Eight of us gathered for a non-traditional holiday dinner. Bar-b-qued pulled pork on buns with cole slaw is not Christmas-y, but I had made some so wanted to share it with friends. Then I saw a great recipe for Butternut Squash soup and that sounded like the perfect first course for dinner.
For cocktails I made a Raspberry Sparkler. Fresh raspberries were mashed with a little sugar, allowed to sit for a couple of hours and then strained. Last summer I had infused vodka with raspberries when they were at their peak which resulted in a pink tinted vodka, fragrant with the smell and taste of raspberries.
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- Raspberries & Sugar
Mashing the Berries
Straining the Syrup
Raspberry Sparkler
1 oz raspberry vodka
1/2 oz raspberry syrup
3-4 oz sparkling wine
Pour the vodka into the champagne flute, top with the syrup and fill with wine. Garnish with a couple of fresh berries.
Raspberry Sparkler
With our drinks we had Grilled Shrimp that had been marinated in orange marmalade, chopped garlic, fresh ginger, lemon juice, soy sauce & scallions.
Shrimp Marinade
Prosciutto Wrapped
Then I wrapped them in Prosciutto and grilled them. The remaining orange marmalade was combined with horseradish to provide a dip for the shrimp and they were delicious.
Ready for the Grill
Pureed Soup
Butternut Squash Soup
1 large Squash, peeled, seeded and diced
1 med. onion, diced
1 med. sweet potato, peeled & diced
1 C. milk
3 C. water
2 T honey
2 T creme fraiche
S & P
With a blender or food processor this soup is simple. In a dutch oven or large pan, saute the onion in a little olive oil for about 10 minutes, next saute the potato & squash for another 10 minutes. Add the milk, water & honey and simmer for about 20 minutes or until tender. In batches, puree. Stir in creme fraiche & butter and season with s & p.
Butternut Squash Soup
When it was time to serve, I heated 1/2 cup of creme fraiche only until warm and swirled spoonfuls on top of each bowl of soup. The soup was garnished with several pieces of smoked, crisp bacon and parsley.
With the soup course I served toasts that had been brushed with olive oil, seasoned with salt & smoked paprika and grilled.
Grilled Toasts
The soup was wonderful, sweet tasting but not rich so we could eat a bowlful and still have plenty of room for the pulled pork. Which made this a perfect first course.
One of Our Wines
One of our wines was a Concannon Petit Syrah which was rich, oaky, with berry flavors. I liked it.
Pulled Pork & Blue Cheese Slaw
Main course: Bar-b-qued Pulled Pork with a blue cheese cole slaw. I loved the flavor contrast of the of sweet, soft pork to the crisp, cheesy slaw.
Constructing Sundaes
Greg & Michaela brought dessert: They made Ice Cream Sundaes…….ummmm
YUM
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