Holiday Recipes From Salt Creek Grille Princeton Chef

Princeton, NJ -- Christmas is mere days away, and if you’re hosting family and friends, but don’t have a set menu, you may be praying for a Christmas Miracle.

Maybe this is the answer to your prayers.

Salt Creek Grille new Executive Chef Luis Estrada provides the following recipes for both food and drink to help make your holiday party a hit:

Holidays with a Latin Twist: Yellow Rice, Ensalada Rusa and Spicy Tomatillo Sauce.

Executive Chef Luis Estrada, Salt Creek Grille Princeton

Popular recipes to accompany a traditional Guatemalan stuffed duck, cooked by many families for special events.

Serves 7 people

For The Yellow Rice:

• 3 ½lb Yellow Rice
• 1tbsp Achiote Paste
• 1tbsp Cilantro (ground)
• 1 Carrot (diced)
• 2lb Green Beans (diced)
• 1 Onion (diced)
• 1 Pepper (diced)
• Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1. Small dice (1/4) the vegetables and add to the rice in the steamer for 20 minutes.
2. Stir in Achiote paste.
3. Season with salt pepper and ground cilantro.

For the Ensalada Rusa:

• 4 Carrots
• 3lb Green Beans
• 1 Spanish Onion
• 4 Red Peppers
• 2 Green Peppers
• 2 cups Mayonnaise
• Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1. Cut the vegetables and place in a steamer for 5 minutes.
2. Let cool, stir in with mayo.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For the Spicy Tomatillo Sauce

• 1lb Jalapenos
• 2lb Tomatillo
• 2ea Red Onion
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• ½lb Cilantro
• Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1. Place everything in the oven at 350 °F for 20 minutes.
2. Transfer ingredients to the blender to smooth.
3. Let cool before serving.

Christmas with a Latin Twist: Duck and Guatemalan Stuffing

Executive Chef Luis Estrada, Salt Creek Grille Princeton

A popular Guatemalan take on a classic, cooked by many families for special events. If you’re late in buying Duck you can substitute with Turkey. The flavor will keep, even several days after cooking. Enjoy leftovers in a sandwich with lettuce and slices of stuffing.

Serves 7 people

For the Duck & Stuffing

• 7lb Duck
• 1lb Ham, ground
• 1lb Hot Dog, ground
• 3lb Ground Pork Meat, ground
• 5 Peppers, ground
• 2 Onions, ground
• 1 cup Parsley, chopped
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1. Season duck cavity with salt and pepper.
2. Place duck, breast side up, on a rack in a large roasting pan. Slide hand under skin of duck breast to loosen skin and spread butter.
3. Rub remaining butter over outside of duck.
4. Ground all the remaining ingredients and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
5. Stuff into duck and seal.
6. Place onto the bottom rack of oven for 2 hours at 350 °F.
7. Remove the duck from the oven and cover loosely with foil to keep warm before carving and serving.

Jersey Jack Rose

Bar Manager Patrick McMenamin, Salt Creek Grille Princeton

An adaptation of the “Jack Rose,” a popular Prohibition-era cocktail.

Jack Rose was a crook and was notorious for using cunning and imagination to pin his crimes on others. Eventually Rose used the same guile and enthusiasm to go into the catering business. Legend has it, he came up with this cocktail, based on appleJACK and the color is a telling ROSE-pink. Others have claimed it was invented by New Jersey’s own Joseph P. Rose, a world champion mixologist.

Either way, Lair’s Apple Jack is making a comeback and the Jersey Jack Rose, with its gorgeous color and triple-fruit flavor, is one you should have in the recipe book for the winter.

Ingredients:

2 oz. Laird’s Apple Jack

0.5 oz. House-made Grenadine (equal parts POM Wonderful Juice & sugar)

0.6 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice

Magner’s Hard Cider

Directions:

1. Shake Apple Jack, Grenadine, and Lemon Juice with ice and strain into a martini glass.
2. Top with a float of the cider.
3. Garnish with a lemon rind.

The Introduction

A take on the “Into to Aperol,” created at the Pegu Club in New York.

Aperol is Italy’s most popular light spirit, and it finally arrived in the US in 2006. It boasts a rich, romantic Italian history. In 1919, the Barbieri Family of Padua, Italy created Aperol’s original secret recipe, an infusion of more than 30 aromatic herbs and spices including bitter and sweet orange. The original recipe remains unchanged to this day. It was introduced as a breakthrough innovation as a spirit with an unusually low alcohol content of only 11%.

Due to its relative novelty in on these shores, Aperol cocktails are rare. However, the Pegu Club in New York innovated the “Intro to Aperol” to introduce their customers to a fun and refreshing aperitif.

The Introduction removes Angorstura bitters from the Pegu Club’s recipe, allowing the zesty orange flavor of Aperol to take center stage. Its vibrant, sun-drenched color and orange flavor are the perfect remedies to help you through the long winter nights.

Ingredients:

1.5 oz. Aperol

.75 oz. Gin

.5 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice

.5 oz. Simple Syrup

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice,

2. Shake and pour into a short glass (or strain into coupe).

3. Garnish with an orange rind.