A three-dish holiday menu from award-winning cookbook author Meike Peters
We're happy to share this holiday menu from one of the year’s best books, 365: A Year of Everyday Cooking and Baking by Meike Peters. Her first book, Eat in My Kitchen, was awarded the 2017 James Beard General Cookbook of the Year. In 365, she presents a plan for a year of home cooking, with a recipe for every day of the year. We asked Meike to build a holiday menu from the book, and she sent along a few of her favorites to please both the meat and non-meat eaters in your life: Christmassy Braised Beef Shanks with Spices and Red Wine, the amazing Potato and Apple-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Walnut Butter and Gruyere and her Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Honey, Apples and Marjoram. Happy Holidays, everyone!
Photo: Meike Peters
Christmassy Braised Beef Shanks with Spices and Red Wine
Braised beef shanks are succulent and tender. Although the preparation isn’t labor-intensive, it does take time—about five hours—to tenderize and infuse the marbled meat with vibrant spices and full-bodied red wine. If you braise the shanks the day before Christmas, the flavors will deepen considerably and you won’t be left with much work during the festivities. The leftovers make a wonderful meat pie, or a quick pasta dish: pappardelle with Neapolitan beef ragu.
Photo: Meike Peters
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Honey, Apples, and Marjoram
Once the choices are made for a feast’s roasts and meats, it’s time to focus on the vegetables. Brussels sprouts roasted with honey, apples, and marjoram taste almost too good to be just a side dish, so let’s view them as a fabulous cozy weekday dinner as well.
Photo: Meike Peters
Potato and Apple-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Walnut Butter and Gruyère
If you’re already thinking about your Christmas menu and pondering how to please your vegetarian guests, here’s a recipe that will put an end to your worries and make meat lovers jealously spy on their neighbor’s plate.
Photo: Meike Peters
Meike Peters is a author of 365: A Year of Everyday Cooking and Baking. You can also find more recipes from Meike at her website Eat in My Kitchen.
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