Christmas Dinner Thread.....

[Dan_1981]

Somehow I've been persuaded to do lunch this year.

For everyone.

Well that's a slight over exaggeration but we'll have

9 adults
3 children
1 baby.

I'll ignore the baby.

Traditional christmas dinner is the plan - so turkey & trimmings, something for starters & pudding with another option for dessert.

I'm reasonably comfortable cooking for that many people & happy in the kitchen especially with a roast & nothing especially fancy.

I'm slightly concerned about the scale & size of things.

So for that many people - how big a turkey? - I'm thinking approx 7kg?

What about spuds for mash? and roasties.

Stuffing.

Veg?


Main concern is our kitchen facilities being lacking.

We've got a double oven but neither of them are huge - so turkey in one. then use the other for roasties & stuffing, roast carrots.....

Planning on doing a small joint of beef in the slow cooker for a little alternative - which i've finish off in the oven to give it a crust.

Then our microwave also works as a convenction oven - although i've never used it......

What am I going to miss or balls up?

[ApOrbital]

We have gammon and chicken with all the trimmings can't stand turkey to dry sorry not much help am i

[SHutchinson]

Smoke the meat on a BBQ.

[LeadFarmer]

Please don't ignore the baby, thats cruel.

[BigJonMcQuimm]

Personally I cannot stand Turkey - but it will cover feeding the masses, unlike a Goose.

I try and prepare as much as possible prior to the big day.

Starters round our way normally involve a cold starter - crab, prawns, smoked salmon.

Last year I tried Tom Kerridge's stuffing - prepared early - and it was incredible! http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/toms_turkey_roll...



I also cooked MrKerridge's star anise carrots - stunning!

I use Delia's Christmas Pudding recipe - but double all her spice measurements.

[LeadFarmer]

Peel and cut the veg the night before, and leave soaking in bowls of water. Start saving any meat juices from roast meats between now and xmas for gravy, pour into freezer bags and lay flat in freezer so they thaw out fast. Get up earl on Xmas day and shove turkey into oven.

[48Valves]

Cook the turkey and prep everything else the night before the night before. I have done for years and it saves so much hassle on Christmas day.

More time for playing with the kids toys.

[omniflow]

Remember - if you cook a whole turkey it can easily rest for a whole hour - this gives you all the oven space to cook roast potatoes, stuffing, pigs in blankets etc.

I've never understood the practice of having more than one meat for an Xmas dinner - it was never part of my growing up, but I have spoken to many people for whom it was. For me Turkey and the traditional trimmings is all that is needed. I would vastly prefer a rib of beef, but Turkey means Xmas day, and for that reason alone it's what I will continue to cook.

[fat80b]

omniflow said:

Remember - if you cook a whole turkey it can easily rest for a whole hour - this gives you all the oven space to cook roast potatoes, stuffing, pigs in blankets etc.

More than an hour in our case - we aim to have the Turkey coming out of the oven at about 11am, wrap it in foil and then in a beach towel, stick it on the side. 3 hours later it is still piping inside and has the benefit of having steamed itself for a a bit - makes for a moist breast.

Bob

[21TonyK]

This year I may break with tradition and do a beef wellington. Sick to death of turkey as its on the work menu every three weeks as a roast (because its cheap all year except Xmas!)

[48k]

Dan_1981 said:

What am I going to miss or balls up?

Any vegetarians or people with "funny" diets on the guest list?

[RichB]

omniflow said:

I've never understood the practice of having more than one meat for an Xmas dinner - it was never part of my growing up, but I have spoken to many people for whom it was. For me Turkey and the traditional trimmings is all that is needed. I would vastly prefer a rib of beef, but Turkey means Xmas day, and for that reason alone it's what I will continue to cook.

Hear hear... Turkey (not dry when cooked properly) and Christmas pudding with cream and custard and a dob of brandy butter! Champagne, red wine, port, sleep...

[rsbmw]

7kg turkey would be overkill even for that size group. I bought a 5kg last year for 5 adults and a 2 year old, we used about 1/4 of the available meat.

Would advocate a wet brine to keep it moist, and a couple of hours on the Weber.

As for spuds, you can never have too many roast spuds!

Personally, I'm sick of turkey, I might roast or smoke a big leg of lamb or something this year.

[loafer123]

After doing a course with Simpsons in the Strand, and having enjoyed many roasts since, I follow their instructions, which in the case of Turkey are as follows - apologies for orientation;

[loafer123]

Just to add, that if you think the cooking time is too short, I cooked a chicken tonight using their recipe and that cooked for ~45 mins until the internal temp was only 50 deg C, then rested for a further 45 mins by which time it was both cooked and moist.