crate & Barrel or Amazon.com). Moistened they will keep the cheese tray fresh, look attractive beneath, and act as a cover for, the bread basket, great for mopping up spills, tucking into your apron for a handy hand wipe, folded as a trivet, and more.
Remember what mom did, and set your table the night before. Mix up your dishes and stemware. It doesn’t all have to match anymore.
Small bud vases of flowers on the table and around the room make a festive, yet unobtrusive, statement.
Have one friend designated as bar tender. Have them come early and pre-make your mixed drinks, uncork and decant the red wine, make sure the white wine is chilling.