Darci Marchese, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Stuck on what to serve for your Christmas meal? There’s no one right answer.
“There’s really an attitude of anything goes,” says local chef and food writer, Mary Beth Albright.
“It could be a ham. It could be crown-roasted pork. That’s something that I love doing. Beef tenderloin is something that a lot of people do,” says Albright.
She says you can never go wrong with a traditional roast.
“There’s something very festive about it. It’s a centerpiece for the table – it looks beautiful – it’s easy on the cook,” Albright says.
She suggests decorating the roast with artichokes, rosemary or curly parsley all around it.
“It adds interest, it adds color to the platter and that’s really an important thing when maybe you could see just a big brown piece of meat sitting in the middle of a plate,” she jokes.
She also says you can get creative with colorful pomegranates.
“Take a whole pomegranate, cut it in half and there are those beautiful seeds,” she says.
Side dishes also can be easy.
“The sides can be something as simple as mashed potatoes or roasted vegetables,” she says.
If your guests want to avoid starch, she suggests blending roasted cauliflower that can be whipped into a dish that has the texture of mashed potatoes.
Albright’s favorite holiday drink?
“It is vodka muddled with fresh, cold cranberries and orange peel and mint,” she says.
She suggests soaking it all overnight. Then you mix it, put it in a glass with ice and top it with champagne.
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