Need Christmas Dinner Advice? Ask Here...

the beer revolu

Loire wrote: »

What would you use instead of a crepenette though for the rolling part?

My hands.
Easier if you have someone to help you tie it.

Markcheese

Haven't watched All the video yet , but I thought crepeinette was caul fat ,(very thin Lacey fat that surround the lungs , great for wrapping around things before roasting/baking .....

the beer revolu

the beer revolu wrote: »

You remove the legs.
Cut along the flesh.
Take out the bones.
Put stuffing in.
Roll.
Tie.
Like I said, lots of YouTube videos to show you how. I highly recommend it.

I put sausage meat on the flattened out turkey leg, then bread stuffing. Roll them in tinfoil and cook for about one hour. Delicious Christmas eve cold with salad.

notfromhere

notfromhere wrote: »

What do u guys think of cooking a turkey in a bag or is it better in tin foil thanks

I used a cooking bag the year before last and the turkey fall apart! You need to cut the cooking time by 25% at least! I reverted to my tried and trusted method last year. Started the turkey upside down, covered with tinfoil. Remove foil and turn right side up for the last half hour. Take out, cover in tinfoil or teatowel and leave rest for half an hour before carving.

Danii86

the beer revolu wrote: »

Some people are so used to overcooked,dry turkey that they think that's the way it should be!
Then again some people like well done, dry roast beef too:eek:

My mum is a fully trained chef and loves dry meat....turkey and the ham!!! @christmas we have fights over who wants the 'wetty bits' and the 'dry-y bits'!! Shes turned me off pork chops for life because they were always like eating cardboard in out house...not because she couldn't cook them properly but it jus was the way SHE liked them so tough!!

The Hill Billy

A couple of posts deleted. Let's keep this thread positive & full of festive good cheer please so nobody has to go on the 'Naughty List'.

Ho, ho, ho!

tHB

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Hey, I'm just going to ask my question here instead of creating a new thread.

I want to make and bring a few things to Christmas dinner this year to my family.

I can't really bring anything that would contribute to the main meal as I don't want to come across as insulting to them.
So it's mainly desserts I'm left with to bring I think.

I'm going to make Rocky Road as one of the things as it's just so easy and I can't mess it up, it tastes yum as well.

What else can I make and bring that will compliment/enhance the already fantastic array of food that will be there.

Help me get beyond Rocky Road and a slab of bottles to bring please!

highly1111

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

Hey, I'm just going to ask my question here instead of creating a new thread.

I want to make and bring a few things to Christmas dinner this year to my family.

I can't really bring anything that would contribute to the main meal as I don't want to come across as insulting to them.
So it's mainly desserts I'm left with to bring I think.

I'm going to make Rocky Road as one of the things as it's just so easy and I can't mess it up, it tastes yum as well.

What else can I make and bring that will compliment/enhance the already fantastic array of food that will be there.

Help me get beyond Rocky Road and a slab of bottles to bring please!

you could make a few cheesecakes.

Smash a packet of cheap digestives with a rolling pin into crumbs. melt about 1/3 lb of butter in the microwave and use this to bind the crumbs. line a round (or square - I've made square cheesecakes before!!) with some baking parchment. line the base with the crumbs and press down hard - using clean hands or even the bottom of a glass. put in the fridge for 30 mins are so.

whip a pint of cream until relatively stiff.

in a separate bowl mix a packet (275g) of Philadelphia/own brand full fat cream cheese and 225g of icing sugar. blend them together.

here's the fun bit - I use toblerone, terry's chocolate orange or malteasers. (I'm going to try a crunchie one in a few weeks so will report back!) I use a large toblerone/1 chocolate orange/1 box of maltesers (the ones in the euro shop - they're about €1.50) smash up the relevant chocolate - you may have to use a blender is using toblerone or chocolate orange.

now mix the whipped cream, chocolate and cream cheese/icing sugar mix and fold in together.

spoon over the base and decorate with some more of the chocolate - so I decorate the malteser one with more maltesers and the chocolate orange one with segments etc etc.

the best thing about this is that you can bulk up make all the bases and cream and cream cheese mixture together and then split it before adding the chocolate - for my little girl's christening, this is what I did - I made all 3.

they are incredibly tasty and incredibly easy to make. This would serve about 8 large portions.

HTH

Zaph

As we've no need for a full turkey, we're thinking of buying a crown. However I'm not sure what the story is with stuffing a crown, is it possible and, if so, how easy is it to do?

Minder

Isn't crown usually on the bone? Can't really stuff that. I'd make the stuffing in a pie dish and cook it separately.

Zaph

Zaph wrote: »

As we've no need for a full turkey, we're thinking of buying a crown. However I'm not sure what the story is with stuffing a crown, is it possible and, if so, how easy is it to do?

You can stuff the neck cavity. It won't take much. If I was you, I'd buy the full turkey and cut the legs off. Even if you're not going to eat them, it'll be cheaper and you can then stuff the body of the turkey too.

Minder

Made a couple of litres of turkey stock this weekend. I bought three turkey legs from Tesco - the value variety. Chopped two into small pieces and coloured them in a large stock pot for 30 minutes. Then added veggies - onion, carrot and celery. Also added cloves, garlic, bay leaves and a bunch of thyme. Covered with water and simmered for 3 hours.

The last leg went into the oven for an hour with more onion, carrots, celery and thyme. Once roasted, the whole lot went into the stockpot for a couple of hours. Result is a lovely jellied stock with a good flavour. I'll defrost this for Christmas and use it with the other trimmings to boost the flavour and make the gravy on the day.

April O Neill II

Minder wrote: »

Made a couple of litres of turkey stock this weekend. I bought three turkey legs from Tesco - the value variety. Chopped two into small pieces and coloured them in a large stock pot for 30 minutes. Then added veggies - onion, carrot and celery. Also added cloves, garlic, bay leaves and a bunch of thyme. Covered with water and simmered for 3 hours.

The last leg went into the oven for an hour with more onion, carrots, celery and thyme. Once roasted, the whole lot went into the stockpot for a couple of hours. Result is a lovely jellied stock with a good flavour. I'll defrost this for Christmas and use it with the other trimmings to boost the flavour and make the gravy on the day.

What a great idea! One Xmas fave in my house is root veg soup with stock made from boiling up the giblets. Nom. And I love that stock inner thigh wibble*.

* To steal a Nigella-ism

homemadecider

Turkey novice here and trying to plan our Christmas shopping list (I know, I know).

There's only going to be the 2 of us for Xmas day this year but I'm dead set on having turkey. Are there any drawbacks to getting the crown only? I'm thinking an entire turkey between two of us would be overkill, though obviously the advantage of a full bird is being able to stuff the bejesus out of it.

Any thoughts? With a crown would I have to cook the stuffing separately?

April O Neill II

homemadecider wrote: »

Turkey novice here and trying to plan our Christmas shopping list (I know, I know).

There's only going to be the 2 of us for Xmas day this year but I'm dead set on having turkey. Are there any drawbacks to getting the crown only? I'm thinking an entire turkey between two of us would be overkill, though obviously the advantage of a full bird is being able to stuff the bejesus out of it.

Any thoughts? With a crown would I have to cook the stuffing separately?

Could you get a whole turkey and freeze cooked bits of it? (I'd freeze the most moist parts like the leg) Could last for ages! Nothin beats stuffing cooked inside the turkey.

Dunno if this is a good idea, anyone done this?

RoryMurphyJnr

Cooking stuffing separately, what's the best way to go about it?

Always do a moist stuffing, and one with sausage meat, usually do it in a big slab, might try individual balls this time

twerg_85

You can do the stuffing in mini muffin tray. Still moist and yummy, but has a slightly crispy top on it.

I'd always cook the stuffing separately to the bird anyway (it takes much longer to cook a stuffed bird I think, so the breast would be drier if stuffed ?) and a crown fits easier into a stockpot if you're going to poach and finish in the pan/oven like a previous poster linked to.

F.

Animord

RoryMurphyJnr wrote: »

Cooking stuffing separately, what's the best way to go about it?

Always do a moist stuffing, and one with sausage meat, usually do it in a big slab, might try individual balls this time

Balls every time for me... :pac:

It is also nice and easy to just turn them all out into one dish alongside the potatoes and stuff and people can help themselves. Nice crispy outsides and soft sausagy insides! yum!

the beer revolu

For stuffing I lay out a large sheet of foil and cover it with Lidl Serrano ham, I put my stuffing on top of that then roll the whole lot up into a big sausage and cook in the oven. Goes down a treat.

eamor

Hi folks,

I'm cooking for 10 this year and will be working right up until the 23rd (I also have 2 kids, waiting patiently...'how many more sleeps Mammy?....;)' so I'm trying to be as organised as I possibly can.

What should/could I do in advance of xmas day and how soon could I start? I can start the cranberry sauce as soon as I get cranberries. The bread sauce can be made a few days ahead also,I will cook the ham on Xmas eve.
Anything else that I could be doing the week/few days before that I could freeze? I've thought about parboiling spuds and freezing them until xmas morning, then roasting. Ditto Red cabbage?

I love to cook, and I love Xmas. But last year was sooooo stressful because I just wasn't organised.
Any tips on getting ahead of myself?
Thanks
Eveane

eamor

the beer revolu wrote: »

For stuffing I lay out a large sheet of foil and cover it with Lidl Serrano ham, I put my stuffing on top of that then roll the whole lot up into a big sausage and cook in the oven. Goes down a treat.

Just wanted to say YUM, and cracking idea
p.s I'm hungry

RoryMurphyJnr

Animord wrote: »

Balls every time for me... :pac:

It is also nice and easy to just turn them all out into one dish alongside the potatoes and stuff and people can help themselves. Nice crispy outsides and soft sausagy insides! yum!

Balls it is so.

Anyone else put a little cross in the Brussels Sprouts stalk before cooking in the ham water?


Thanks
Rory

Animord

eamor wrote: »

Hi folks,

I'm cooking for 10 this year and will be working right up until the 23rd (I also have 2 kids, waiting patiently...'how many more sleeps Mammy?....;)' so I'm trying to be as organised as I possibly can.

What should/could I do in advance of xmas day and how soon could I start? I can start the cranberry sauce as soon as I get cranberries. The bread sauce can be made a few days ahead also,I will cook the ham on Xmas eve.
Anything else that I could be doing the week/few days before that I could freeze? I've thought about parboiling spuds and freezing them until xmas morning, then roasting. Ditto Red cabbage?

I love to cook, and I love Xmas. But last year was sooooo stressful because I just wasn't organised.
Any tips on getting ahead of myself?
Thanks
Eveane

I always cook for about 12 - 15 people and I used to do it all myself and then be shattered by the time it was all on the table.

For the last few years I have been dividing up the tasks, say peeling potatoes, preparing the vegetables, laying the table etc etc and writing out a list of what has to be done, and getting everyone in the house to pick one task and allotting them an hour or so in which to do it (on a timetable put up in the kitchen!) I realise this sounds very controlling but actually it makes for a much better day for everyone. Each person does their bit and I put in the meat and keep an eye on all times and stuff.

It works really well for us, everyone feels that they have helped and I don't turn into a drink sodden prima donna arriving at the table red faced with the heat and exhaustion.

We eat at about 5.00 so you might be trying to fit more into a shorter space of time, but it works really well for us.

Birroc

Can anyone suggest a fancy alternative to turkey (not big fans)? We did Beef Wellington last year and it was lovely.
2 adults and 3 kids.

the beer revolu

Goose.
Beautiful meat.
Bit expensive, though.

homemadecider

We had barbary duck last year. It was gorgeous and fancy enough for Xmas. Mad easy to prepare as well; we flash fried it and finished it in the oven.

twerg_85

Birroc wrote: »

Can anyone suggest a fancy alternative to turkey (not big fans)? We did Beef Wellington last year and it was lovely.
2 adults and 3 kids.

Goose.

gg2

the beer revolu wrote: »

For stuffing I lay out a large sheet of foil and cover it with Lidl Serrano ham, I put my stuffing on top of that then roll the whole lot up into a big sausage and cook in the oven. Goes down a treat.

What is your stuffing recipe?? My mam always does a very traditional Christmas dinner, hasn't changed in 40 years, I want to help her this year but don't want taking away from her usual fool proof side dishes. Really want to try a different type of stuffing (mum is going to do hers as well as we all love it) and I love the sound of the serrano ham!!

vicwatson

RoryMurphyJnr wrote: »

Any ideas on the best way to do stuffing?
We do very basic ones, bread crumbs, sage and onion, salt and pepper and egg to bind.
Use half the mix and then add sausage mix to the other half.
Always make a big patty with them on a baking tray.

any other suggestions without going the whole chestnut, fruit etc road?

Thanks
Rory

bread crumbs, sage and onion, salt and pepper and egg to bind.

My suggestion, all this but no egg, use melted butter (enough just to moisten the mix) zest of lemon and some finely chopped walnuts. Nom nom !

vicwatson

Minder wrote: »

Store the par cooked spuds in the fridge if you have the space. It will dry them out and make for a fluffier roastie.

Wont stop them possibly going black, if they go black they look dreadful when roasted.