majorbloodnock Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Well, the household embargo on the "C" word (the December festivity, that is) has now been lifted since we're now into November, so I'm starting to think about menu ideas. As some of you may remember from previous years, we never cook a turkey, but instead take a bit of pleasure out of pushing the boat out a bit. As a result, I'm keen to find out what you are all planning for your festive dinners, and hoping to possibly poach an idea or two. For us this year, the kids seem to be laying claim to the starter, so that will probably be clams in a tomatoey garlicky white-winey sort of sauce, along with some kind of rustic bread for mopping up purposes. We've already got the wine, so I know whatever we have for the main course will have to stand up to some pretty heavyweight reds - in particular, a Burgundy and a Barolo. Last year we had a crown rack of lamb, and previous years have seen goose, guinea fowl and beef, so I'm quite keen to explore something a bit different. So do tell; what are your plans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Not decided yet, but often we have had a beef fillet, raw for starters and cut off to order or in a Wellington for mains. I really fancy venison, I like the loin which is very tender. Last year we had a shoulder of hogget, cooked in a wood-burning stove for hours, with spuds added closer to eating time. It was absolutely perfect One year we did raan of lamb which is either shoulder or leg (can't remember which) smothered in spices and yogurt. We always have Xmas pud for pudding. This will be a mouth watering thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Nothing exciting here - I swore last year that I would never buy a whole turkey again (it was my first Christmas dinner at home, rather than at someone else's house). I suggested beef and pork to my sister who is coming to mine this year, and got a dusty answer! So it'll be turkey - but a crown or something smaller and easier to cook - and a gammon. I am planning smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast though! Really looking forward to reading other people's ideas, and any recommendations for cooking the gammon - I've tried various methods in the past, including Nigella's CocaCola one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 We are going for beef this year - eldest son has requested steak, so it will be something along those lines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clucker1 Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Jamie Oliver's Jerk Ham Recipe is FAB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great as a main dish, part of a main meal, cold in sarnies, on a jacket pot, made into a pie..........the list is endless. I have also done half the quantity here and it worked fine. Great to go in the freezer too, I put it in sliced, each slice (thick) individually wrapped and then pull them out as and when required, great with fried eggs and chips/mini roast potatoes! I get LOADSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS of brownie points from OH when I do this. It is quite a faff, but worth it. Linky here [urhttp://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/jamie-oliver/christmas-jerk-ham-recipel][/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluekarin Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 I am thinking of beef Wellington as my sis in law did one last year and although not perfect was very delicious. Not sure how much a piece of fillet would be for 5 people. Probably a scary amount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Just make sure you're sitting down when you check prices Karin! We're having beef as we still have some of our Aberdeen Angus in the freezer - probably Topside as the beef was hung for three weeks and the topside is very tender. My sister is cooking a turkey crown and bringing that as well so we'll just have all the accompaniments for both! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majorbloodnock Posted November 21, 2012 Author Share Posted November 21, 2012 I have to admit a Beef Welly is a tempting option. Certainly, it'd be a pricey piece of meat, but it's supposed to be a celebratory meal, and if you can't justify it then, then when can you? My only concern is that the pastry may end up being a bit cloying for the wine. I'm sure I could live with it, of course, but I'll see if we come up with any other suggestions that tweak the "ooh" muscles. That said, I wonder if could do something interesting with some duck.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 We're having the usual roast free-range cockerel (for 10 people) with all the trimmings. The starter may well be a warm salad with sliced pigeon breasts in red wine as a friend has been out shooting and brought some over for the freezer. I may ring the changes with the side dishes, but the olds are quite conservative in their taste, so maybe not.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 I have 12 for lunch with some that are fairly conservative so Turkey and Ham for main. Beef Wellington sounds very appealing but too difficult to get a balance on how much to cook the beef in my family and I don't even want to imagine the cost for 12 Olly what did you think of Nigella's cola cooked ham ? I want to try something a little different. Starters I will do as canapes in case we don't quite want to sit at the table. Probably mini prawn cocktails on little gem leaves and smoked salmon on blini's and maybe one or two others. Pudding we'll have a Christmas pudding but I'm thinking of trying an ice cream version of Christmas pudding as well, I'm sure I've seen a recipe somewhere. Definitely a cheese board even if it's just for my father and FIL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinsk Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 For those doing a ham I can absolutely recommend Nigellas Ginger ale ham, similar to the coke one but it's cooked in ginger ale and then glazed with marmalade and ginger, I much prefer it. We are at the motherships for Christmas so it will definitely be turkey, but I tend to do a push the boat out meal for new year. Last year I did lobster thermidor as a starter followed by vension wellington which was amazing. This year I am thinking of doing a rack of rose veal and maybe a cheese souffle as a starter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Delia's Christmas book has an Christmas pudding style ice cream I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 I ALWAYS do this Aromatic Spiced Ham - we have it hot for Christmas dinner & cold for days afterwards. its great because the bulk of the cooking is done beforehand,with just a quick blast in the over before serving, & with the clove studs it also looks amazingly festive. It has a great flavour also We still have all the trimmings, & I may do a small chicken or turkey breast joint too. NIGELLAS AROMATIC SPICED HAM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyhunnypie Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Turkey crown - as it's the only meat I enjoy eating cold afterwards with piccalily. MMmm. Personally I would like cannon of lamb for Xmas day dinner. We'll see. Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Chickencam said Delia's Christmas book has an Christmas pudding style ice cream I think. Thanks, yes that was the one I was thinking of. I think I'll make that as well as serving a traditional pudding (Heston's hidden orange ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Deadly boring at Egluntyne Towers I'm afraid. There would be a mutiny if there wasn't a turkey with all the trimmings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
counturchickens Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Might be a bit boring, but for the last few years have a really good chicken from the local butcher as theirs only 5 of us. I always go mad with our home made veg. Tbh I would be happy just eating them, especially leeks in cheese sauce with breadcrumbs on top! Dippy eggs and Buck's Fizz for breaking, never do a pudding as we're always too full. I do fancy doing a ham sometime, I might think about it for new year when I will be feeding more folk. Best meal though is Boxing Day....bubble and squeak! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majorbloodnock Posted November 22, 2012 Author Share Posted November 22, 2012 Well, I really like the sound of a warm pigeon breast salad; might well have to keep that one in mind for next year. @Egluntyne, I've never said a turkey dinner with all the usual accompaniments is boring, so don't apologise in the slightest. It's just that not being tied to it by tradition, I find there are other things that feel more celebratory to my palate, hence this thread. I agree with the various other comments about cold meats, pickles, bubble and squeak and the general joys of this quality of leftovers. Bliss. In fact, it might not be to everyone's taste, but whenever I have any left over that I can spare, I really look forward to beef, lamb, pork or chicken dripping (or any other, to be honest) as a boxing day breakfast. No-one else in my family likes it, so I can indulge myself selfishly with a few slices of toast and a steaming mug of tea. One thing I have been wondering, though, is if any of you have a good recipe for a "sharing" bread. You know, the kind of part scone, part focaccia flat bread, possibly with bits of onion in, that you put in the middle of the table whilst warm from the oven and which everyone pulls apart. It strikes me as a suitably hedonistic accompaniment to the tomatoey clams I said earlier that we'd be having as a starter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 There were some in the Telegraph recently (I have the card) .... Maneesh (herby middle eastern bread, looks to have herbs and sesame seeds on the top), Fougasse (French version of focaccia), Gorgonzola, Pear and Walnut bakes (rolls, good with soup). If you can't find the recipes online, then I'd be happy to scan it in and send to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 One of the advantages of a fairly traditional Christmas dinner is that it's easy to cook and doesn't need too much attention - prep the vegetables the night before, get up and bung the turkey in and then you can leave most of it alone until later. I'd love to do beef Wellington sometime, but it would be too stressful for me to cook that on Christmas Day. Thank you for the gammon recipe suggestions, I'll look at those, the Nigella ginger ale one sounds nice and the spicy one. The CocaCola recipe was fine, it just wasn't very exciting! It didn't add much to the flavour in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Olly, I sometimes do a similar ham/gammon recipe with maple syrup... that's lovely. I do most of the prep the night before too, with the dogs shut out of the kitchen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majorbloodnock Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 One of the advantages of a fairly traditional Christmas dinner is that it's easy to cook and doesn't need too much attention - prep the vegetables the night before, get up and bung the turkey in and then you can leave most of it alone until later. I'd love to do beef Wellington sometime, but it would be too stressful for me to cook that on Christmas Day. Frankly, I don't find it a problem. Since we usually go to the morning service before coming back to open the presents, my dinner requirement is that it's either something that will happily survive untouched in the oven for a couple of hours or something that will cook quickly enough that I can start it after we get back. Since we typically spread the dinner over the whole afternoon, that means roasted and baked stuff up to about 2 hours is fine. It also means that I'd end up worrying more about leaving a turkey a couple of hours without basting it. I'm an inveterate fiddler with my cooking, and it takes a lot for me to have the confidence to leave something alone. My guess is that if I do the welly, I'll do the duxelles or paté the day before, and quickly sear the beef in the frying pan just afterwards, before letting it cool and assembling it. Then it'll be ready for me to throw in the oven as soon as we've sat down with our starter. Since it only takes about 25 mins, timing should be perfect. To be honest, I'll probably have more hassle with getting the veg times right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 One thing I have been wondering, though, is if any of you have a good recipe for a "sharing" bread. You know, the kind of part scone, part focaccia flat bread, possibly with bits of onion in, that you put in the middle of the table whilst warm from the oven and which everyone pulls apart. I haven't tried it yet but this onion focaccia recipe sounds rather nice, it's on my list to try http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/nov/16/baking-roasted-onions-recipes-lepard Whilst I sometimes like I'd like to do something more exciting I love turkey, together with ham and all the veg & trimmings. Especially having plenty of leftovers for the next week as we usually take time off between Christmas an New Year. Christmas eve I usually do home-made soup and bread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majorbloodnock Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 Thanks, Patricia; that's the kind of thing I'm thinking about. DM's sending me her recipes too, and I'll probably try some out beforehand to see how they work out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I sometimes make up a focaccia dough in the breadmaker, then customise it with my own bits and pieces; olive tapenade goes down well here, to name just one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
