Happy Holidays to all!!

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday as much as me...friends, family AND three days off in a row, it just doesnt get any better than that!!!!

We had our big Xmas eve feast yesterday. Normally we do the seven fish and it is an all night party with family, friends and staff but this year we had a big brunch instead. Liz had the great idea to do brunch and although I was hesitant at first it worked out perfectly.

When we would do the seven fish bash it would ussually not end until about 5-6 in the morning. Between cooking fish for 60 people and cleaning up at 6 a.m. it made for a crazy long day and left us pretty wiped out for Xmas day.

Our brunch feast came out quite fabulous. Liz made her famous breakfast bread pudding with eggs, bacon, aged cheddar and scallions and some rocking coffee cake. I grilled up a whole mess of sausage including keilbasa, spicy italian, garlic bratwurst, country sausage and some chorizo. We also made some dips with pita chips and had some great cheeses from baricelli. Since I was running tight on time I made a stop at the Sausage Shoppe on Saturday and picked up some blood and tongue susage, some old style head cheese and smoked lieberwurst, all were incredible!!! Norm and company do such an amazing job. We also had a great ham some smoked salmon and a mess of pickled vegetables. What a feast!!!

The best part of this was that at 8:00 the party was winding down and Liz and I were in bed by MIDNIGHT!!
I think the pooches liked brunch better to since they definatelly prefer sausage and breakfast pudding to seafood....lol...They are still sleeping of the food coma as i type.

Next order of business is who won the contest...First off, everyone did a great job and some of your meals sounded fabulous but I had to go with Gynene..smoked pork fat drippings and toast!!!!! You know the way to my heart. I also loved how you were keeping up the traditions of your childhood (I've been thinking about my moms lasagna all week!!....lol)

Everyone have a great and safe Holiday season.....MS

G...please send me a email to lola@lolabistro.com with all your info, so I can send out you gift cards for the cooking classes!!!

Comments

[ms]

JR....can you also send me a email...u were a close second and i have a little something for you..ms

[Catherine]

Hi Chef Symon-

First of all, Merry Christmas! Our family tradition is we go to church on Christmas Eve and come back to the house and open our gifts. There wasn't a lot of time to cook, and since we didn't have family over (my mom's relatives live in Southern California and my dad's relatives live in England)we decided that since we knew we got McDonalds gift cards we'd get dinner there and then came home. For once in I think my lifetime, McD's was actually closed! We got Chinese instead - pork fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, and chicken lo mein with of course, fortune cookies. It was delicious! This Christmas I got one of Ruhlman's books - The Reach of a Chef. What's so funny is that as soon as I opened it, I saw the reference to you in there! That was a pleasant surprise! Also, I turned to a page about Cat Cora. She is my female chef hero and main culinary inspiration (you're my fave guy chef and..would you mind taking 2nd to her for inspiration? :-) ). I have read almost 100 pages of the book already, I'm a speed reader, and I am lovin' it! I think I'm going to get some of Ruhlman's other books, and of course the one where a whole third is about you.

I was up later than you were last night if your post was accurate! I am usually quite a night owl for a 13-year-old, and I was up until 1 am, reading that book of course. I was actually in bed earlier than pretty much anybody in my family; and I have 4 sisters and a brother, not to mention my parents, and I probably beat most of them to bed!

My friend Melanie (15 yrs. old) and I absolutely love you! I'm pretty sure she would have entered your contest but she (and I) had no idea what we were going to have for Christmas dinner..a bummer! But still, have a merry Christmas! There's always next time...

~Catherine :-)

[dave]

Happy Christmas Chef!! I hope this day brings nothing but bountiful peace and happiness to you and your family. Have a great day.

Cheers,
dave

[NancyH]

Michael - Merry Christmas to you and your family! Any chance you might prevail on Liz to let you post the recipe for her breakfast bread pudding with eggs, bacon, aged cheddar and scallions? That sounds like an awesome way to start New Year's Day!

[Gynine]

I am so happy that I won, it made my day :)

Happy holidays to all who are reading this :)

[Wilmita]

To Chef Symon and Family,

A Very Happy Christmas and a Healthy and Prosperous New Year with much deserved continued success!

Cheers,

Wilmita

PS. Congratulations to Gynine! Have fun at the class and report back, OK?

Truly sorry I didn't make the cut. Oh well, the Noche Buena Pork Fest was a blast anyway and I vow to 'Keep On Cookin'! :)

[JoP in Omaha]

Your brunch sound fun and very tasty, Chef. Enjoy your days off!

Congratulations on your win, Gynine. Have a great class with Chef.

Here's to a good holiday and a great 2008 for all.

[Catherine]

Congrats Gynine. I hope u have a great time.

Merry Christmas to everybody.

[EB]

A brunch feast sounds like a really great plan actually! Any chance we can get a peek at that breakfast bread pudding recipe???

[Catherine]

chef what about those t-shirts? :-)

[suzysf]

Congrats & well done, Genine! I'm with Wilmita, report back and let us know what the class was all about!

[MissV]

I'm all about the Xmas Eve brunch. We started that a couple years back, rather than trying to smoosh two Xmas Eve celebrations for my & the hubbie's family together.

Four words.... Creme Brulee French Toast. Epicurious. (Ok, maybe that was five!) Best sweet french toast/bread pudding ever. I had to stop my sister in law from taking the entire pan to the car to eat on her own. I usually use challah and slice it think to lay it in an attractive pattern, but even with french or italian bread it is still so good!!

[ilea]

Post-Christmas food coma. The best coma to be in. I am still in recovery from it all. I am so glad you had a fantastic X-mas!

Congrats to both winners!! Lovely ideas to share!

Happy New Year!

ilea

Go Bucks! Beat LSU!

[Shelley]

Funny... I make a breakfast bread pudding for Christmas morning, too. This year my picky nephew had three helpings, so I know it must have been good! My version has sausage, spinach and gouda in it, though. :)

Happy holidays, and thanks for sharing a peek into your celebration, MS!

[Catherine]

HAPPY NEW YEAR IRON CHEF SYMON!!!

I will so be watching The Next Iron Chef marathon and your new battle..good luck!

MAY GOD BLESS YOU IN THIS NEW YEAR 2008!

From your fans -
Catherine, 13 and Melanie, 15

[Catherine]

Oh, Chef Symon - I forgot to mention, I bought Michael Ruhlman's "The Soul of a Chef" and I am currently reading the section about you and Lola - it is AWESOME! Even though the book was written 10 years ago, I still find it very interesting - the part about when you and your line cooks were weeded on a very busy night spoke to me saying, "Holy cow, that's real restaurant life. It ain't all glamour and TV cooking!" Thank you so much, Chef Symon, you are amazing and inspiring to me. Even though Jill Davie & Traci Des Jardins cook more of the kind of style that I'm interested in..I really love your farm-driven approach! Thanks so much..
=-] Catherine, age 13

[JR Prospal]

WOW! I was just checking in on the comments to let Gynine know that the cookies she was mentioning are spelled "Kolachki", and I saw the note to me. My grandmother makes apricot and poppyseed kolachki. Delicious, and there small so you can eat more!

Chef Symon, I'm so excited, where do I email you at, the restaurant?

JR Prospal
design at jrprospal dot com