Christmas Eve Food

Tomorrow is Christmas, and, if you're like me, you might be looking for one or two more recipes to add to tomorrow's main meal. Here are a few possibilities. Enjoy!

Note: Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah! And for anyone who celebrates other holidays this time of year, may they be wonderful, too! Here's to peace, happiness, love...all the good blessings we need.

EGGNOG CHOCOLATE CHIP COFFEE CAKE

Years ago, there was a show on (I think) The Food Network called Breaking Bread with Father Dominic. It's no longer on TV, but you can find his cookbooks and info here and here. YIELD: 1 coffee cake.

Dough:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 envelopes FLEISCHMANN’S RapidRise Yeast

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup eggnog

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup butter or margarine

2 large eggs

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

Chocolate Nut Topping:

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

1 cup chopped pecans

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, undissolved yeast, & salt. Heat eggnog, water & butter until very warm (120 to 130 degrees). Gradually add to flour mixture. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add eggs & 1 cup flour; beat 2 minutes at high speed. Stir in chocolate morsels and remaining flour to make a soft batter. Transfer batter from bowl to greased 9-inch tube pan. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Uncover dough; sprinkle evenly with Chocolate Nut Topping. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until done. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.

Chocolate Nut Topping:

In medium bowl, cut butter into flour until crumbly. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, chocolate morsels and pecans.

UPSIDE-DOWN CHERRY COBBLER

This comes from Carroll Pellegrinelli, About.com's Deeserts and Baking expert. Carroll wrote, “Enjoy this recipe for Upside-Down Cherry Cobbler. It's made with canned cherries or with a cherry pie filling option.” Serves 6 – 8.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1-1/2 cup sugar, divided

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter, melted, melted

1/2 cup milk

15 ounce can pitted cherries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 8x8 square or equivalent pan. In medium bowl with a wire whisk, stir together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder & salt. Stir in 2 teaspoons melted butter & milk. Combine completely. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Drain canned cherries reserving juice. Add cherries to bowl. Stir in sugar. Heat, not to boiling, 1/2 cherry juice either using microwave or stove. Mix hot juice & 1 teaspoon butter with cherry mixture. Pour mixture over batter in pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Cobbler crust will rise up through cherry mixture.

Serve with whipped or ice cream.

Note: *Replace canned cherries and 1 cup sugar with 21 ounce can of cherry or other fruit pie filling.

BAKED MACARONI AND CHEESE

This is from an old Weight Watchers' email. Serves: 8; 5 Points (old points value).

12 oz uncooked macaroni, elbow-type

1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

12 oz fat-free evaporated milk

8 oz low-fat cheddar or Colby cheese, shredded

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp table salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

2 Tbsp dried bread crumbs

2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Cook pasta according to package directions without added fat or salt; drain & transfer to a large bowl. While pasta is still hot, stir in sour cream; set aside.

Heat milk in small saucepan over medium heat until tiny bubbles appear just around the edges. Reduce heat to low, add cheese & simmer until cheese melts, stirring constantly with wire whisk, about 2 minutes; remove from heat & stir in mustard, salt, pepper & nutmeg.

Add cheese mixture to pasta; mix well. Transfer to a 4-quart casserole dish. Combine bread crumbs & Parmesan cheese; sprinkle over pasta. Bake until top is golden, about 30 minutes. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

APPLE CRISP

This comes from a long-since-forgotten-emailing-list.

4 large apples

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. melted butter

1 egg

1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel, core & slice the apples. Put apples in a bowl & mix in 1/2 cup brown sugar. In a separate bowl, using a fork, mix together 1 cup flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, & 1/4 teaspoon salt. In another bowl, beat together 1 egg, 2 tablespoons melted butter & 1/2 cup water. Add them to the dry ingredients. This is the topping. Put apples in baking dish & pour topping over them. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes. When done, apples should be soft & topping golden and crisp. Remove from oven & let cool.

CUBAN BLACK BEANS

This comes from a long-since-forgotten-emailing-list. Serves: 3 – 6

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

1 lb black beans rinsed NOT soaked

2 teaspoons cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

cayenne pepper to taste

1/2 to 1 yellow onion - depends on how much you like

Directions

Rinse black beans. Don't soak them.

Mince as much onion as you like finely, then caramelize it in a few table spoons of oil. I like to burn a bit of the onions to give a smoky flavor. Add all spices & stir for about 30 seconds over medium heat.

Add beans & stir for a minute or so. You want the beans to absorb that flavor. Add about 6 cups of water & turn heat to medium. Cover loosely & cook for about 2 hours or until done. Check water level occasionally. Add salt when tender. The best way to serve this is over rice with a vinaigrette made from minced onion, parsley or cilantro, vinegar, salt pepper, & oil.

Enjoy.

BUCK-EYES

My mom made these and passed them out for Christmas presents in 1989. It’s amazing that any of them made the trip home; they are incredibly good.

This is one of the recipes in my e-cookbook Off the Wall Cooking.

1 lb. butter or margarine, room temperature

2 lb. peanut butter, room temperature

2-3 lbs. confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp. vanilla (opt.)

2-12 oz. packages of chocolate chips

1/2 bar paraffin (4 oz.)

Mix butter & peanut butter. Add vanilla. Blend well. Mix in confectioner’s sugar. Boil into small balls & refrigerate several hours. Melt chocolate chips & paraffin in top of double boiler. With toothpicks in each peanut butter ball, dip ball into melted chocolate, leaving spot on top of peanut butter balls undipped, then place on wax paper to harden. Try not to eat in one sitting!