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Caramelized Onion Tart Tatin
Jeremiah Tower’s Pork Crown Roast with Prunes, Armagnac& a Bit of Cream
Pan Roasted Polenta Squares with Crispy Parmesan & Truffle Oil
Sautéed Haricots Verts and Green Peas with Shallots & Orange
Coffee Crunch Cake à la mode with Homemade Coffee Ice Cream
About the Class
This is one of my very favorite all-out festive menus for fall/winter. Over the years, I've cooked versions for Christmas and New Year's Eve and even once for Thanksgiving when I needed a break from turkey overkill.
The hearty-yet-elegant meal is super rich in flavor as well as in heft. Normally, I tend to cook and eat (and teach) equally tasty but lighter food, or at least meals where lighter fare predominates. Occasionally, though — especially around the winter holidays — I go whole hog (no pun intended) and offer my cold weather winter faves all together. People seem to love the change of pace.
Going forward, you can easily incorporate any of these recipes into a simpler meal. Replace the pork with turkey for Thanksgiving, or chicken, duck or a pan-roast of fish any time of year. Substitute gravlax, soup or a fancy salad for the Tatin. Or go lighter with dessert. Nonetheless, once you’ve tasted this particular meal in toto, you’ll almost definitely want to make it as-is at least once.
A prepare-ahead Caramelized Onion Tarte Tatin starts things off. I used to make a different Onion Tart but this one — adapted from a recent NY Times recipe — raises the bar. The inclusion of Gruyere cheese, Dijon and sherry-reminiscent of French Onion Soup, plus the deep, rich taste provided by extra-caramelized onions, make tart standout delicious as well as gorgeous. The versatile recipe will serve you well. Served with a green salad and plenty of good bread, the tart provides a seamlessly chic-casual lunch or Sunday supper. Maybe best of all, cut it in slivers for the absolutely OTT cocktail nibbles.
CROWN ROAST is a fancy name for a loin of pork consisting of 10 or more chops tied into a crown by your butcher. If you don't want to use those frilly white paper hats on the ends of the bones, the dish still screams “PARTY” and is great for the holidays. I’ve adapted this recipe from a Jeremiah Tower Pork Loin recipe so if you don’t want or need to cook a whole crown, it works perfectly with even a small rib roast. There are endless marinades and seasoning combinations for pork loins and crown roasts. This succulent favorite is rich and a bit old world — very Jeremiah. Prunes pre-soaked in Armagnac are added to intense vegetable and pork pan juices. After defatting, the sauce is enhanced with fresh tarragon and a bit of cream. Divine.
In advance, the polenta squares are drizzled with truffle oil, generously covered in grated parmesan, and, last minute, popped into the oven and baked to a golden crisp.
It's the rare meal that doesn't benefit from selected greenery. This menu is no exception and al dente-sautéed haricots verts do the trick. With the addition of green peas, shallots and orange zest, they brightly and lightly complete the whole.
What can I say about Coffee Crunch Cake? It was my go-to dessert long before I could cook. As a small child, and until I left for college, I'd order it at the Beverly Hills Blum's. Lots and lots of crunch — some still hard and some made chewy by its proximity to the coffee whipped cream which fills and ices the light-as-air layers--is the main event as is the fact that the three elements of the cake; cake, whipped cream and crunch, set each other off to perfection. And why not gild the lily?! At Blum's we always ordered sides of coffee ice cream and I serve the cake a la mode to this day. Really, really worth the calories, a not-to-be missed experience.