Merry Christmas to you and yours! At my house we do our entertaining on Christmas Eve, so on Christmas Day, once the presents have been opened and the crème brûlée French toast has been devoured, we settle into one of the quietest days of the season. We take a leisurely walk in the park then sip hot cocoa and read whatever new books we found under the tree. It’s a blissful, serene moment amid the holiday whirlwind.
But maybe it’s different at your place. Perhaps you have a home full of visitors who require care and feeding all week long. In that case, my advice is to pick up a package of sweet Hawaiian rolls (or any soft pull-apart rolls) and make Lidey Heuck’s ham and cheese sliders. They’re so much easier to assemble than individual sandwiches and, with their buttery mustard glaze and melty filling, they’re certain to delight houseguests, drop-ins and family of any age.
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Ham and Cheese Sliders
Another easy crowd-pleaser is Ali Slagle’s new recipe for paprika-roasted chicken and potatoes. In this dish that’s perfect for a group of six to eight, she roasts two richly spiced, lemon-stuffed chickens and a heap of baby creamer potatoes together on a sheet pan. These golden-skinned, savory chickens are convenient, and since they’re cooked together on one pan, cleanup is a snap.
Serve it with a simple and sprightly green salad, like Eric Kim’s crunchy greens with carrot ginger dressing, inspired by the sunshine-hued dressings in Japanese American restaurants. Eric recommends little gem lettuce, but use whatever crisp greens you’ve got, or even not-so crisp ones like mesclun or baby spinach. The zippy, gingery dressing is good on pretty much everything.
This festive week is also a fine time to make pancit, a Filipino noodle stir-fry that can feature any combination of meat and vegetables, all coated in a sweet and savory sauce. This week Naz Deravian brings us pancit bihon, a classic version with tender rice vermicelli, cabbage, carrots and pieces of boneless chicken (though pork is also traditional here).
Sick of cookies yet? Ha ha, I kid! Of course not. So for dessert, here’s Sohla El-Waylly’s recipe for chewy gingerbread cookies, which are packed with two types of ginger and pungent black pepper. Would it be louche to dunk them in Rosie Schaap’s port hot toddy? Ho ho ho, who needs to know?
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That’s all for this morning, see you on Wednesday.
