Nut loaf and Other Festive Fare

A few weeks ago, a dear friend of ours called and said she was coming to visit. What's more, she was arriving on Christmas eve and staying for a few days. Most years, Christmas is not something we really celebrate in any special way. We've been known to do a "Jewish Christmas"- going to a movie theater and then to a Chinese restaurant!

But the minute my friend called, I knew this year would be different. She grew up celebrating Christmas and I wanted to make the holiday special for her in some way. A few stockings went up by the fireplace. I sewed a felt garland to make the mantle more festive. And I started to plan Christmas dinner.

The festive meals in my home are quite predictable and not even that different from what we normally eat. I'll make a biryani or a lasagna. Or something crowd-pleasing like pav bhaji or aloo tikki chana chaat. I looked for something different this time and decided on a nut loaf- a vegetarian version of the meatloaf. Then I would make a couple of side dishes, and something special for dessert.

Food experts will often remind you of a golden rule of cooking: Never try a recipe for the first time when you're cooking for a special occasion. Well, I break this rule on a very regular basis. Call it beginner's luck or whatever you will, but usually I get away with it.

And that's how I made nut loaf for the very first time this Christmas, using this recipe, originally from Martha Stewart. It worked beautifully. I've seen nut loaf mentioned on blogs many many times and had some notion that they are difficult to make. Not so. It is easy as sautéing and mixing and baking.

Here is the recipe in brief, in my words. Instead of buying separate jars of the spices that the recipe calls for, spices that I rarely use, I bought a jar of poultry seasoning instead. This is a mixture of all of the spices that the recipe calls for.

1.  Saute 1 onion, 3 cloves minced garlic and a 10 oz. box of baby bella mushrooms, minced, in olive oil.
2. Season generously with poultry seasoning blend.
3. Mix. Remove vegetables to a large bowl and add the following:
(a) Nuts: Roasted and minced walnuts and cashews (2 cups total)
(b) Cooked brown rice, 1.5 cups
(c) Cheddar cheese, shredded, 2 cups
(d) Eggs, 4, beaten
(e) Cottage cheese, 1 cup
4. Bake. Season with salt and pepper and mix together well. Transfer the mixture to a well-greased loaf pan (I lined mine with parchment paper) and bake at 375F for an hour. Cool for 20 minutes in the pan before inverting on a serving platter. 

Somehow, miraculously, this seemingly hodge-podge mixture of rice and cheese (especially cottage cheese which I can't stand, usually) and eggs and nuts transforms into one cohesive and utterly delectable, savory loaf. You can't really make out the components of the nut loaf. It tastes like more than a sum of the parts. The only thing I would say is that the slices were a little delicate and prone to breaking; I possibly added more cottage cheese than I should have or maybe less of the cheddar.

To go with the rich and filling nut loaf, I made mashed potatoes- seasoned simply with butter, salt and pepper. And maple roasted brussels sprouts, which was another winner, even if I left them too long in the oven and reduced some of them to pure carbon.

Finally, I made some vegan gravy to complete the meal. Nutritional yeast has a uniquely savory, nutty, cheesy taste that makes this gravy a flavorful accompaniment for the nut loaf.

Nut loaf, maple-roasted Brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes
and vegan gravy!

Setting a festive table with berries from the backyard

When I tried to think of a Christmassy dessert for this meal, I remembered this NPR article on trifle pudding. This pudding also makes me nostalgic because my Dad made it often when we were kids, with Rex jelly and Brown and Polson custard (I know some of you will remember these brands fondly).

I assembled my trifle with layers of:
(a) Pound cake
(b) Berries: Frozen berries that were thawed and macerated in sugar and brandy
(c) Strawberry jelly (I chose a brand that does not contain gelatin)
(d) Homemade vanilla custard

The trifle was enjoyable, but next time, I'll skip the pound cake and berries and just make jelly and custard. Those are the parts that I love the best anyway.

Trifle pudding

And so that was our holiday meal- well worth the effort, and it made for excellent leftovers. We had a wonderful time with our friend, going for walks around the neighborhood to look at holiday lights, watching movies (Chak de with Shah Rukh Khan; my only Hindi movie of 2012 as it turns out), chatting over endless cups of chai. The very best kind of holiday there is, and it went by too fast.

Last night, I woke up when Lila had a bout of coughing (she's recovering from a cold) and then I found myself wide awake for an hour or so, unable to drift back to sleep as I normally do. There's so much to think about- about the year that's gone by, and about the one that's starting on Tuesday, ready or not. 

2012 treated us well as we weaved through many life changes and moments of pure joy- new jobs, new city, new home, a visit from a very dear cousin/niece and aunt/uncle in summer, the births of 3 new babies in the clan, plenty of travel (including a trip to Colorado for my cousin's wedding when Manisha and her husband took us out to dinner- and she's just as lovely and fun a person as her blog would lead you to believe). 

And of course, I have to think back and shed a tear for all the people we lost this year- some near and dear members of our extended family, others like Miri who I knew virtually but who inspired me for real, and yet others that I know of only through headlines and whose loss unfortunately showed humanity's darkest and most brutal side. 

Now 2013 is arriving as a gift, like a brand-new blank notebook whose crisp pages are yet to be filled. I think the world needs more kindness and although I'm not the sort to make resolutions with any seriousness, I nevertheless resolve to be mindful this year, and more kind, to myself and to others. 

I've also been thinking of this blog, and how best to keep up the pace of writing in this space while balancing everything else that's important in my life. And mind you, the list of all-that's-going-on-in-my-life seems to get longer all the time. For instance, I'm going to take up quilting. Sewing machine, here I come. Getting back to the issue of how best to blog regularly, here's my tentative plan. I'm going to post food related posts every Monday. It will be a round up of the week's food highlights. When I have book-related posts, I'll post them on an occasional Thursday and if I have photo-heavy posts for crafts etc., I'll post those on occasional Saturdays. I think having some sort of schedule will keep me from succumbing to Blogger's Block and leaving the blog sad and silent for weeks on end. 

See you on January 7th with the first post of the new year. For 2013, I wish you health above all, and an abundance of food, laughter and joy. Thank you for being part of the One Hot Stove family and letting me be part of your world!