The menu for Christmas dinner has finally been set. Usually I have this handled well before the holiday, but we weren't sure if we would be having guests or not so I decided to hold off pending settlement of that issue, since the potential guests consisted of a Hindu vegetarian family and two Muslim bachelors, which would have required a significant departure from our usual roast (either beef or pork). As it turns out, it'll just be the three of us so I'm going ahead with the roast (beef this year) and a selection of our roster of festive side dishes. We're having:


- Roast beef with gravy


- Potato dumplings ("little hooves" - a recipe from a Polish friend)


- Jalapeño creamed spinach (a la Laurie Colwin, who I think took it from someone else)


- Roasted carrots and beets


- Relishes (homemade pickled greenbeans and mushrooms, with the addition of roasted peppers and some nice olives)


- For dessert, a chocolate cake with chesnut filling and marzipan fruits atop the icing.




Such is the Christmas menu of a Polish-Anglo-American family.




The "little hooves" thing is turning into a tradition. I don't usually bother with mashed potatoes, but instead will serve pierogie which, after all, often have mashed spuds in them and are much less of a bother and mess to make. Plus, they taste great with gravy. The last couple years, though, I've turned to this other variation and find that, although they are a bit more trouble than the pierogie, they have the benefit of being somewhat more impressive and a better foil for all the other rich food that's on the table. To make them enough for about six people, make several cups of mashed potatoes (note: it's A-O-K to use "potato buds" for this - trust me - but not the granular kind of instant mashed. Homemade is good, too, if you're inclined and it's not too lumpy). Add to this an egg and enough potato starch (I use Manischevtiz) to make a tender, but firm dough. Roll handfulls of dough out into long snakes about an inch in diameter and cut out the hooves on the diagonal, each about two inches in length. Plop the hooves into a large pot of salted, boiling water a few at a time and them them cook until they rise to the surface (they're kind of like ravioli or gnocchi in this regard). Serve warm with gravy or some other kind of sauce.