I Need a GREAT Christmas Dinner Recipe!

Hi D.,

If you are open to poultry, I have a recipe for Turkey breast stuffed with spinach, apples, and Gorgonzola cheese that is not only very yummy, but very easy to make:

Serves 6–8
3 TB unsalted butter, divided
1 TB chopped garlic
1 apple, cored, medium (1/2") dice
8 oz (1 bunch) fresh spinach leaves, washed in cold water until free of dirt, cut into 2" pieces
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
Salt and pepper to taste
1 boneless turkey breast (about 2.5 lb)
Butcher's twine for tying up the rolled breast
To make the stuffing, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat, then add the garlic and quickly sauté (do not burn!). Add the diced apple and sauté 2-3 minutes. Add the spinach and sauté until wilted. Cook until all liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat and add the breadcrumbs, gorgonzola cheese, 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Butterfly the turkey breast open with a sharp boning knife. Place it skin side down on a cutting board, cover it with plastic wrap, then pound it out lightly with a meat mallet to flatten it a bit and make it an even thickness.

Remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the breast with salt and pepper. Spread the stuffing over the (non-skin) surface of the breast to within 3/4" from the edge. Roll it up as tightly as possible, finishing with the skin side up (towards you).

Rub the entire top surface with the butter, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Using butcher's twine, tie up the turkey breast to keep its shape while roasting. Place the stuffed turkey breast on a buttered or oiled roasting pan (or on a baking rack in a pan).

Roast, uncovered, until the stuffed turkey reaches an internal temperature of 165°F, about 11/2 hours. Cover the turkey with foil if the top begins to get too brown. Remove from the oven and let it sit, covered, for about 15–20 minutes to let it set before slicing. Snip off the butcher's twine, and serve.

I would also recommend the Whole Foods website for unique and relatively simple recipes: www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Merry Christmas and Happy Cooking!!
A.

I've got two, actually. Both are very simple and are pretty much impossible to mess up.

PRIME RIB
1 bone-in prime rib (this recipe works for any size meat, I usually allow for 1 lb per adult)
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Lawry's seasoning salt (or other seasoning salt)

Note: This recipe can be started up to 5-6 hours before you want to eat. The key is to keep the oven door closed so it continues to stay at an adequate temperature.

Preheat oven to 375. Place prime rib, bones-down, fat-up in a roasting pan. Rub all sides generously with salt, pepper and seasoning salt. Place in oven and cook for 1 hour. At the end of the hour, turn the oven off but DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR!!! About an hour before you want to eat, turn the oven back on to 375 for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the meat from the oven. Let rest for 20 minutes before slicing. (Slicing takes about 10 minutes, so 30 to cook plus 20 to rest plus 10 to slice is the hour.)

Prime rib is on sale for $5.99/lb at Tom Thumb and Market Street this week, so it's pretty reasonably priced. However, if your budget allows, the next recipe is out of this world and also very easy. It's just that beef tenderloin is closer to $20/lb.

BEEF TENDERLOIN
1 4-5lb beef tenderloin, trimmed and tied (ask the butcher to do this)
2 Tb unsalted butter, softened
1 Tb kosher salt
1 Tb fresh ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 500. (NOTE: It is important to have a very clean oven for this, as cooking at such a high temperature will make any grease in your oven smoke. Even if your oven is clean, this may smoke a bit. It's not on fire - it's just cooking at a very high heat!) Line a baking sheet with foil (to make cleanup easy!). Rub meat with butter, then with salt and pepper. Place in oven and cook for 22 minutes for rare meat, 25 minutes for medium rare. Remove from oven, cover in foil, and let rest 20 minutes before slicing. (So, this should start cooking about an hour before you want to eat.)

A 4-5lb tenderloin should feed about 8-12 people.

That prime rib recipe is awsome!! We did it a couple of years ago!!

This is my mom's BBQ Brisket recipe. It's come out great every time I've made it. Sometimes I just use a turkey roaster, but most of the juice cooks away. You can put the whole thing in a turkey bag if you want to have a lot of juice.

BBQ'd BRISKET

The night before:

Season a brisket it on both sides with:

1/2 bottle of liquid smoke
garlic, onion, and celery salt

Put the brisket in the refrigerator, and let the seasonings soak in for an hour or two.

About 10-12 hours before you want to eat (I usually put the brisket in the oven right before I go to bed the night before.)

Season with:

salt and pepper
more garlic salt
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

Cook !!FAT-SIDE UP!! 10-12 hours @ 275 degrees covered.

One hour before serving, drain some of the juice if there is a lot, turn !!FAT-SIDE DOWN!!, and cover with:

1 small bottle Kraft BBQ sauce

Cook 1 more hour uncovered.

You might want to buy two bottles of BBQ sauce so you can serve the brisket with sauce on the side.

If you decide to use this recipe, let me know how it goes!

Regards,
K.

Wow, you've gotten some great recipes, and I'm going to try some of those, too! You probably don't need anymore help, but I was going to suggest a menu as an FYI...I love planning meals (more than actually cooking them!).

I Google everything, and you can find recipes for these dishes just by putting the title in Google. There will be plenty to choose from. I like to use cooks.com and I've read several on Mamasource who like recipezaar.com.

Menu:
Appetizers: deviled eggs; sausage and cheese balls; spinach and artichoke dip served with small slices of French bread or crackers; French onion dip served with fresh vegetables. (these can all be made ahead; reheat the spinach dip and keep warm to serve)

Main course: Pork tenderloin (these are easy to cook and there are lots of great versions)

Vegetables: Cold Corn Salad; Sweet Potato Casserole

Salads: Garden Greens Salad with Raspberry Viniagrette Dressing (lots of great pre-made bottles to choose from, and the salad is special if you add walnuts, red or purple onion and dried cranberries); Lime Gelatin Salad (kids love it)

Hot rolls - Sister Shubert; crescent rolls; or just the good old package that's in the bread section

Sweet Tea (couldn't resist throwing that in!)

Dessert: there is a pudding dessert known as "better than sex" cake that is easy, delicious, and can be made ahead. Serve in wine glasses for a nice change! Or...buy a pecan pie from the grocery store or bakery.

Good luck with whatever you make! Brisket sounds great and you got some good recipes from our fellow moms. The other recipes sounded good, too.

Merry Christmas to you and everybody else!

This is the EASIEST recipe ever, but it is my husband's absolute favorite!!! You just cook a brisket in the crockpot all day with one jar of mild banana pepper rings (juice and all) poured over it.
Good luck and have a Merry Christmas

Hi D. -

I have a super easy, super tasting brisket recipe that I got off of the Food Network. I have made it at least once a week since I found the recipe and it always gets great comments - email me at ____@____.com and I can send it as an attachment - I don't think I can do that thru this website. I serve it with homemade potato salad and a green salad and rolls and it's a hit. Making for out of town company tonight as a matter of fact!!!

Thanks!
M.