Your christmas menu....

[Wadeski]

Is anyone else thinking about their christmas menu? I think its just going to be immediate family this year, so no stress and an opportunity to spend a little more on the ingredients.

I'm thinking about beef this year for the main course, we did it a few years back and it made a really nice change from turkey. Richard Corrigan has a good recipe for cooking a joint of beef super-slowly for about 6 hrs at low temperature after searing.

I basically want to do this as there's an all-guns- blazing South African Shiraz that Oz recommends to "drink now" this year I've been saving.

For a starter i want something small and very fatty, to go with an acidic white - maybe a small bit of belly pork, or if the piggybank looks full maybe seared fois gras with a redcurrant and champagne jelly?

then there's Xmas eve to think about...

[dmitsi]

Haven't figured everything out but it's goose this year, honey roasted. So much tastier than turkey.

[Todzilla]

I'm smoking the turkey this year - courtesy of an Adam Perry Lang recipe. Alongside that will be a gammon joint that i'll glaze with a lime marmalade, mustard and clove mix. There's be the usual mix of pigs in blankets etc as well.

Chrissy eve is usually a fish pie (plenty of smoked fish in there) - I see no reason to deviate from that!

[Muzzer]

We were away last year, so this year it's back to family tradition.

Christmas Eve:

Gammon joint, from the Butchers, with new potatoes and veg

Christmas Day:

Turkey crown with sausagemeat, pigs in blankets, all the associated trimmings

Boxing Day:

Cold meat with pickles, mustard and Bubble & Squeak.

[Wadeski]

fish pie sounds like a great idea for xmas eve!

[Bill]

Wadeski said:

I'm thinking about beef this year for the main course, we did it a few years back and it made a really nice change from turkey.

I only ever eat turkey at christmas so I have roast beef far more often.

Anyway, I'm doing the traditional again:

Turkey and trimmings, including removing and boning the legs before stuffing them with pork and chestnut and cooking them seperately so the breast doesn't dry out. Sprouts with bacon, roasties, parsnips and carrots, and bread sauce. Fantastic.

Smoked salmon to start and xmas pud and mince pies with brandy butter to complete the xmas bloat

Boxing day is usually leftovers of some description. Turkey risotto made with turkey stock went down very well a couple of years ago.

The challenge is xmas eve, because I don't want to get too stuffed but I don't want too much hassle. I normally do a stew of some description but fish pie is a cracking idea.

[Mobile Chicane]

Christmas Eve is the main event for me.

Depending on how many people there are to feed it could include several (or all of):

- Smoked salmon on blinis
- Jellied carp
- Marinated herrings
- Rosolje (Russian herring and betroot salad)
- Mushrooms in sour cream
- Green salad
- Cucumber salad with dill
- Tomato salad
- Roast gammon with raisin sauce
- Johansson's Temptation (Swedish potato and anchovy gratin)
- Sausages
- Swedish meatballs
- Sour cream, horseradish and dill sauces
- Various pickles - gherkins, crab apples, pumpkin
- Breads and cheeses
- Lots and lots of booze

It's all on the table in a bit of a free-for-all. Cold fishy stuff for the first course, then meaty stuff and the gratin from the oven.

It's hours and hours of work making all this, but the beauty of it is that everything can be prepared in advance and the hot stuff slung in the oven with minimal attention thereafter.

There's no clearing the table until the next day either. That's officially because superstitious Balts believe that the spirits of the departed visit your home on Christmas Eve and it would be rude not to leave food out. However it also means that fewer glasses get broken.

[SVX]

Bill said:

<snip>including removing and boning the legs before stuffing them with pork and chestnut and cooking them seperately so the breast doesn't dry out.</snip>

Those sound absolutely delicious

[Bonefish Blues]

Mrs BFB & I looked at each other many years ago and agreed that turkey was oot.

Xmas Eve is generally mussels either mariniere of oriental style.

Xmas day always starts with Maison Blanc pastries/p-o-chocs/almond croissants, bucks fizz, and good coffee.

Xmas dinner starts with oysters, usually continues with garlic prawns Portugese style in earthenware bowls, follows with a lobster each with token salad and ends with fresh fruit. Decent white wine(s) or something fizzy accompanies this.

Boxing day we host family so that's always a Rib of Beef and a Ham with all the trimmings.

[Shaolin]

Last year we had 2 sons with a g/f each for the first time so it was good but a bit odd. This year one has dumped g/f and the other one's g/f is going to see her Mum in France as she wasn't with her last year.

It will therefore be a major meat-fest and they will probably spend much time fighting on the sofa and taking the piss - happy days )

[Le TVR]

Trying to think of something different this year that doesn't involve roasting. Plan so far:

Oysters
Choux balls stuffed with foie gras with confiture of fig
Lobster and Rascasse raviolis
Breast of duck with caremalised mango slices
Mont d'Or

Just the wine to plan now.

[prand]

We usually rotate around relatives on Christmas day, and the menu usually revolves around turkey, ham, smoked salmon and mince pies/xmas pud, but I have found in the last few years a glass (or two) of champagen and a slice (or two) of pannetone is a marvellous Xmas morning breakfast!

[escargot]

Le TVR said:

Trying to think of something different this year that doesn't involve roasting. Plan so far:

Oysters
Choux balls stuffed with foie gras with confiture of fig
Lobster and Rascasse raviolis
Breast of duck with caremalised mango slices
Mont d'Or

Just the wine to plan now.

I'm actually drooling.

[SVX]

escargot said:

Le TVR said:

Trying to think of something different this year that doesn't involve roasting. Plan so far:

Oysters
Choux balls stuffed with foie gras with confiture of fig
Lobster and Rascasse raviolis
Breast of duck with caremalised mango slices
Mont d'Or

Just the wine to plan now.

I'm actually drooling.

So am I

[Stu R]

No idea. I'm fed of of Xmas dinner being glorified sunday roasts, so I'm looking to do something different.

I had considered cooking something involving a rack of lamb, but I might be a bit more adventurous.

[SVX]

We are likely be spit roasting kudu or some other large buck on Xmas day

[petemurphy]

ordered turkey yesterday from local butchers - is 8-10lbs enough for 4 people and some left overs?

to foil or not to foil is the question...

fish and chips in the village christmas eve as they have free cherry and a lovely pub opposite with roaring fires.

what to do the thursday hmmm

[Todzilla]

To foil or not to foil - do you mean covering the bird so it doesn't dry out? If so, forget the foil and cover it with smoked bacon! It'll destroy the bacon but the effect it has on the meat and subsequently the gravy is amazing. Just take it off for the last 30mins or so of cooking to allow the bird to brown up nicely...

[petemurphy]

Todzilla said:

To foil or not to foil - do you mean covering the bird so it doesn't dry out? If so, forget the foil and cover it with smoked bacon! It'll destroy the bacon but the effect it has on the meat and subsequently the gravy is amazing. Just take it off for the last 30mins or so of cooking to allow the bird to brown up nicely...

yep thats what i mean - think i'll do what you suggest - does it make any difference if its a fan oven ie does it dry it out more?

[Todzilla]

It hasn't dried it out too much in the past for me. I make sure I baste the bid every 20-30 minutes though, and I also use quite a lot of butter on and under the skin of the bird (plus herbs, sage etc).