The Christmas Dinner 2014 Thread

Deenie123

Loire wrote: »

Thinking (and I know it's a bit late to be "thinking" at this late stage) of cooking the turkey in a turkey bag this year. Any thoughts?

Wouldn't bother, Delia's method is flawless if you follow it to the letter. Always produces a properly cooked, juicy and tasty turkey.

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/english/traditional-roast-turkey-with-pork-sage-and-onion-stuffing.html


There are videos showing how to do the tent.

Loire

the beer revolu wrote: »

It's a basic breadcrumb stuffing.
Onions, softened in butter; fresh herbs - I had flatleaf parsley, thyme, marjoram ; lemon zest; salt; pepper ; breadcrumbs - I like to use a granary bread - whatever is in the reduced section.
It is wrapped in Lidl Serrano ham.
I'll just stick it in a hot oven for half an hour or so.

Thanks again - all wrapped up and in the fridge. Not quite as neat as your one, but it'll be graand :)

Deenie123

Right, problem. Took the turkey out of its bag. Normally get one from a butcher but got it for half price in the supermarket with collected stamps. It normally arrives with only the meaty part of the legs on... This one seems to also have shins.

What should I do?

Loire

Enjoying a comforting glass of hot apple punch. Xmas tunes piping out and will be heading out to meet the gang in an hour :pac:

The Hill Billy

Turkey-bone soup & base giblet gravy all done. Busy day tomorrow prepping veg, making stuffing & boiling ham & beef. Nothing that a glass or two of sherry can't help with.

We're into the final stretch folks... Best of luck!

Gloomtastic!

Why do you always seem to catch a cold just before Christmas?

Hot toddies to to the rescue......

pwurple

Spiced beef cooling, ham ready to go in next, cake all iced and done. It's getting very christmassy in here!

BaZmO*

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Why do you always seem to catch a cold just before Christmas?

Tell me about it. Been dying the last week. Thought I was getting over it yesterday but round two seems to have kicked in today.
Hopefully a good nights sleep will put an end to it. I have the inlaws over tomorrow for dinner (bloody foreigners and their weird ways - celebrating Christmas the day before!!) so I need to get stuff done!

Faith

Good luck everyone!

I have my cranberry sauce, stuffing balls and stock made and in the freezer. Turkey is collected and brining commences tomorrow, when I'll also peel my potatoes and put them in cold water in the fridge. I got these carrots, which are a godsend as they don't need any prep at all:



I'm struggling to find duck or goose fat . I may have to use a different type of fat.

Hardware question that I'd appreciate help on:

I have a normal roasting tin, and two large baking trays with low sides. Will the roasted veg and stuffing balls turn out as well if I do them in baking trays, as opposed to a roasting tin? I can't be arsed buying another roasting tin unless I have to.

Dubl07

Faith wrote: »

Good luck everyone!

I have my cranberry sauce, stuffing balls and stock made and in the freezer. Turkey is collected and brining commences tomorrow, when I'll also peel my potatoes and put them in cold water in the fridge. I got these carrots, which are a godsend as they don't need any prep at all:



I'm struggling to find duck or goose fat . I may have to use a different type of fat.

Hardware question that I'd appreciate help on:

I have a normal roasting tin, and two large baking trays with low sides. Will the roasted veg and stuffing balls turn out as well if I do them in baking trays, as opposed to a roasting tin? I can't be arsed buying another roasting tin unless I have to.

Carrots type veg definitely will be fine in a baking tray with shallow sides. Roast spuds need more height and depending on the fat content of your sausagemeat, so might the stuffing balls. I don't know how many you're cooking for but how about creative use of cake-tins? Line them with foil or parchment. Grill-tray is another option we bring into play at this time of year.

Gloomtastic!

Loire wrote: »

Check out this sprouts recipe - yum

http://iamafoodblog.com/pan-roasted-honey-garlic-brussels-sprouts-recipe/

Loire.

Just discovered honey is not vegan friendly!!! Luckily I bought a bottle of fructose a few months ago.
I will not be defeated by this vegan curse but I now understand why chefs hate them. :rolleyes:

Faith

Dubl07 wrote: »

Carrots type veg definitely will be fine in a baking tray with shallow sides. Roast spuds need more height and depending on the fat content of your sausagemeat, so might the stuffing balls. I don't know how many you're cooking for but how about creative use of cake-tins? Line them with foil or parchment. Grill-tray is another option we bring into play at this time of year.

Thank you! It's a new place so kitchenware is still limited as we haven't had time to buy everything. One of my guests may have high-sided tins that they can bring though

LowOdour

Just started my decent in to xmas cooking hell!
Sitting at the oven doing my sticky onions for my goats cheese and onion tarts. Up early in the morning to prep veg for soup. I'll do lemon cheesecake and chocolate and raspberry tart too so xmas day leaves only roasted veg and soup to do. Thank god I'm not doing any of the meat

Jawgap

All done.

Cooking for the in-laws an decided to do everything at home and transport it down tomorrow.

Thankfully their tastes are plain so it's all very traditional and trayed up ready to go.

fresh country vegetable soup, smoked salmon & prawns, brined turkey with sprouts, mash, goose-fat roasties, turnip & parsnip, and carrots. Fresh trifle to finish with.

For added measure, the Ma-in-law has kidney issues so everything has to be low salt, low sodium and low potassium.

Have a three-rib of beef, chined and ready to go when I'm back on Stephens' Day

Dubl07

Faith wrote: »

Thank you! It's a new place so kitchenware is still limited as we haven't had time to buy everything. One of my guests may have high-sided tins that they can bring though

Or spare yourself by sending someone out to buy disposable foil roasting dishes tomorrow? No washing up.

Jawgap

Faith wrote: »

.........
I'm struggling to find duck or goose fat . I may have to use a different type of fat.

Hardware question that I'd appreciate help on:

I have a normal roasting tin, and two large baking trays with low sides. Will the roasted veg and stuffing balls turn out as well if I do them in baking trays, as opposed to a roasting tin? I can't be arsed buying another roasting tin unless I have to.

Goose fat can be got in Tesco in the section where they have all their own spices.

BaZmO*

Faith wrote: »

I have a normal roasting tin, and two large baking trays with low sides. Will the roasted veg and stuffing balls turn out as well if I do them in baking trays, as opposed to a roasting tin? I can't be arsed buying another roasting tin unless I have to.

As Dub said, the stuffing balls can let out a lot of fat depending on the sausage meat, but if you keep an eye on them you can just drain it off. I always use a tray with small sides and never had much trouble with them.

Faith

Dubl07 wrote: »

Or spare yourself by sending someone out to buy disposable foil roasting dishes tomorrow? No washing up.

I'm not a huge fan of waste, so ideally I'd prefer to use a reusable tin and just wash it (hey, I'm cooking, I'm certainly not doing the washing up! ). But it's a good alternative.

Jawgap wrote: »

Goose fat can be got in Tesco in the section where they have all their own spices.

I live in Canada . Some things that I really took for granted at home just don't seem to be available here easily.

BaZmO* wrote: »

As Dub said, the stuffing balls can let out a lot of fat depending on the sausage meat, but if you keep an eye on them you can just drain it off. I always use a tray with small sides and never had much trouble with them.

Brilliant, thanks!

beertons

Boiled giblets there for the gravy. Smells nice now, but it looks revolting.

Jawgap

Faith wrote: »

I live in Canada . Some things that I really took for granted at home just don't seem to be available here easily.

Do they not have geese in Canada????

Didn't realise, good luck with the meal.

Faith

Jawgap wrote: »

Do they not have geese in Canada????

Didn't realise, good luck with the meal.

There's a whole flock down the road, I'll just grab one of them

Dizzyblonde

Faith wrote: »

There's a whole flock down the road, I'll just grab one of them

I thought they were all over here for the winter

Best wishes for your first Christmas across the pond, Faith!

The Black Oil

Have put flavoured butter under the turkey's skin. Not as easy as it is in the video, and eh, rather gucky.

Faith

I moved the vegan discussion to the chat thread, to keep this one on topic

pampootie

This thread is killing me! I've cooked Christmas dinner every year since I turned 16 but last year I was at my fiancée's and this year we're going to my dad's partner. I miss it! Would love to be in full flight with my planning and preparation at the moment! Best of luck to all

AntrimGlens

We built a new house and moved in literally just before xmas last year, so I'm doing xmas dinner for 12 this year. Its going to be a breeze with all the space, lengths of worktop and three Neff ovens compared to our previous house which you couldn't swing a cat in. Turned them on to self cleaning mode last night and they're all spic and span and ready for the frenzy tonight.

BaZmO*

AntrimGlens wrote: »

We built a new house and moved in literally just before xmas last year, so I'm doing xmas dinner for 12 this year. Its going to be a breeze with all the space, lengths of worktop and three Neff ovens compared to our previous house which you couldn't swing a cat in. Turned them on to self cleaning mode last night and they're all spic and span and ready for the frenzy tonight.

3 ovens?! That's cheating. You're banned from this thread!

The Black Oil

Into hour 3 with the turkey now. Ham on the go, too.

the beer revolu

Just waiting for bronze turkey to arrive.
Then a mad frenzy of taking the legs off, boning and stuffing them; taking the back and wings off to leave a tidy crown for poaching tomorrow ; roasting the bones and making stock; making gravy from the roasting pan sediment and stock.
So, despite poaching the turkey (apart from the legs which will be roasted) we still have roast turkey gravy.

Pros of poaching the crown :

1 seems to come out more moist than roasting.
2 only takes a little over an hour to cook.
3 oven is free for roast veg, spuds etc.

The Wild Bunch

How do I cook the ham?

Do I boil it, then dry it off, cover it in honey glaze then bung it in the oven?