Spilling the Beans with Maryellen Fillo!

"Spill The Beans..." by Maryellen Fillo
for The Hartford Courant

Just one week left before the big days, the days when everything has to be perfect, when dinner has to be just right.

Panicked? Don't be, says Vinnie Carbone of Carbone's, Hartford's signature restaurant. Give yourself a present, and relax. A pleasing, pretty dinner can be presented as easily as Santa shoots down that chimney, the well-known chef insists.

In the midst of his own holiday crunch at the restaurant, and bracing for his own holiday at home, Carbone offers a chair by his stove from which to "spill the Christmas cooking beans" with Java:

Q: If you are a person with no time and no talent, and the family is coming for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day dinner, what should your strategy be?

A: Keep it simple, and have a plan. It doesn't have to be gourmet. Whatever you are doing should not take you more than two hours from start to finish. Make a list. Buy some of the side dishes already prepared if you feel overwhelmed. Ask people to bring certain dishes to help out. But if you insist on doing it yourself, it can be done.

Q: So give me some recommendations, please!

A: Start with a nice salad, a fennel orange salad. Slice up some seedless oranges, and place them on a plate with some fennel, dried cranberries, a sprinkling of olive oil, greens if you want them, but you don't have to have them. It's festive-looking and easy to put together.

Q: And then?

A: I like fish at the holidays. I am off the salmon kick. There are other fish that are more economical but just as good. A nice halibut filet wrapped in prosciutto is a nice choice. You lay the halibut over a slice of prosciutto; I use Margherita brand. Put some sage leaves on top, wrap it up, lightly flour it and sauté it. Once it is browned, turn it down to a medium heat and add some artichoke hearts, capers, white wine, a little lemon juice and soy sauce, and cook it until the sauce is reduced by half. Add some butter, and you have a nice piccata-style dish.

Q: Dessert?

A: A Panettone bread pudding or a croissant pudding. It can be done ahead of time, and that just saves you time and stress. You have to remember that TLC is the most important component of a holiday meal. Even if you make a mistake, who cares? It's Christmas.

Q: What will your holiday menu include?

A: We do the seven-fish Italian Christmas Eve dinner. We have Caesar salad, smelts, stuffed shrimp, calamari, tuna carpaccio, a lot of appetizers. Christmas Day is more American, a roast beef dish. The nicest part is sitting around the table and catching up with each other. As the family gets bigger, our times together are fewer and further apart. That is what makes our dinners so special.

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