Christmas cooking

BaZmO*

Finally finished all the prep! Absolutely wrecked but it’s nice to sit down with a nice glass of beer (Irish craft of course!) and some tapas style nibbles. Spiced beef goes incredibly well with tapas.

Best of luck to everyone that has cooking duties tomorrow. May your turkey be moist and your roasters crispy! Merry Christmas!

Dizzyblonde

We've had our Christmas dinner tonight, it was delicious. Once again the buttermilk brined turkey was amazing. One of the daughters made the Hummingbird Guinness chocolate cake for dessert and it was divine

Merry Christmas everyone, have a wonderful day and I hope your dinners are fabulous tomorrow.

the beer revolu

beertons wrote: »

Puff pastry is in the freezer. What time do you reckon I take it out at. Dinner is at 2 and its the last thing I'm cooking. Takes about 70 mins to do the Wellington.

I'd give it a couple of hours in the box.
It's very easy to break it when unrolling it if it's not defrosted.

dee_mc

We're dying with colds in this house. Time to make a feckin trifle and see how long the turkey crown needs in the oven. Nothing done except cranberry sauce!

The Black Oil

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

We've had our Christmas dinner tonight, it was delicious. Once again the buttermilk brined turkey was amazing.

Same. First time brining - turned out perfect.

Merry Christmas.

https://twitter.com/TwoPaddocks/status/944992741586485248

RasTa

Just thinking why the hell am I doing a starter for this dinner, as if the buffet of a main isn't enough.

Turkey in for 30mins at 200c now down to 130c for another 3 hours hopefully, basting every 45mins.

Cheshire Cat

I was lazy this year.
Christmas Eve was Ham and German style potato salad (when I was a child potato salad and Frankfurters was the traditional food on Christmas Eve). We had a 2kg cooked ham from Aldi, very nice!
Today was prawn cocktail as starter and then a stuffed turkey crown, again from Aldi. It was cook in the bag and came in an aluminium tray. Plenty of moist meat and lovely, christmassy stuffing. My men were afraid there wouldn't be enough, but there is plenty left. The sides were red cabbage, brussel sprouts with bacon and chestnuts, lamb's lettuce and a bread dumpling soufflé (another nod to my Germanic origins).
Really need a coffee now!

beertons

Lads, I've never sweated so much. Must have gone through a dozen tea towels. Potatoes were overdone, because I was trying to keep them warm when was doing the beef Wellington. Have to say though, it blew me, my dad and brother in law away.

beertons

Here it is.

RasTa

Hah, after 2hrs 15 I was basting the yoke and decided to check the internal temp as the skin was looking nice and brown.

Hmmmm 65c already? 69c after another poke and wings were at 73c. Out she gets, cooking time on the bird said 3hrs 50m.

However I can't move and it was the best and most moist turkey to date. Even another 30mins would have ruined the thing.

Beef dripping roast potatoes are my future too.

dee_mc

Great Christmas dinner! Very simple, roast turkey crown and glazed ham, boiled carrots, parsnips and sprouts, mash, stuffing balls, my own mulled wine cranberry sauce and gravy. Perfect.
Trifle in the fridge... maybe later
Hope ye're all well fed and happy!

RasTa

Also forgot to add as I hear them inside. The best part of cooking, apart from eating something you like is not having to do the clean up afterwards.

Shenshen

Cheshire Cat wrote: »

I was lazy this year.
Christmas Eve was Ham and German style potato salad (when I was a child potato salad and Frankfurters was the traditional food on Christmas Eve). We had a 2kg cooked ham from Aldi, very nice!
Today was prawn cocktail as starter and then a stuffed turkey crown, again from Aldi. It was cook in the bag and came in an aluminium tray. Plenty of moist meat and lovely, christmassy stuffing. My men were afraid there wouldn't be enough, but there is plenty left. The sides were red cabbage, brussel sprouts with bacon and chestnuts, lamb's lettuce and a bread dumpling soufflé (another nod to my Germanic origins).
Really need a coffee now!

Bread dumpling souffle? That may have got lost in translation, what's that? Thueringer or Boehmische Knoedel? Or something else?

Cheshire Cat

Shenshen wrote: »

Bread dumpling souffle? That may have got lost in translation, what's that? Thueringer or Boehmische Knoedel? Or something else?

Nothing lost in translation It's this recipe:

Buttermilchsemmelknödelsoufflé https://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/205461086338791/Buttermilch-Semmelknoedel-Souffle.html

Unusual, but delicious!

The Black Oil

Turkey fryer? Ah here.

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/945386715727966210

BaZmO*

How do people find room for starters before the main event? I was stuffed with just the mains today.

dee_mc

Leftovers sandwich.
That is all.

Whispered

dee_mc wrote: »

Leftovers sandwich.
That is all.

Yes!
My leftover sandwich is a very serious affair. I won't let anybody make it for me because the layers must be in a certain order.
Slice of batch
Butter
Finely chopped scallion
Cheddar cheese
Hot veggie bacon (ham on husbands)
Mozzarella cheese
Potato layer
Veggie chicken (turkey on husbands)
Tomato
Cracked black pepper
Heinz mayo
Batch

Packet of tayto on the side. It's my favourite meal of the year.

The Hill Billy

Two slices of bread, salad cream, pickled onions (halved), slices of turkey, salt.
Mug of tae.
Sorted.

dudara

BaZmO* wrote: »

How do people find room for starters before the main event? I was stuffed with just the mains today.

We space it out. We had soup this year, served it when the turkey came out of the oven to rest, so about 1 hr before mains

Now normally, I’d have a leftovers sandwich in the evening, but I couldn’t face it last night. The good news is that it’s now morning!

kylith

Smashed it this year The pasta on the starter was a tad thick, but other than that everything was delicious. Still pretty stuffed.

BaZmO*

I’m quite proud that I’ managed to pretty much use up all the leftovers.

Turkey and cheese toasties for brunch today then spiced beef and pickle sandwiches for dinner/tea. Attacked the turkey carcass and made a turkey curry concoction that I’ll have tomorrow and bag and freeze the rest. Saved a few slices to have with the rest of the ham to have as a mini Christmas dinner on Thursday? (or whatever the day after tomorrow is!)

beertons

Another Christmas feed had. Raging the stuffing balls were gone, but sure what can ya do. All I have left is a bit of ham. Thinking of putting them on nachos tomorrow with sour cream and melting cheese on top. Would kidney beans go with it or am I mad? Want to add some goodness to the dish.

Dizzyblonde

You could have refried beans with it. I think it was Shenshen who posted this recipe - I've made it and it's amazing

1 tin of kidney beans
1 small onion
1-2 cloves of garlic
1 jalapeno (or chili, but I prefer the touch of vinegar on the jalapeno)
1/2 tsp of cumin
2 - 3 tbsp of cream cheese (or cheap Lidl alternative )
Salt
As much grated cheese as you like, cheddar works brilliantly here.
Coarsely chop the onion, garlic and jalapeno or chili, then throw it all and the beans on a food processor.
Blend until it's as smooth as you want it, then half fill a small gratin dish with the mixture.
Layer in some grated cheese, then fill up to the top with the bean mixture, topping with more cheese.
Put it in the oven at around 180 degrees for around half an hour, it should be nice and bubbly when you take it out.

beertons

Refried beans do nothing for me. I'll take a wander round Tesco, or my halal shop, and see what comes to mind.

rubadub

Does anybody else have multuiple gravies? wish I did this year, in the past there was just "normal" and then became normal with red wine. But nothing about warmth.

This year had a turkey gravy (not a fan), but I could potentially see 6 versions.
normal (beef)
normal +wine
turkey

and all 3 of those again but being extremely hot. The very hot gravy serves to warm up the meat which as often cooled down. I would rather it reheated up using hot gravy.

The Hill Billy

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

You could have refried beans with it. I think it was Shenshen who posted this recipe - I've made it and it's amazing

1 tin of kidney beans
1 small onion
1-2 cloves of garlic
1 jalapeno (or chili, but I prefer the touch of vinegar on the jalapeno)
1/2 tsp of cumin
2 - 3 tbsp of cream cheese (or cheap Lidl alternative )
Salt
As much grated cheese as you like, cheddar works brilliantly here.
Coarsely chop the onion, garlic and jalapeno or chili, then throw it all and the beans on a food processor.
Blend until it's as smooth as you want it, then half fill a small gratin dish with the mixture.
Layer in some grated cheese, then fill up to the top with the bean mixture, topping with more cheese.
Put it in the oven at around 180 degrees for around half an hour, it should be nice and bubbly when you take it out.

I have to say that I've never been a fan of the refried beans that I've been given in Tex-mex restaurants, but that recipe is definitely one I'm going to try soon.

BaZmO*

Just had Christmas dinner number 2. Jeez, you think I’d learn. I’m soooo stuffed!

Glad I got to use up everything, well pretty much everything, I’ve a few things to get through.

Just on the gravy thing. I think I’m gonna give up making gravy with a roast. I don’t know why but for the effort that’s involved I’m never blown away with homemade gravy. Probably because I’ve grown up with it but I think I prefer gravy granules. I know, the shame!

Whispered

beertons wrote: »

Refried beans do nothing for me. I'll take a wander round Tesco, or my halal shop, and see what comes to mind.

I love refried beans (definitely trying that recipe) but if I'm in a rush I often throw the kidney beans into a tin of tomatoes with smoked paprika, cumin, chopped jalapeño and a splash of the jalapeño vinegar. Once it heats enough to melt cheese I'm happy but my husband hates it unless I cook it long enough to thicken the sauce.

Another kidney bean idea I only recently tried is drained kidney beans, rocket and mango. Nothing else done to it. When it was given to me I thought it wouldn't be great but I was very impressed. So simple and fresh.

If you're looking to add goodness to nachos would fresh salsa, homemade guacamole, Greek yoghurt and a salad on the top do? It's how I justify my regular nacho dinners.

LirW

Nothing useful to say to refried beans (love them!) but I didn't know until now that I badly need a Nacho dinner.

Grandeeod

beertons wrote: »

Another Christmas feed had. Raging the stuffing balls were gone, but sure what can ya do. All I have left is a bit of ham. Thinking of putting them on nachos tomorrow with sour cream and melting cheese on top. Would kidney beans go with it or am I mad? Want to add some goodness to the dish.

If all you have left is ham, I'd be thinking of a big kickass Carbonara dish. Okay its usually Pancetta or bacon, but feck it, Ham is the same animal and works really well. Splash some Parmesan over it and serve with Garlic Bread. You are most likely to have all the ingredients in the house. Job gone.

Tree

BaZmO* wrote: »

Just had Christmas dinner number 2. Jeez, you think I’d learn. I’m soooo stuffed!

Glad I got to use up everything, well pretty much everything, I’ve a few things to get through.

Just on the gravy thing. I think I’m gonna give up making gravy with a roast. I don’t know why but for the effort that’s involved I’m never blown away with homemade gravy. Probably because I’ve grown up with it but I think I prefer gravy granules. I know, the shame!

I siphon off the turkey drippings (and butter) and mix them with hot water and gravy granules and heat it for a bit. This year an onion roasted under the turkey went in too. Bit nicer than granule gravy alone, and not the full effort of actually making gravy from scratch.

Shenshen

beertons wrote: »

Refried beans do nothing for me. I'll take a wander round Tesco, or my halal shop, and see what comes to mind.

Something to accompany ham - from a halal shop?

I know there's the joke in there somewhere, but I can't find it!

Dizzyblonde

BaZmO* wrote: »

Just had Christmas dinner number 2. Jeez, you think I’d learn. I’m soooo stuffed!

Glad I got to use up everything, well pretty much everything, I’ve a few things to get through.

Just on the gravy thing. I think I’m gonna give up making gravy with a roast. I don’t know why but for the effort that’s involved I’m never blown away with homemade gravy. Probably because I’ve grown up with it but I think I prefer gravy granules. I know, the shame!

Me too! I've made gravy myself in the past and don't feel it's worth the faff. And Mr Dizzy actually gags at the thought of incorporating meat juices into gravy :pac:

B0jangles

Last year there was a bit of drama on Christmas Eve because when I went looking in the turkey for the giblets to make gravy stock, there was nothing at all, despite the packaging claiming otherwise. I was very lucky that my lovely local butcher had a good big pile to spare and gave me some.

This year our Christmas dinner was being hosted by relatives, so we just got a little turkey for ourselves to eat on Stephen's Day.
Imagine my delight when I started rummaging around and found 2 full-sized necks AND a good bag of other bits!

beertons

Shenshen wrote: »

Something to accompany ham - from a halal shop?

I know there's the joke in there somewhere, but I can't find it!

Should have said its not strictly halal. He does Korean, Filipino, and other funky cuisines too.

phormium

I saved the livers from the giblets bag, I had two turkeys, just make pate from them, yum.

LirW

I'm using my frozen scrap bag to make some stock, noodle soup it is tonight. Together with roastbeef sandwiches and maybe some roasties. Leftover days can be alright I guess (and a must when you're post-Xmas broke).

Any idea on what to do with leftover beef gravy?

phormium

Freeze it, always handy to have good gravy in the freezer. If you really want to use it up it would be nice thrown into cottage pie.

Tree

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

Me too! I've made gravy myself in the past and don't feel it's worth the faff. And Mr Dizzy actually gags at the thought of incorporating meat juices into gravy :pac:

Mr. Dizzy might need replacing, he seems to be a defective model.

the beer revolu

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

Me too! I've made gravy myself in the past and don't feel it's worth the faff. And Mr Dizzy actually gags at the thought of incorporating meat juices into gravy :pac:

Please, please tell me you just drink the meat juices yourself!!
I don't think I can cope with the idea of roast meat juices been thrown down the drain.

Grandeeod

After a fantastic and different Asian style buffet on Christmas Day, it was a lovely roast beef dinner on St. Stephens Day. Tomorrow, New Years Eve, I've a tribe over for Dinner. On arrival I've some nibbles planned. Spring rolls and chicken skewers with a sweet chilli dip. The Turkey Crown is defrosting at the mo. Serving it with roast spuds, carrots, sprouts, cauliflower, stuffing and gravy. I believe dessert is cheesecake. Have some nice cheddar and smoked cheeses with brandy to finish up.

tickingclock

the beer revolu wrote: »

Please, please tell me you just drink the meat juices yourself!!
I don't think I can cope with the idea of roast meat juices been thrown down the drain.

Completely agree. Real gravy asi call it with the juices is to die for. Nothing else comes close at all