It’s the day before the night before Christmas, and all through the house, all the creatures are stirring (but hopefully no mice to speak of). We’ll get to dinner in a moment, but first — because Christmas morning is on the brain — we want to share this spinach and Gruyère breakfast casserole, a new recipe from Melissa Clark. It’s hearty (lots of sautéed spinach and nutty Gruyère cheese), bright (Melissa, noted lemon-lover, adds zest to the eggy custard) and merry-making (you can assemble the casserole ahead of time and bake it when you’re ready, freeing up your morning for any manner of happy holiday high jinks).
Featured Recipe
Spinach and Gruyère Breakfast Casserole
So what to eat tonight? Kay Chun’s one-pot Japanese curry chicken and rice is a strong contender, not least because of the “one-pot” part. Kay achieves its classic, salty-savory-sweet balance without the use of curry blocks, instead blooming curry powder, ground nutmeg and Worcestershire sauce in butter to create the round and rich sauce. Use whatever veggies are kicking around the crisper — sweet potatoes, cauliflower and peas would be great substitutions or additions — and serve with your favorite vinegary pickles.
For tomorrow: Regina Schrambling’s five-star lasagna, with its layers of noodles blanketed in sauce and cheese. Or this decidedly special occasion roasted beef tenderloin from Genevieve Ko, whose leftovers will make some incredible roast beef and horseradish sandwiches. Or maybe a satisfying slab of pernil, or mushroom Bourguignon, golden pastelitos, or silky maple-baked salmon, or … we have a lot of excellent Christmas recipes to choose from.
Whatever you settle on for dinner, you’ll probably need something to snack on while you finish wrapping presents. We’ll leave this pimento cheese right here.
And if you’ll be setting out treats out for a certain someone, these chocolate chip cookies, a recipe from Jacques Torres adapted by David Leite, are the most popular, most-reviewed cookies in the New York Times Cooking database. These, with a cold coquito to dip them in, will surely make a happy Christmas for all (and for all who are eating them, a very good night).
