Good Morning.
It is well known in my family that I have a cocktail while I watch Wheel of Fortune. I get my dinner going on the stove or in the oven and sit down in a big wing chair that has seen better days and have a wonderful time yelling at the contestants. My preferred beverage is a Manhattan and it is basically a formula that was used by my family on Christmas Eve. Here it is:
For one drink:
2 ounces whisky like Canadian Club or Crown Royal
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth like Martini and Rossi
Dash of Angostura bitters
A maraschino cherry
I drink mine on the rocks but do the cocktail shaker thing if desired. I used to add just a titch of cherry juice but one time I
was out so I substituted Grenadine which I had on hand to make Shirley Temples for my grandkids. Grenadine is cherry juice and pomegranate juice and it works slick. It is also cheaper than cherry juice, and so are Windsor Canadian and Gallo vermouth if you're so inclined. The
main thing with the Christmas Eve crowd was that the whisky had to be Canadian, not bourbon. Many would disagree but I would not.
Kindly observe the color of this beautiful drink, and I hope you have a very nice person who will have the other beverage in this picture.
I suggest a bowl of cashews with your beverage. I don't like mixed nuts because you get too many peanuts and not enough cashews and there you are, picking through the can to get the cashews. I have seen people at a party dig around in a bowl right in front of other guests for those nuts. I have been one of those people.
In any case, for an entree, I shall be having Russian Meatballs. I think it serves 3 or 4 so I will have leftovers.
1 pound ground beef
1/4 pound ground pork
1/2 cup Panko
1 egg
Dash of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Titch of nutmeg
2 tbsp. butter
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 can beef broth
1 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. dry red wine
Mix the meat, Panko, and egg. Add the seasonings. Combine well and let stand for an hour. Shape into small balls. Melt butter in a skillet and brown the balls. Remove the meat and keep warm under tin foil. Add the chopped onions and cook for several minutes over low heat. Stir in flour and cook for a couple of minutes. Add beef broth and wine and stir until slightly thickened. Add sour cream and mix well. Return meat balls to the pan and stir to coat in the sauce.
This is a cheap Beef Stroganoff. Cheat if you wish and buy the pre-made meatballs. In my mind the big deal is the sour cream
that has to be added at the end. I was once at a restaurant, reportedly a good one, and I ordered Beef Stroganoff. It was served on a bed of noodles with a little packet of sour cream sitting on the plate. I was not impressed. Serve these meatballs with rice or the pasta of choice.
I will have my favorite salad with my meatballs. Avocado is my second favorite food after lobster although I do remember a line from the movie Oh God where He Himself, played by George Burns, says that He made the pits too big. Quite true. They're too big.
Greens of choice. Mixed are good and iceberg lettuce is fine. You don't have to have arugula or romaine all the time.
1 whole avocado, sliced
2 strips of bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar
Place on a plate and top with this easy dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tbsp. balsamic or other vinegar
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
A little salt and pepper
Mix the dressing in a little pitcher or any other small vessel and throw on the salad.
For dessert I will have a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with the following Rum Toffee Sauce:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups light brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. light rum
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low to medium heat. Stir in the sugar, water, rum, condensed milk, and
cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Use over ice cream immediately
or store in a covered container in the fridge and warm up when needed.
I will have all of this meal on a little table I keep near my chair for this kind of dining. It is not the metal TV tray I recall from the 60s and this is not the TV dinner in an aluminum thing with the fried chicken and little clumps of potato and applesauce either. I will have to put my real dishes in the dishwasher but then I can climb into a warm bed and stare at the stars that glow in the dark on the ceiling. The previous occupant, a teenager, stuck them up there and I have no intention of removing them.
Best regards,
Elisabeth
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