Christmas 2018 not 2019 Food & Drink
Discussion
Inspired by the "I don't do Christmas" thread, I thought we could have a thread running for all things food & drink related. This could be anything from sharing what you are planning this year, to sharing tried and trusted recipes, best sources and suppliers for ingredients, or handy or amusing family traditions, good offers in the shops etc. No Bah Humbugs allowed! 
I've agreed to do Christmas day for 14 this year, which we've done a couple of times before successfully (a three oven, 110cm range cooker helps a lot!) and have started to consider what we need for a day (or week) long eat and drink-athon.
I'll be getting a lot of my meat related stuff down the road from me from independent butcher Phil Bowditch in Little Marlow, which is a great little place that also does good fish & seafood and has an on-site smokery, We usually get a 5-5.5kg turkey (reared at a local farm) which covers the meal and beyond, a tonne of sausages, some sausage meat, chipolatas and at least 1 or 2 kg packs of his smoked streaky bacon) . The sausages and bacon (and eggs) will be cooked for various christmas breakfasts, but also on the day to cook with the turkey, for stuffing, wrapping and decorating the turkey and pigs in blankets.
I'll be curing and smoking a couple of sides of salmon, and will hot smoke a 2-3kg gammon joint. These I usually search out at the supermarket or online, depending on whoever has a good deal on.
We don't really do anything special beyond the traditional roast turkey, ham and veg, we always have sprouts, parsnips, roast potatoes, braised red cabbage (with red wine and cider vinegar), cauliflower cheese, and my chestnut, sage and sausage meat stuffing (which is more like meatloaf, but it goes down a treat). I get my sisters to bring puddings over so we usually have a selection, but must include Christmas pudding and trifle. It would be great to know what other people have for their Christmas lunch.
Now interestingly we don't usually bother with a starter, I always fancy doing something but end up dropping it as it seems like a bot of hassle when you are eating so much on the main course and beyond.
Cheese? yes, lots! Snacks, chutneys, mustards, sweets (always Quality Street) also essential!
I'm also quite interested to know if there's any good whiskey, brandy, bourbon or rum deals going on, I got a few bottles from Amazon last year (which are now finished) which has some decent drink available now at good prices.
So, over to you...!
I've agreed to do Christmas day for 14 this year, which we've done a couple of times before successfully (a three oven, 110cm range cooker helps a lot!) and have started to consider what we need for a day (or week) long eat and drink-athon.
I'll be getting a lot of my meat related stuff down the road from me from independent butcher Phil Bowditch in Little Marlow, which is a great little place that also does good fish & seafood and has an on-site smokery, We usually get a 5-5.5kg turkey (reared at a local farm) which covers the meal and beyond, a tonne of sausages, some sausage meat, chipolatas and at least 1 or 2 kg packs of his smoked streaky bacon) . The sausages and bacon (and eggs) will be cooked for various christmas breakfasts, but also on the day to cook with the turkey, for stuffing, wrapping and decorating the turkey and pigs in blankets.
I'll be curing and smoking a couple of sides of salmon, and will hot smoke a 2-3kg gammon joint. These I usually search out at the supermarket or online, depending on whoever has a good deal on.
We don't really do anything special beyond the traditional roast turkey, ham and veg, we always have sprouts, parsnips, roast potatoes, braised red cabbage (with red wine and cider vinegar), cauliflower cheese, and my chestnut, sage and sausage meat stuffing (which is more like meatloaf, but it goes down a treat). I get my sisters to bring puddings over so we usually have a selection, but must include Christmas pudding and trifle. It would be great to know what other people have for their Christmas lunch.
Now interestingly we don't usually bother with a starter, I always fancy doing something but end up dropping it as it seems like a bot of hassle when you are eating so much on the main course and beyond.
Cheese? yes, lots! Snacks, chutneys, mustards, sweets (always Quality Street) also essential!
I'm also quite interested to know if there's any good whiskey, brandy, bourbon or rum deals going on, I got a few bottles from Amazon last year (which are now finished) which has some decent drink available now at good prices.
So, over to you...!
11 for us this year 4 more than previous years so a slightly larger Turkey required and a bit more prep before hand.
Very similar to the OP we don’t normally do a starter and if I did it would be something prepared the day before and heated up (soup) with homemade bread. Normally just do nibbles pate, bread, prawns, smoked salmon, dips that sort of stuff that people can have with a glass of Prosecco while I toil away on the veg and meat.
Christmas pud and something with ice cream for the kids maybe a cheesecake.
Keep it all simple or prepare the day before and you can’t go wrong oh and a turkey crown because I’m not cooking a huge bird for 10 hours like some.
Very similar to the OP we don’t normally do a starter and if I did it would be something prepared the day before and heated up (soup) with homemade bread. Normally just do nibbles pate, bread, prawns, smoked salmon, dips that sort of stuff that people can have with a glass of Prosecco while I toil away on the veg and meat.
Christmas pud and something with ice cream for the kids maybe a cheesecake.
Keep it all simple or prepare the day before and you can’t go wrong oh and a turkey crown because I’m not cooking a huge bird for 10 hours like some.
Because its my job at Christmas we tend to keep the food relatively simple and just focus on doing things really well. I will boil and roast a ham on the bone a day or two ahead so on Xmas eve we can just pig out on ham, nice cheeses, good bread and wine. On the day a brined breast cooked very low and slow from about 8am so that by 2 the oven is free for everything else. Kids always want langoustines or smoked salmon as a starter which I just buy through my deli supplier or from the local fish market. Boxing day is over to relatives for what is always an "interesting" buffet, cold cheesy garlic bread with shell on prawns stuck in them? Life then returns to normal until New Years day when its beef Wellington.
This year will either be three of us, or five, or ten!
Doesn't really change a great deal for me, I will sit around on Christmas eve watching Star Trek films (a tradition in this house) drinking and prepping everything for Christmas day, just peeling and chopping veg, smothering the bird in butter and bacon (and the Turkey, phnar phnar!), loading everything into the steamer trays, bird in the oven and set the timer so it comes on before we wake up (or after if it's just three) set the coffee percolator to come on for when I wake up. It's just a roast dinner with pigs in blankets so nothing strenuous.
Breakfast will be bacon sandwiches, tea will be leftover Christmas pudding pan fried in butter with cream next to cheese and biscuits with port (I get to nose the stilton as its my house
)
Boxing day, bubble and squeak for breakfast/lunch made from the leftovers then its over the outlaws for tea in the evening (basic sandwiches, nibbles and always a triffle)
I am almost looking forward to it
EDIT - Turkey will be a crown or a boned and rolled bird. I am making my Christmas cake this weekend so that it will be well fed by Christmas
Doesn't really change a great deal for me, I will sit around on Christmas eve watching Star Trek films (a tradition in this house) drinking and prepping everything for Christmas day, just peeling and chopping veg, smothering the bird in butter and bacon (and the Turkey, phnar phnar!), loading everything into the steamer trays, bird in the oven and set the timer so it comes on before we wake up (or after if it's just three) set the coffee percolator to come on for when I wake up. It's just a roast dinner with pigs in blankets so nothing strenuous.
Breakfast will be bacon sandwiches, tea will be leftover Christmas pudding pan fried in butter with cream next to cheese and biscuits with port (I get to nose the stilton as its my house
)Boxing day, bubble and squeak for breakfast/lunch made from the leftovers then its over the outlaws for tea in the evening (basic sandwiches, nibbles and always a triffle)
I am almost looking forward to it
EDIT - Turkey will be a crown or a boned and rolled bird. I am making my Christmas cake this weekend so that it will be well fed by Christmas
Edited by geeks on Monday 29th October 17:02
LimaDelta said:
Can't we get this year over and done with first?
The Bah Humbug thread is this way ----> https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...Besides, I'm trying to distract myself from all the bad news about Brexit/Trump/Fulham by wrapping myself up in tinsel and thinking about christmas dinner instead!
prand said:
LimaDelta said:
Can't we get this year over and done with first?
The Bah Humbug thread is this way ----> https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...Besides, I'm trying to distract myself from all the bad news about Brexit/Trump/Fulham by wrapping myself up in tinsel and thinking about christmas dinner instead!
Not sure about the big day itself, but sometime one evening in the preceding weeks I'll have a stab at this: https://www.itv.com/ginositalianescape/recipes/rig...
Chianti Reserva for cooking, an Amarone of some description for drinking.
Then of course drink the rest of the Chianti later on with cold cuts and cheese.
Chianti Reserva for cooking, an Amarone of some description for drinking.
Then of course drink the rest of the Chianti later on with cold cuts and cheese.
NoVetec said:
Not sure about the big day itself, but sometime one evening in the preceding weeks I'll have a stab at this: https://www.itv.com/ginositalianescape/recipes/rig...
Chianti Reserva for cooking, an Amarone of some description for drinking.
Then of course drink the rest of the Chianti later on with cold cuts and cheese.
And somebody was complaining that Italian food is bland on the Jamie Oliver thread!Chianti Reserva for cooking, an Amarone of some description for drinking.
Then of course drink the rest of the Chianti later on with cold cuts and cheese.
This is perfect fare for the Christmas season. I once made an amazingly rich beef short rib dish using an Osso Buco recipe (when you are supposed to use beef shin, which went down a treat on a cold evening with friends between Christmas and new year.
It was easy enough to make too, after browning the meaty bits, make a sauce is white wine, tinnned tomatoes and beef stock added to fried onions, carrots, celery and garlic and all put in the oven at low temp for a few hours while you go for a walk and a trip to the pub.
I note above that someone mentioned "brine" in regard to turkey earlier.
I've never tried it, does it work and what does it do?
I usually cook my turkey for the minimum time possible at quite a hot temp. I go by a temperature gauge in the thick part of the thigh and find it cooks for less than 90 mins. Rather than try and calculate 20 mins per pound then 30 mins extra which is almost twice as long for a 5kg bird. An extra benefit is no need to wake up before dawn to get the turkey on.
I've found this results in a lovely moist bird.
I've never tried it, does it work and what does it do?
I usually cook my turkey for the minimum time possible at quite a hot temp. I go by a temperature gauge in the thick part of the thigh and find it cooks for less than 90 mins. Rather than try and calculate 20 mins per pound then 30 mins extra which is almost twice as long for a 5kg bird. An extra benefit is no need to wake up before dawn to get the turkey on.
I've found this results in a lovely moist bird.
prand said:
And somebody was complaining that Italian food is bland on the Jamie Oliver thread!
This is perfect fare for the Christmas season. I once made an amazingly rich beef short rib dish using an Osso Buco recipe (when you are supposed to use beef shin, which went down a treat on a cold evening with friends between Christmas and new year.
It was easy enough to make too, after browning the meaty bits, make a sauce is white wine, tinnned tomatoes and beef stock added to fried onions, carrots, celery and garlic and all put in the oven at low temp for a few hours while you go for a walk and a trip to the pub.
Heathens with no imagination!This is perfect fare for the Christmas season. I once made an amazingly rich beef short rib dish using an Osso Buco recipe (when you are supposed to use beef shin, which went down a treat on a cold evening with friends between Christmas and new year.
It was easy enough to make too, after browning the meaty bits, make a sauce is white wine, tinnned tomatoes and beef stock added to fried onions, carrots, celery and garlic and all put in the oven at low temp for a few hours while you go for a walk and a trip to the pub.
An Ossobuco is a dish I need to try. Think the first time I'll go Milanese (I believe) and do it with veal shanks.
85Carrera said:
prand said:
I've found this results in a lovely moist bird.
But what about the food In other news. Cake was made a while back now being fed weekly with brandy
It’s due to come out on Saturday and be fed, I’ll try to remember to get a pic.
The old man has been given two weeks to lock in if he is appearing this year for Christmas so I can order the meat from the butchers, it will be his German girlfriends first UK Christmas Dinner so no pressure!
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