The Christmas Dinner 2014 Thread

the beer revolu

That Elysium stuff is sinfully good.
(it's a black muscat dessert wine)

Toulouse

the beer revolu wrote: »

That Elysium stuff is sinfully good.
(it's a black muscat dessert wine)

Isn't it amazing? I adore it!

dee_mc

We had a mini Christmas dinner last night, roasted a couple of turkey breast thingies with a small ham cooked in honey and mustard and studded with cloves, mulled wine-y cranberry sauce, roasted veggies and mash... realised halfway through that it's not Christmas dinner without stuffing
Looking forward to the real thing!

gg2

I have asked to make Christmas dinner this year - want to give the mammy a break but I think she is going to dig her heels in!! I will contribute by doing roast turnip, goosefat roasties, braised red cabbage (I also add orange juice and a grated apple along with a whole host of other bits!) think I'll give bazmo's stuffing balls a go as they look amazing - we usually have breadcrumb, carrott, onion and herb stuffing..... I always make a soup for starter- last year was mushroom, year before that was butternut squash so any suggestions for a good hearty tasty soup would be super!

Pang

I'm doing a stuffed duck again this year! I love duck, so delicious and tender.

In terms of accompaniments, I have only decided on brussel sprouts with bacon and flaked almonds and hasselbeck potatoes with garlic and pancetta so far. Lots of pig I know but for one day, why not.

Nigella's Guinness cake will definitely feature in the evening.

Jude13

Its not even 10am here and Im drooling.

I tried duck before and smoked the house out. Whats the catch?

Ilyana 2.0

Our house must be odd, we have fillet steak or roast fillet every year for Christmas dinner. Dad and I aren't fans of turkey, whereas beef fillet would be a nice treat for all of us.

We usually buy a joint, roast half of it for sandwiches and then have the steaks for Christmas dinner with gratin potatoes (more gruyere plz), roast carrots and parsnips and a lot of red wine.

Dinner is always preceded by smoked salmon and soda bread, pringles and other nibbles. Then afterwards we have tiramisu or Christmas pudding or just a pile of chocolate.

... Then we crack open the After Eights, Alpinis and more wine!

Vala

As a starter this year, I was going to do lobster. Damn Lidl ads!!! Anyone know of a reputable fish monger Southside dublin or recipe for sauces that kids would eat? My kids want to try it so hopefully it will be a treat :-)

The Hill Billy

Please post in the Dublin City or Dublin County South forums for recommendations for fishmongers.

tHB

Vala

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Please post in the Dublin City or Dublin County South forums for recommendations for fishmongers.

tHB

Ok. Sorry :-(

The Hill Billy

No problem.

loveisdivine

This will be our first vegan Christmas So I'm planning on all the normal trimmings for the main but with either a mushroom wellington or maybe a mushroom pie/tart. Something with lots of wild mushrooms anyway. Dessert will either be a coconut and chocolate tart or I might make a yule log. Still working on the starter.

beertons

Going to try out the stuffing balls tomorrow. It's practically the same ingredients as my mams, but with sausage meat.

The Black Oil

Someone mentioned honey roasted parsnips to me recently - going to try those out.

boodlesdoodles

The Black Oil wrote: »

Someone mentioned honey roasted parsnips to me recently - going to try those out.

Maple syrup roasted parsnips are lovely too. Only the 2 of us for Christmas this year but still doing the trad dinner. Will start with a puff pastry tartlet with chorizo, roasted peppers and red onion. Then the usual roast turkey, honey mustard ham, roasties, maple parsnips and honeyed carrots, lashings of gravy, bread and potato stuffings. We also give the dog a little plate to have while we're eating! I can't wait as I love doing Christmas dinner.

foodaholic

I love delias parsnips that are dredged in parmesan flour.
It was the hit of last years christmas dinner

nosietoes

We've been making the Delia parmesean parsnips for the last 20 years! I couldn't leave it off our Christmas dinner. It's also really handy cos you can par boil and coat the day before and leave them in the fridge.

Its really good if you have some extra duck or goose fat lying about to bung in with the oil.

Gloomtastic!

Aldi have large ham fillets on special at the moment - €6.00.

We're now down to 6 for Christmas dinner - a glorified Sunday lunch.

StripedBoxers

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Aldi have large ham fillets on special at the moment - €6.00.

We're now down to 6 for Christmas dinner - a glorified Sunday lunch.

I cooked one of those fillets last week, they are lovely, but very salty. I soaked it in cold water for two hours, then threw out that water and soaked it again for another few hours, and then changed the water just before cooking and it was very salty.

My mum gave me a tip to taste the water when the meat is half cooked, and if its salty, throw it out, and use fresh (presumably hot?) water and it should be fine. Probably obvious to most of you guys but I hadn't a clue about tasting the water at all.

We'll have either 3 or 4 for Xmas this year, four if my boyfriend joins us, but if not, then three. Not doing the traditional dinner at all.

I'm planning on steak or lamb and I have my eye on a 2001 Rioja that I may just buy as a present to myself this year. I got a beautiful 2006 Rioja yesterday, the best wine I have ever had, it's just beautiful.

Gloomtastic!

StripedBoxers wrote: »

I cooked one of those fillets last week, they are lovely, but very salty. I soaked it in cold water for two hours, then threw out that water and soaked it again for another few hours, and then changed the water just before cooking and it was very salty.

My mum gave me a tip to taste the water when the meat is half cooked, and if its salty, throw it out, and use fresh (presumably hot?) water and it should be fine. Probably obvious to most of you guys but I hadn't a clue about tasting the water at all.

We'll have either 3 or 4 for Xmas this year, four if my boyfriend joins us, but if not, then three. Not doing the traditional dinner at all.

I'm planning on steak or lamb and I have my eye on a 2001 Rioja that I may just buy as a present to myself this year. I got a beautiful 2006 Rioja yesterday, the best wine I have ever had, it's just beautiful.

Ham will soak for a couple of days, changing the water twice a day. Will cook it in cola to give it a lovely sweet, smokey flavour.

Tarzana2

the beer revolu wrote: »

Also, if stuffing the cavity, you'll need about twice the stuffing you think - that cavity is massive!

Stuffing a goose cavity? Would that stuffing not be horribly greasy? Goose has way, way more fat than turkey! I thought it was complete no no. Judging by the amount of fat that comes off goose during roasting, it doesn't seem remotely appetising.

Minder

Made the turkey stock that will become the gravy this weekend. I got a couple of Turkey drum sticks and chopped them up. Roasted with onion, carrot, celery, thyme, sage and bay leaves for about 90 minutes, then loaded the whole into a stock pot and simmered for two hours. Got a rich, jellied stock from that and froze it until the day. Cooking for 21 again so a gallon of gravy is the only way to get hot plates for everyone.

heldel00

Heard a funny story once and every Christmas it comes back into my head.
A girl is making Christmas dinner for the first time and has her mother helping her. They have a long family tradition that the wings, legs, etc are all cut off the turkey and tucked neatly alongside the bird.
The girl's new husband finds this very strange and when he questions it the girl says "I don't know, mam always did it this way" and asks her Mam. The mam says "eh I don't know, granny always did it like this" and when they turn to ask the little old granny sittin sippin her Baileys why this family tradition started, she says "well I don't know why ye are doin it like that! sure the fecking thing was always too big for my oven!!!"

the beer revolu

Tarzana2 wrote: »

Stuffing a goose cavity? Would that stuffing not be horribly greasy? Goose has way, way more fat than turkey! I thought it was complete no no. Judging by the amount of fat that comes off goose during roasting, it doesn't seem remotely appetising.

No, I remember the stuffing being really good - not greasy at all. But i do remember pouring off 7 or 8 jam jars full of fat while roasting.
I guess the fat isn't in the cavity.

Tarzana2

the beer revolu wrote: »

No, I remember the stuffing being really good - not greasy at all. But i do remember pouring off 7 or 8 jam jars full of fat while roasting.
I guess the fat isn't in the cavity.

Apparently you can, there are loads of recipes. I always thought it couldn't be done. But there does seem to be a lot of fat draining involved. I guess it could be nice if you have a way to drain away the fat. I love goose but was always disappointed at the lack of stuffing when we had it in our house. Or the lack of cavity-made stuffing at least. Stuffing cooked separately just isn't the same to me, nice as it is!

CorkClaire82

Tarzana2 wrote: »

Apparently you can, there are loads of recipes. I always thought it couldn't be done. But there does seem to be a lot of fat draining involved. I guess it could be nice if you have a way to drain away the fat. I love goose but was always disappointed at the lack of stuffing when we had it in our house. Or the lack of cavity-made stuffing at least. Stuffing cooked separately just isn't the same to me, nice as it is!

We have had goose a few times and only once did we stuff the cavity with the stuffing as it got so greasy. It tasted blooming delicious but my mother and I have a problem with food that is too fatty, it gives us awful dodgy tummies. If you don't have that then work away as it's gorgeous :cool:

The Black Oil

Going to try this approach for the brine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW8E1VgjSbc

lukesmom

So at the grand old age of 35 I will be cooking Christmas dinner at mine for the first time for 4 adults and 3 children. Any hints/tips?

dee_mc

Prep your veggies in advance and keep in the fridge.
Let the turkey rest for up to an hour and a half before carving - it'll keep warm under foil and it'll stay succulent, leaving you time to finish off roast potatoes etc. You can par boil the spuds the day before or even further in advance and freeze them.
Cook the ham the day before.
Use more seasoning and herbs than you think you need in the stuffing
If in doubt, lash in more butter. In everything!
Delegate - put someone in charge of getting drinks for everyone, charge someone with setting the table and making it look fabulous, get someone to make gravy etc, don't try to do it all yourself. If possible get someone else to do dessert or starter! People like to feel involved :P

greasepalm

keep kids out of hazardous area/kitchen as you dont want them running around,have they got an area to play in look at tv/text on phone etc,made a list of things you need and is it only dinner,gravy/cranberry sauce etc,seating,drinks,loo rolls,plenty of veg/spuds as they can be used next day.
all the best first timer.