What's on your Christmas menu?

homemadecider

This is my first Xmas staying at home with the OH and ergo the first year I've had full say in what's on the menu on the big day. Would be really interested in what other people are preparing as we still have a bit of flexibility - i.e. I may want to steal your ideas!

Our day should be something like this...

Get up, exchange gifts

Breakfast - Pannetone french toast with smokey bacon and maple syrup, with a glass of bubbly

Go for a walk, stretch our legs

Lunch/ dinner (aka The Big Event)
- Starter of chicken liver pate with bread (all homemade, of course!). Will serve with salad.
- Main of barbary duck (pan fried and finished in the oven), sweet potato fondant and sprouts
- Dessert of chocolate roulade

Afterwards the plan is to laze about in front of the fire, eating chocolates and watching Christmas movies. Oh, and consuming far far too much wine.

What say you, boardies? What will you be cooking on Xmas day?

The Hill Billy

Sticking just to the food & drink (I'm sure nobody wants to know the full ins & outs of my Christmas Day activities...

After I've kicked off the turkey in the oven we'll have breakfast in my parents' house which will consist of several large G&Ts, smoked salmon & brown bread, fistfuls of cold spiced beef.

For dinner back in our place (we don't bother with starters & head straight for the main event), while sipping on a glass of sherry or four I'll be cooking free-range turkey & ham, roast spuds/carrots/parsnips, steamed brusslers & plain ol' sage & onion stuffing. I will make the gravy with some of the stock from the giblet soup that I'll have made on Christmas Eve.

Wine will probably be a Barolo.

Dessert will probably be a cheesecake made by Mrs Billy. She's not fully decided on this yet though.

Digestif will be a Grappa di Nebbiolo.

Later in the evening I'll make sambos with the cold meats for Mrs Billy & My Boys. I usually get through a turkey leg & half a jar of pickled onions. Mug of strong tea will be essential.

Dizzyblonde

Our 2 daughters will be here so we'll get up, exchange presents, have breakfast which is usually ham and eggs because I bake the ham on Christmas Eve.
My 3 sisters-in-law join us for dinner before which we'll have Poinsettia cocktails (Prosecco, Cointreau and cranberry juice)
Dinner consists of ham, a loin of pork roasted in garlic, lemon and olive oil (we're not into turkey), stuffing, apple sauce, mash, roast potatoes, sprouts and carrot& parsnip mash.
One daughter is making brownies for dessert, and I usually make a pavlova too.

We watch television for a while, then in the evening the rest of the extended family arrive. We have a buffet of salad, meats and the daughters usually have some hot nibbles made too. We play boardgames or games with no boards, and it gets quite noisy.
We used to all spend Christmas night at my parents' house but my mother's alone now and too old to host it, so we've had it in our house for the past few years.

I've often longed for a quiet Christmas Day with a walk on the beach and an evening in front of the telly, but I'd probably miss the crowd.

leahyl

Wow very fancy guys!

We just have your traditional Turkey, Ham and ten types of potato :pac: - mash, roasties, potato croquettes, garlic potato, potato stuffing, bread stuffing, brussels, carrots and lashings of gravy! I'm starving thinking of it!

Dessert is also traditional - Sherry Trifle #

We don't really do starters anymore - might have a bit of brown bread with smoked salmon and cream cheese myself though

It's carb central in my house at Christmas:pac:

LaChatteGitane

I'm not a 100% certain yet.
It's a sit down dinner for 14 adults and 2 children and we're having it on the 23rd. Last year we were with 17 adults and I made a buffet for starters, after that main and then desserts. Too much friggin work and stress.:D

Starter will be homemade paté/terrine with game/game bird with salad and cumberland sauce.

Main : possibly loin of pork but I am already changing my mind to prepare a 3 bird roast with turkey, guinea fowl and duck. Only one potato dish, dauphinoise. Sidedishes also limited, sauteed chicory, red cabbage and maybe sprouts. Gravy of course.

Dessert : trifle made with christmas pudding (it's not known here in Belgium) and sticky toffee pudding.

It'll be my last christmas in Belgium and I'll need to start packing up the contents of our house very soon. My head is already occupied with the big move, so christmas dinner will be good but fairly simple.

huskerdu

Lunch of smoked salmon, brown bread and salad.


Small starter, maybe smoked mackerel pate with champagne of course.

Dinner of roast goose with potato, apple, onion stuffing, roast potatoes, broccoli and carrots.
Pudding for dessert
Haven't decided on wine yet.

Cant wait.

pampootie

Breakfast is the only Christmas day meal that varies in ours. Can be pancakes with fruit compote, poached eggs and toast, or smoked salmon on brown bread. Usually some bucks fizz to go with it. This year will be just me and my teetotal dad for breakfast so will probably be some kind of sausages from o'flynns, homemade brown bread and tea.

Dinner has been the same since I was a child. I love the routine of it! Prawn cocktail to start. Then soup, either veg or potato and leek. Mains of turkey, honey mustard glazed ham, sprouts, carrots, herby stuffing, loads of gravy, a silly amount of roast potatoes,and a few glasses of white wine. Then pudding, brandy butter, trifle, ice cream and cream. A hot port to finish everything off, then sprawl on the couch with a bottle of red and a film. After a few hours time for the Christmas sandwich - homemade white bread, mayo, turkey, ham and stuffing,followed by mince pies and cream. Oh god, I really can't wait!

foodaholic

For Breakfast we are having Blueberry pancakes with crispy bacon and maple syrup. A glass of bubbles is obligutory

Smoked salmon and caviar belinis to get the appetite going
Cooking both goose and turkey this year with the usual trimmings and about 4 different types of stuffing as everyone wants 'their' stuffing

Sherry triffle ( more sherry than triffle)

leahyl

Think I'm gonna try making smoked salmon pate this year - so easy and so yum!

twerg_85

For anyone who doesn't like brusselers,you can par boil them then cut in half and fry in a pan with some bacon and chestnuts. Bit of goose fat doesnt go astray either
Finish with some balsamico and away you go. Ms. Twerg eats them this way but never liked them plain boiled.

This year I'm also going to try sweet potato topped with marshmallows for the craic - it's a thanksgiving recipe. If all else fails the kid and me will eat the marshmallows

F.

nompere

We don't do very traditional. There will only be three of us, so Turkey is never going to be considered. Left to my own devices it would be goose, but I'm a minority of one, so:

Slow roasted honey duck - it's very slow, about 4 hours. I'll do two, and there will be some left over for a salad.
Some stuffing, 'cos it's Christmas.
Pommes dauphinoise.
Braised red cabbage.
Green beans, probably.

Followed by (and we're not very fond of pudding)

Chocolate caramel cheesecake

I do the main course, and swtssbo looks after the sweet stuff.

I'm still making up my mind about a suitable red to go with the duck. I do have a bottle of sparkling saumur red which I've always found goes well with chocolate desserts. More often than not, though, we never get as far as the dessert wine!

vicwatson

Breakfast - Superquinn sausages and a glass of champs !

Dinner - Baked Turkey Crown, Baked Ham in Cider, Roasters in Goose Fat, Boiled Carrots in Orange Juice, Sprouts with smoked bacon and chopped chestnuts, Potato Croquettes, Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce - all homemade

Drink for dinner - Moet Et Chandon Rose 2002 Grand Vintage

Dessert - Fresh Fruit Trifle with Homemade Custard & Homemade Christmas Cake & Thorntons Mints !

Later that night it's the mandatory Turkey Sandwich on white, with cranberry sauce and Stuffing and a large bag of crisps !!

cee_jay

Breakfast is the fry up - superquinn sausages, rashers, black & white pudding, and fried egg, with fresh crusty superquinn bread.
Then for dinner, to start there is a choice of prawn cocktail, or tempura prawn with sweet chilli for those who aren't fans of the cocktail.
Main is turkey, glazed ham, roast potato, boiled potato, potato stuffing, potato croquette (I am beginning to see a theme here!), brussels sprouts, turnip, boiled celery (which I hate so will be passing on, but has become a tradition in this household, my parents and brother love it), and gravy.
Dessert is sherry trifle, again I am not a fan, so there will be some other dessert on hand. This year, depending on what time I finish work on Christmas Eve, I am hoping to make banoffee pie.
All the above to be helped down with some white wine.
The best part of the food on Christmas Day is the leftover sandwich that evening after a few drinks. Ham and stuffing ftw

Martyn1989

This thread has got me thinking. This is the first year I'm in charge of xmas dinner, and it must meet the approval of my gf and her mother

I like the idea of some bucks fizz on the side of the porridge in the am, take the edge off a bit

Prawn cocktails will be out in force, it wouldn't be the same with out. We'll be having the main event in the evening, I never understood dinner at 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Think I'll do a chicken and a small honey roast ham as its just the 3 of us. Roast spuds, roast carrots and parsnips, croquettes, sprouts and a mountain of stuffing and lashings of gravy. My heart sinks when I'm told to go easy on the gravy, not this year! Timing will be my enemy, I'm not great at getting everything out at the same time, packet stuffing and gravy will be onhand just incase but I shouldn't need it.

For dessert I've been thinking about a red velvet cake, but I havn't much baking experience and limited kitchenware on hand, a seasonal crumble would be good, I could have it made the day before. We mightn't need an official dessert as the taytos and cadburys will be out in force.

Alcoholwise I'm going to have a pick'n'mix of craft beers, the makings of Irish coffees, a decent bottle of gin, plenty of lemons, limes, raspberries, blackberries and some soda. Raspberry Tom Collins and Brambles all round.

All this with the great escape on in the background

vicwatson

Timing will be my enemy, I'm not great at getting everything out at the same time, packet stuffing and gravy will be onhand just incase but I shouldn't need it.

What I do is set my time for dinner to be on the table, say 3pm, then calculate what time each item takes to cook and work backwards from that time. Hasn't failed me yet. (remember to allow for 15 mins at least to let Ham and Turkey rest)

Enjoy !

Martyn1989

vicwatson wrote: »

What I do is set my time for dinner to be on the table, say 3pm, then calculate what time each item takes to cook and work backwards from that time. Hasn't failed me yet. (remember to allow for 15 mins at least to let Ham and Turkey rest)

Enjoy !

Yeh I'm hoping to get xmas eve off, that will give me alot more time to have everything ready to go. The gf is great at peeling spuds and veg aswell

The roasters are one thing I really don't want to mess up, I'll be using large potatos, I might quarter them for ease and more crispy surface area, par boiled for ? and then roasted for ?

The chicken and ham I can handle, the stuffing Ive done before, the gravy will be new to me but I can do sauces so it should be ok.

huskerdu

Martyn1989 wrote: »

The roasters are one thing I really don't want to mess up, I'll be using large potatos, I might quarter them for ease and more crispy surface area, par boiled for ? and then roasted for ?

Everything else can be ready 30 minutes before the off, leaving you time to concentrate on the most important part- fresh roast spuds.

I par-boil for 10 minutes. Turn off the ring, Drain the water off and leave the pot back on the ring, so the remaining heat dries off the spuds. Shake the pot to rough up the edges.

Heat the oil in the roasting tray before putting the spuds in,

Roast at 200C, for 45 minutes if small, 60 minutes if they are large. Baste a few times.

loveisdivine

Just me and the other half this year so were pushing the boat out.

Starter - 2 kinds of bruschetta, one with tomato basil and mozzarella. the other with crab in a light herb mayonnaise.

Mains - Whole fillet of beef pan fried and finished in the oven. Served with Paris Mash, baby onions roasted with the fillet, mushrooms fried with garlic and sprouts of course! A red wine gravy to go with it.

Dessert - Not set in stone yet but could be a berry and champagne soup or a cheesecake.

Tom.D.BJJ

I do a pre-christmas dinner with my gf on the 23rd. This year will be:

Roast Venison (roe saddle)
Roasted Red onions with balsamico
Green beans with bacon and butter
Golden potatoes

Lots and lots of wine

Darkginger

Just the husband and me this year...

Breakfast will be smoked salmon and scrambled eggs with cream, chives, and white pepper.

The main event (sometime in the afternoon, it's ready when it's ready) will kick off with a seafood (lobster, crab, prawn) cocktail, followed by roast goose with red wine and date sauce (Gordon Ramsay recipe, 3rd year of doing it), brussels, green beans, cauliflower, rolled up baked bacon, ham slices, sugar-free cranberry sauce (for me, the low carber) plus roast spuds, parsnips, carrots and stuffing for him (the eats anythinger).

We don't do desserts, but there will be a selection of cheeses (ripe Camembert, Stilton, Ardrahan, aged Cheddar) with olives (me) and grapes (him).

Homebrewed red wine (Merlot, from a kit, has turned out really nicely) throughout, plus some vintage port and single malt whisky.

St Stephen's Day will be cold turkey (roasting a crown at the same time as the goose), ham, salad, plus mashed spuds for him. After that it's just nibbles from all the leftovers.

morton

I'm sooooooo jealous ...........lovely menu ideas everyone(I'm drooling a bit now)
I'm in work Xmas day, so when I get home that night it'll probably be a sandwich

Make sure you use disposable baking trays where possible ( just chuck in the bin when finished ) and to all the chefs, make sure you get a designated washer upper to clean up for you.

Happy eating!!!

leahyl

I am absolutely STARVIN MARVIN now!!:D

the beer revolu

Ours will be a pretty traditional affair.

Mrs Beer and myself will have my mum's homemade white rolls for breakfast with jam.

Then it's up to my sister's house - I'll bring the bronze turkey which the day before I will have boned, stuffed and rolled the legs and taken the back off to leave just the crown for poaching in stock (already reduced and in my freezer) and then browning with butter in a pan.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.
There may well be a pot of soup on the go for any hungry visitors before a lunch/starter which my brother-in law will do. A seafood plate - usually salmon, smoked salmon, crab claws and prawns with a little salad.

My sister will have done a whole ham on the bone, glazed the day before and there will probably be a cooked bit of spiced beef knocking around too.

For the main, another brother-in law will (hopefully) have all the veg peeled.
It will be the poached turkey crown, cold ham and spiced beef, roast potatoes, roast carrots, parsnips garlic and shallots, carrot and parsnip mash, spiced red cabbage (probably do that a few days before), sautéed sprouts and lots of gravy from the poaching stock. Oh, and some mashed spuds but they're mostly for the next days dinner!

Edit: I forgot the stuffing - traditional bread, onion and herb stuffing but wrapped in parma(ish) ham lined foil and done in the oven as poaching turkey doesn't lend well to stuffing.

There will be Irish cheese and eventually we'll get around to my mums Christmas pud with brandy butter.

12 Adults and 2 big kids.

Different people will bring different wines - I'll also bring some fancy pants beers. Bit of sloe gin, sherry or port might also get sampled.

morton

leahyl wrote: »

I am absolutely STARVIN MARVIN now!!:D

I'm off to dig out a cookbook and look at the pictures ( more drool..):D:D

Mr Simpson

Its just me, my dad and brother for Crimbo so I'm getting a boned and rolled turkey.

For breakfast, I'll probably have a strong Irish Coffee to get rid of my christmas eve hangover.

For Starters, it'll be smoked salmon. Then the main for me will be, Turkey, Ham, Sausagemeat stuffing (low carb) and braised cabbage. For the others, they'll be getting spuds, mashed carrot and brussels sprouts. For dessert they get homemade cake and pudding.

Loopy

Breakfast will be eggs benedict.

I've 12 for dinner this year

For Dinner, my Dads French girlfriend is doing foie gras and I will be doing the usual salmon and prawn starter.

Mains will be the turkey and ham with roasters and croquette potatoes with sweet potato & carrot mash, brussel sprouts, carrotts & roast parsnips.

Gravy will be Jamie Olivers which I do on Christmas Eve every year. It's the nicest gravy ever and well worth the effort. I do a pretty normal stuffing with lots of sausage meat, parsley thyme and onion...

Desert will be a selection of homemade brownies and a cheesecake.

My favourite thing on Christmas day is the turkey and stuffing samiches on fresh batch bread with real butter, normal happens about 8pm, when I'm just about able to drag my carcass off the couch to make them.

biddywiddy

Loopy wrote: »

Gravy will be Jamie Olivers which I do on Christmas Eve every year. It's the nicest gravy ever and well worth the effort.

I just clicked on the link. It looks amazing.

vicwatson

huskerdu wrote: »

Everything else can be ready 30 minutes before the off, leaving you time to concentrate on the most important part- fresh roast spuds.

I par-boil for 10 minutes. Turn off the ring, Drain the water off and leave the pot back on the ring, so the remaining heat dries off the spuds. Shake the pot to rough up the edges.

Heat the oil in the roasting tray before putting the spuds in,

Roast at 200C, for 45 minutes if small, 60 minutes if they are large. Baste a few times.

Couldn't have said it better myself !

Martyn1989, cook the spuds in Goose or Duck fat if you can, delicious. Tesco Finest Goose Fat currently 2 jars for €4.00. Only Tesco Oil Suppliers in Calgary

Mr Simpson

vicwatson wrote: »

Couldn't have said it better myself !

Martyn1989, cook the spuds in Goose or Duck fat if you can, delicious. Tesco Finest Goose Fat currently 2 jars for €4.00.

Think Tescos are few and far between in Calgary :pac:

vicwatson

and to all the chefs, make sure you get a designated washer upper to clean up for you.

Oh I have one of those - His name is Robert Bosch ! :D

vicwatson

MarkMc wrote: »

Think Tescos are few and far between in Calgary :pac:

Oil drilling/Goose Fat - what's the difference?

http://www.tescocorp.com/bins/locations_map.asp?cid=7