2013 Christmas Feast

I feel like because we're so limited in what we can eat as a family due to my children's food issues, that people often think we can't have "anything good". This blog has, somewhat at least, turned into to trying to prove those people wrong.

For Christmas this year, we had a decent spread. Sure, there weren't any rolls or biscuits or things like that...but I know I for one didn't feel like they were needed. The food we did have was more than enough...and super tasty at that. Here's what we had for the meal:

This is roasted leg of lamb, some slow cooked spicy beef ribs, butternut squash, and roasted carrots. It's possible that I've posted some of the recipes for this before...but oh well.

All of this lasted our family of 5 about 2 days...having the meat/sides both for lunch and dinner on Christmas day...and then for dinner for all of us the day after with it being lunch for myself and my husband only (the children ate something else for lunch that day)...and there's still a tiny bit of the lamb left today as well (2 days after Christmas)...just to give you an idea of how many servings this makes.


ROASTED LEG OF LAMB (adapted from here: http://startcooking.com/how-to-cook-a-leg-of-lamb)

Ingredients:

• 5 lb. leg of lamb
• 2 tsp. oregano
• 2 tsp. thyme
• 2 tsp. rosemary
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2 cups red wine (you could also use beef broth, if desired...though I'd probably add a little splash of apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar in that case)
• 2 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. In a large bag (a gallon ziploc if it will fit...one of those crockpot/oven-roaster bags if it won't), place the lamb leg. Add to it the herbs, salt, olive oil, lemon juice, and red wine. 
2. Squeeze out as much of the air as possible from the bag and allow to marinate overnight (or at least 4 hours). 
3. If it's been in the fridge, bring the lamb to room temperature (leave it out for at least 1 hour) before cooking.
4. Preheat the oven to 450F. 
5. Remove the lamb from the bag and pat dry with towels. Place on a rack in a roasting pan (you don't want it touching the bottom of the pan). Discard the marinade.
6. Roast the lamb for 20 minutes at 450F...then lower the oven temperature to 325F and cook until your desired doneness is reached. I like mine medium-rare to medium...which usually takes a 5-lb. leg about 1 1/2 hours in my oven. For reference, the internal temperatures are as follows: 
1. Rare = 135F
2. Medium-Rare = 145F
3. Medium = 160F
4. Well Done = 170F (In my personal opinion, you should NEVER have lamb at this temperature...but to each his own. ;) )
7. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. 

SPICY SLOW-COOKED BEEF RIBS

Ingredients:

• 2 racks of beef ribs (mine were 2 shorter racks...you can get one long one if you want)
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp. cumin
•  1 tsp. ginger
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1-2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200F.
2. In a small bowl, combine the cayenne pepper, paprika, cumin, ginger, and salt. Rub all over the outsides of the ribs. 
3. Wrap the ribs in aluminum foil (totally encased in it so that it will hold in the juices). Place in a roasting dish/pan and cook for about 6 hours, flipping them over halfway through. 
4. Combine the honey and vinegar in a bowl, turn the oven up to broil and brush the ribs with the honey/vinegar mixture and broil for 1-2 minutes/side. 

NOTE: Because I cooked my ribs overnight, I had to reheat them before serving and did the honey/vinegar at a lower temperature (325-350F-ish) WHILE reheating them. They were still tasty...and not dried out in the least. :)


BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Ingredients:

• 2 medium-large butternut squash
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil
• 2 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Peel the squash, cut in half and discard the seeds, and chop into 1 inch pieces. Place in the top of a double boiler. 
2. Cover and allow to steam for about 60-90 minutes, until softened. 
3. Discard the water in the bottom of the double boiler and add the cooked squash into the larger pot. Mash until the desired consistency. Add the coconut oil and salt for flavor. 

NOTE: You can also cook butternut squash easily in the oven...but I didn't have the room for it, which is why I did it on the stovetop this time around. If you decide to do it in the oven, cut the squash in half lengthwise, scoop out and discard the seeds, add some oil/fat and salt to the inside flesh and bake in a 350F oven for about an hour in a roasting pan with a 1/4" water bath. The squash would NOT need to be skinned first if cooked in the oven...and would be scooped out of the skins and mashed when done.

ROASTED CARROTS

Ingredients:

• about 20 carrots, peeled and chopped into thumb-sized chunks
• 2 tbsp. beef tallow (or other cooking fat)
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1/2 tsp. rosemary

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to anywhere from 325-375F. (I usually cook my carrots with something else in the oven...so the temperature varies. Lower oven temperatures will require more cooking time, higher ones a shorter cooking time.)
2. Line two roasting pans with aluminum foil (not necessary...but makes cleaning up easier). Melt the beef tallow. 
3. Place the chopped carrots in the pans, top with the melted fat and then sprinkle with the herbs/salt. 
4. Roast for 45 minutes-90 minutes (depending on your oven temperature), until the largest pieces are easily poked through with a fork and done...stirring every 15 minutes or so to prevent burning.

For dessert this year, we had grain free, dairy free gingerbread cookies (here: http://beeve04.blogspot.com/2013/12/grain-free-dairy-free-paleo-gingerbread.html ) and baked apples.

BAKED APPLES

Ingredients:

• 4-6 apples (I did 4 average-sized apples...but you could easily do more)
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1 tbsp. honey (or other sugar...could use table sugar, brown sugar, etc.)
• coconut oil
• Optional: cranberries or other fruit or nuts for the innards of the apples

Directions:

1. Core the apples and place them in a glass baking dish. If desired, fill the cores with fruit/nuts. Sprinkle with the spices and sugar. Add a dollop (maybe 1/2 tsp. worth) of coconut oil (or other fat) to the tops.
2. Bake in a 350F oven for 30-45 minutes, until the skins begin to split and the apples are soft when poked with a fork.