Preparing For The Holidays

Just a bit ago I put up a post about the Best Method For Freezing Stock.  So here are the mushrooms I sauteed up to which I added 2 discs of the frozen demi glace to make the sauce. The marvelous thing is that the sauce thickens as it cooks.

The filets which were carefully wrapped and thawed from the freezer were done on the grill. You can use any cut of steak with this sauce - it doesn't just have to be for the higher end cut. A nice piece of on sale beef such as a London Broil, a Sirloin or a beef roast would be ever so complemented with the demi glace.
In fact it also pairs with pork; I know because I used a disc of it it my pork chop gravy one evening when my normal go to chicken broth was not in my refrigerator or pantry.


For those who have a tradition of a formal sit down holiday dinner you could save yourself a bit of time and make stock ahead now and freeze it. That way there is one less task to preform as the holiday season gears up. Again, make your shrimp stock or other seafood stock now. In fact do you have a favorite soup that you like for the holidays like a beautiful butternut squash soup or pumpkin soup? Be sure to puree the soup before you freeze it and it will keep for at least 2-3 months and not loose its' flavor. To save space in your freezer put it in freezer zip lock bags after you have properly cooled it down and fill the bags about 3/4 full and press to remove any air. When you are ready to use it, pull out as many bags as you need the day before you plan to use it and allow it to defrost in the refrigerator.