As the holiday season is upon us we find ourselves in the kitchen for way too many hours. So I thought if we could shorten the time preparing for our holiday feasts (and still have that homemade taste), we can all enjoy more time with our family and friends. Isn’t what the holidays are all about anyway? This is why I bring up the notion to consider adding BBQ to your holiday plans. Not actually barbecuing yourself (hence shortening your time in the kitchen or in front of the smoker), but to find a local BBQ joint or national chains to do the work for you!
You might not want to order all of your holiday fixin’s out, so I’ll give you a couple of different scenarios on how you can handle the holiday time-crunch dilemma. The first approach covers a semi-catered meal and the second is an all out, no cooking required catered holiday event.
Semi-Catered Holiday Event
Okay, so you want to enhance your traditional holiday gathering with a semi-catered holiday event. I would suggest getting yourself a smoked spiral sliced ham (or equivalent) that has already been smoked so all you need to do is put it in the oven for a couple of hours. Along with the ham instead of throwing apple sauce on the table or pineapple rings (this is the holiday season after all), consider preparing Sauteed Apples (see recipe below). By saving time not smoking the ham yourself, you are able to spend more time on the side dishes — although the side dishes will take no time at all!
To add a little seafood to your holiday feast, why not purchase smoked salmon? This could either be served warm or cold and can be bought at your local grocer and does not require you to either smoke it or even cook it. It’s already smoked for you! All you really have to do is unpack it, place it on a platter and garnish with parsley and lemon. You can either use this as an appetizer or one of the main dishes. A couple of time-saving side dishes for the smoked salmon are angel hair pasta with garlic butter and Romano cheese or a nice wild rice blend with toasted almonds. Both side dishes should take you less than 25 minutes to prepare.
Along with the two main dishes I have suggested and the side dishes, you also might want to offer a vegetable as well. What other vegetable side dish is more festive than the classic Campbell’s Green Bean Casserole? It will take virtually 10 minutes of prep time and 40 minutes cooking time. So, while the casserole is cooking you can be preparing something else. I also included the Green Bean Casserole recipe below.
For dessert either bake your own pie, cake or pastries or you can buy a wonderfully fresh pie at Perkin’s Restaurant or your favorite local restaurant that bakes homemade pies (saving your hours of preparation time). Then you can improvise by making your own ice cream to go on top which only takes about 20 minutes to make. For around $30, pick yourself up the Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker (The Ice Cream Ball) and have fresh ice-cream over the homemade taste of your favorite restaurant’s pies — plus your guest will have fun making the ice-cream with the ball.
Sauteed Apples
4 large green apples
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
A pinch ground cloves or 1 whole clove
Dash of freshly grated nutmegPeel and quarter the apples. Core each quarter. Slice the apples up. Preheat a medium skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add butter to the skillet, then apples. Saute 7 or 8 minutes, add sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and cook 2 minutes more.
Campbell’s Green Bean Casserole
From: Campbell’s Kitchen
Prep: 10 minutes
Bake: 30 minutes
Serves: 6This traditional classic features green beans and Campbell’s® Cream of Mushroom Soup topped with savory, crunchy French fried onions.
Ingredients:
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Campbell’s® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular, 98% Fat Free or 25% Less Sodium)
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. soy sauce
Dash ground black pepper
4 cups cooked cut green beans
1 1/3 cups French’s® French Fried OnionsDirections:
MIX soup, milk, soy, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in 1 1/2-qt. casserole.
BAKE at 350°F. for 25 min. or until hot.
STIR . Sprinkle with remaining onions. Bake 5 min.
TIP: Use 1 bag (16 to 20 oz.) frozen green beans, 2 pkg. (9 oz. each) frozen green beans, 2 cans (about 16 oz. each) green beans or about 1 1/2 lb. fresh green beans for this recipe.
For a change of pace, substitute 4 cups cooked broccoli flowerets for the green beans.
For a creative twist, stir in 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese with soup. Omit soy sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup additional Cheddar cheese when adding the remaining onions.
For a festive touch, stir in 1/4 cup chopped red pepper with soup.
For a heartier mushroom flavor, substitute Campbell’s® Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup for Cream of Mushroom Soup. Omit soy sauce. Stir in 1/4 cup chopped red pepper with green beans.
All-Out Catered BBQ Holiday Event
For those who don’t want to be in the kitchen at all and want to spend the most time with family and friends this holiday season you can opt for the all-out catered BBQ holiday. Here are some ideas on how you can go about tackling this feat.
If you are lucky enough to live near a barbecue restaurant (and most of us do), you really have a huge selection of barbecued food to select from for your menu. Famous Dave’s is a national barbecue chain that is found in many large cities and will have many of the items I listed below. Here’s a sample menu that can be festive for your holiday event:
- Barbecued chicken, baby back ribs, Texas-style beef brisket or pork (beef & pork being more festive)
- Fried catfish (most BBQ joints will have this on their menus — at least in the south)
- Side dishes can include mashed potatoes and green beans
- For dessert try ordering bread pudding and pecan pie (stop by an homemade ice-cream parlor if you desire)
So you see, you can either prepare a semi-catered event as I listed above that will allow you to have homemade food without having to be in the kitchen for the hours. Or you can go with the all-out catered BBQ holiday event where your kitchen will stay cool and you can concentrate on pouring drinks and spending more time with your guests.
Whichever holiday cooking plan you go with, have a happy, healthy and barbecuey holiday season!
