Christmas dinner 2025

Christmas dinner- 12/25/2025

Our home is overflowing with holiday cheer this year, starting right at the front door where the entryway side table is artfully piled high with festive decorations to welcome every guest.

This year’s Christmas dinner feels truly magical as the decorations are all out.

As you move through the house, the spirit of the season continues on the side tables, which feature adorable photos of Hazel nestled among Christmas decorations. Seeing her smile surrounded by such festive magic makes it clear why this first Christmas party is the highlight of our year..

The table is beautifully set with festive accents that bring a warm, holiday glow to the entire room. While the setting is perfect, the evening is extra special for another reason: it’s Hazel’s very first Christmas party. Having her with us makes every ornament and every bite of dinner feel like the start of a wonderful new tradition for our family.

Once a year, I get to bring out my special Reindeer plates.

We are now sitting down for dinner.

This year, we have a 5 course menu and 2 desserts.

Family picture!

First course: Starting with a Egg Arpège which is also known as the Chaud-froid d'Oeuf or the "Hot-Cold Egg", a world-famous signature dish created by Chef Alain Passard at his three-Michelin-starred restaurant, L'Arpège, in Paris.

Chef Passard is known for his "vegetal" cuisine and his obsession with the quality of ingredients. The Egg Arpège became a culinary icon because it took a humble, everyday ingredient, the chicken egg and elevated it to the status of luxury through technique and balance.

Course 2: Mushroom croquette served with shrimp bisque.

These two dishes make for an incredibly luxurious and sophisticated holiday pairing. The contrast between the earthy, crunchy croquette and the silky, oceanic bisque is a classic example of "land and sea" gourmet cooking.

A mushroom croquette is all about the contrast of textures. The exterior is shattered with a crisp, golden-brown Panko crust, which gives way to a decadent, molten interior.

The bisque has an intense flavor comes from roasting shrimp shells with mirepoix (carrots, celery, onions) and tomato paste before simmering them in white wine and stock.

3rd Course: Puree of cauliflower served with a pan seared scallop, beurre noisette (brown butter) and fried sage leaves.

The pan seared scallop rests on a bed of silky cauliflower purée, which provides a creamy, mellow backdrop to the richness of the seafood. The entire dish is brought together with a drizzle of beurre noisette (brown butter), which echoes the caramelized flavors of the sear, and topped with crispy fried sage leaves for a hit of herbal aroma and earthiness.

4th course: Stuffed squid with rice and shrimps in a garlic, parsley butter sauce

The squid is filled with a savory mixture of fluffy rice and succulent bay shrimps. The rice absorbs the natural juices of the shrimp as it cooks, ensuring every bite is packed with the essence of the sea. The squid is gently prepared so it remains delicate and buttery, providing a soft contrast to the structured rice filling. The dish is finished with a luxurious garlic and parsley butter sauce (Beurre Maître d'Hôtel style). The warmth of the butter carries the pungent aroma of fresh garlic and the bright, grassy notes of flat-leaf parsley, glazing the squid in a vibrant an delicious sauce..

5th course: Pan-Seared Moulard Duck Breast, chosen for its rich, steak-like flavor and generous fat cap was served with a spinach fondue..

This dish was an absolute "showstopper" of the evening. The duck was cooked slowly to render the fat, ensuring a glass-like crispy skin and a tender, succulent interior and served with a decadent a spinach fondue. By reducing the heavy cream until thick before blending it with the vibrant, blanched spinach,yield and intensely creamy and jewel-green, providing a beautiful color contrast to the dark duck meat. Everyone really enjoyed this dish.