Fabulous Holiday Feasts with the help of Big Sky Premium Meats & Specialty Foods
By Stephanie Gandulla
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Holiday table setting
photo courtesy of Mery Donald
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The holidays are coming. Are you ready? Here are some tips for festive holiday entertaining:
1. Make shopping fun
Turn the activity of shopping for your feast into a fun event. Invite a friend, stop for a peppermint martini, or throw in a well-deserved pedicure. Save time by buying gift baskets with a variety of Made in Montana products.
2. Enrich your dining atmosphere
Don’t stop at just the tree and wreath...and don’t limit yourself and your guests to the old musical standards. Take the extra time to research international holiday themes and music. Decorate the table, the kitchen, even yourself.
3. Create a menu
A fancy touch that’s easy to do, menus let you highlight the meal. Choose a fancy font, a few clever images from clip-art, and print the luscious line-up on colorful paper. A menu lets you show off the details of the feast and gives your guests something to refer to while they’re relishing your food.
4. Give your guests favors
Crackers are a British Christmas tradition and an inexpensive way to get the festivities rolling. Certainly not edible, this type of cracker is a party favor consisting of a cardboard tube covered in gift-wrap containing various items, traditionally a paper hat, a joke or motto, and a small gift. The cracker also contains a “snap” that creates a pop when the ends of the cracker are pulled.
5. Lengthen the courses
Ensure that your guests enjoy every minute of the feast. Not rushing will encourage healthier digestion and more conversation. Start with a cocktail hour when guests can mingle. Plan one course as a tasting of cheese, sausages, or wine. Make a game of guessing a wine’s vintage or region. Winner gets your recipe!
6. Share holiday toasts
Share a few heart-warming toasts and encourage your guests to share their own. Be careful, toasts sometimes speed up the consumption of your spiced wine...have plenty on hand and take the keys at the door.
7. Exercise
Invite your guests for a snowy walk after the meal. This is an excellent way to keep the celebration going and stay healthy.
Feast preparation
Big Sky Premium Meats and Specialty Foods, a gourmet shop located just south of Four Corners, makes it fun and easy to make the holidays tasty. In addition to providing top-quality Montana meats, BSPM offers everything you’ll need to create a scrumptious holiday feast, from appetizer to entrée to dessert.
Seyem Lampard-Espelien and her husband, Doug, have operated their meat and specialty food store for just over a year and enjoy a growing reputation as a great resource for discerning connoisseurs. Painted with pride on the wall of the store is their mission statement: “We provide natural, superior quality meat which has been raised by time-honored traditions of Montana ranchers.”
Sherry Moore, the on-staff wine and cheese expert, assists customers with cooking instructions for some of the more unusual cuts of meat. She also loves to share her expertise on clever wine pairings and gourmet recipes.
The quality of their meat and range of products have helped to build a diverse clientele for the young shop. Customers include neighborhood folks, loyal patrons who travel from around the state, and tourists hoping to taste some Montana flavor. Local caterers and personal chefs frequent the shop, a testament to the quality and variety offered. Big Sky Premium Meats also supplies their Montana meats to area restaurants. One buyer says, “There’s nothing like it to be found in Montana.”
What makes the Espelein’s meat so special? According to Seyem, “Our cattle breathe Montana air and enjoy Montana views!” Just as important, their Black Angus cattle are Certified Natural. This means drug-free; no steroids, growth hormones or antibiotics are used in the raising. The beef is raised right here in the Gallatin Valley by Doug himself. He caters to the cattle, seeing to their comforts and, according to his wife Seyem, “does cattle ranching the way they did it 100 years ago.” Also contributing to their beef’s quality, it is aged in cold storage to ensure its taste and tenderness. There are two qualified butchers on staff who will trim and cut to customers’ requests.
If beef isn’t on your holiday menu, other Montana meat products are also available. Seyem and Doug carefully choose their turkey, duck, and goose from two local Hutterite colonies, known for their natural products. Excellent local pork is offered and elk will be available this holiday season. Sausages, such as bison-blueberry or jalapeno-cheese, are a perfect choice for an unusual holiday breakfast or flavorful appetizer.
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Cheese and appetizers for the holiday season
photo courtesy of Meghan Hof
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Big Sky Premium Meats complements their local meats with an array of international foods and ingredients. Choose your favorite cheese and cracker. Pick a fig or champagne vinegar for your salad greens and select your starch from an assortment of epicurean rice, polenta, and pasta. Head to the freezer for the ice cream.
BSPM also carries a diverse selection of beer and wine, including international vintages and Montana wines and beers; they recently created a new and exciting Wine Club. Sign up now to guarantee your participation in holiday selections and tasting events.
Seyem and Sherry share below some of their favorite holiday recipes that showcase the quality of the meats and special local and international products they offer. Enjoy the Beef Tenderloin Steaks with Smoky Bacon-Bourbon Sauce for something new at Thanksgiving and the Roast Lamb with Huckleberry-Pecan Crust at Christmas. A fruity twist on holiday beverages that your guests will go bananas over is Orange Cream Mimosas. Perfect for ringing in the New Year!
RECIPES
Beef Tenderloin Steaks with Smoky Bacon-Bourbon Sauce (Bon Appetit)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups dry red wine (we suggest burgundy)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 3/4 cups canned beef broth
1 1/4 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 fresh thyme sprig
8 ounces BSPM bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 tablespoon Amish butter
4 1-inch-thick beef tenderloin steaks
1 tablespoon bourbon
Boil wine and garlic in heavy medium saucepan until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 15 minutes. Add next 5 ingredients; boil until reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Set sauce aside. Cover and chill. (Can be made the day ahead. )
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The end result; Beef tenderlion steaks with smoky Bacon-Bourbon Sauce (Bon Appetit)
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Cook bacon in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon drippings from skillet. Add flour to drippings in skillet; whisk to blend. Cook 1 minute, whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in sauce; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until sauce thickens, about 2 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt butter in another heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper. Add to skillet and cook to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer steaks to plates.
Mix bacon and bourbon into sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon over steaks. Serve with a bottle of Ten Spoon Moonlight Pinot Noir to complete the Montana experience.
Roast Lamb with Huckleberry-Pecan Crust
(Bon Appetit)
Ingredients:
2 well-trimmed racks of lamb (each about 1 1/4 pounds)
6 tablespoons Viki’s Montana Classics Huckleberry or Black Cap Preserves
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
6 tablespoons minced fresh Italian parsley
3/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless French bread
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) Amish butter, melted
Preheat oven to 425°. Sprinkle lamb with salt and pepper. Combine preserves and Dijon mustard in small bowl; whisk to blend. Mix pecans, Italian parsley, and fresh breadcrumbs in another small bowl to blend. Spread half of mustard glaze over rounded side of each lamb rack. Pat half of breadcrumb mixture over mustard glaze on each. Drizzle each with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Transfer lamb to large rimmed baking sheet. Roast until breadcrumb topping is golden and thermometer inserted into lamb registers 130°F for medium-rare, about 30 minutes. Cut racks between bones into individual chops and serve. Ten Spoon’s Prairie Thunder (Petite Sirah) would pair well or your favorite Merlot.
Orange Cream Mimosas
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice (5-6 oranges)
1 orange, zested
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup superfine sugar
1 bottle of champagne or sparkling wine (or cider or gingerale)
Put orange juice, zest, half-and-half, and sugar into blender and process until the sugar has dissolved, about 30 seconds. Pour mixture in shallow pan and freeze until hard, 4 hours or overnight.
Remove the frozen orange mixture from the freezer and let it sit to soften slightly, about 10 minutes. With a small melon-baller, scrape out a small scoop and put it into a champagne glass. Slowly fill the glass with champagne and serve garnished with strawberries.
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