Your favorite christmas meal recipe?

[PugwasHDJ80]

So apart from the turkey and roast potatoes, what are your favorite other christmas recipes?

Ie we started having Brussels with chestnuts and shallots, and it's a firm favorite now.

Looking for other ideas, could be a good sauce recipe, or a good side dish, or an improved vegetable recipe (a better parsnip recipe wouldn't go amiss for example!)

[calibrax]

We always have two types of stuffing... traditional sage & onion (made with sausagemeat), and a Scottish recipe called skirlie.


Skirlie (oatmeal stuffing)

100g butter
2 onions
350g coarse ground oatmeal
salt & pepper

Chop onions, melt butter and fry the onions until soft, then add the oatmeal and cook gently for about 15 minutes. Add salt & pepper near the end.

Sounds very basic, but it's absolutely delicious, especially with gravy

[calibrax]

Cook your brussels sprouts and carrots together. Once fully cooked, drain away all the water, put the pan back on the heat and add a large knob of butter, and cook for a further 5-10 mins, stirring as you go. Gives them a gorgeous flavour!

[Bill]

You said not turkey, but..

I take the legs off, bone them and stuff them with sausage meat (sausage meat, pureed chestnuts and fried onions) stuffing, wrap in foil for the first 20 minutes then unwrap to crisp for 25. You can then cook the rest in 3 hrs or so without stuffing so it isn't dry.

[AJS-]

Stuffing wrapped in bacon. Can't beat that.

[PugwasHDJ80]

Bill said:

You said not turkey, but..

I take the legs off, bone them and stuff them with sausage meat (sausage meat, pureed chestnuts and fried onions) stuffing, wrap in foil for the first 20 minutes then unwrap to crisp for 25. You can then cook the rest in 3 hrs or so without stuffing so it isn't dry.

that's interesting- so you only cook the legs for 45 mins total? or for 3hr 45?

[Bill]

45 total. They're effectively two mini joints, and cooking them wrapped to start with means you don't need to tie them. With the main bit of bird unstuffed the air can circulate in the cavity which speeds the cooking and with the legs gone you're not overcooking the breast while waiting for the legs to finish. I do put a load of herby butter under the skin though.