The Christmas Dinner 2015 Thread!

Faith

Well, seeing as the threads are being started already, we might as well kick off the Christmas dinner thread!

Please post all of your questions, suggestions, recipes and menu plans here

mirrorwall14

Hi everyone,

We're having our first Christmas at home with the new baby. I'll be cooking for 2+an eleven month old on Christmas Day and then for 4+the baby on Stephens Day. I've a few questions for you knowledgeable folks if you don't mind?! I can cook but I'm not brilliant

I will definitely cook turkey and I have done so before but only for two of us. How big a turkey do I need if I'm feeding 6 across the two days? At least 3 of those are big meat eaters.

Both our parents used to cook a ham on Christmas eve but neither of us are big ham people. Is there any other meat that I could cook on Christmas eve for dinner that would carry over to Christmas day or am I as well to just have a completely separate dinner on Christmas Eve and forget about any cross over?

Obviously while I want a decent dinner I also want time to spend with the baba in the morning so I'm thinking of peeling/blanching/freezing the chopped veg in advance. If I do is it ok to transfer them straight into a pot or should I be letting them defrost? I also plan on cooking a small turkey one of the weekends coming and freezing some of the stock base for gravy, does that sound ok?

I adore roast potatoes but they are the most time consuming to make, is there anything that can be done to help with that?

Oh and any ideas for deserts? Again we would have had christmas pudding but neither of us are a fan

Sorry for all the questions. I'm excited but I like to plan so I want to get all my ducks in a row!

Ol' Donie

Might (might!) be worth throwing this up in the Christmas forum.

Sounds like it's gonna be great whatever you do.

njs030

You could do all the veg prep the night before and leave it in water overnight? Just make sure the water completely covers them.
My parents cook everything in disposable roasting tins to avoid washing up.

confusticated

I'd ask your butcher for advice on turkey size, they'd have a fair idea. On the ham alternative front, I don't know where in the country you're based but spiced beef is a popular thing in Cork and it's a bit different. Don't know if you could get it elsewhere though!

Dessert-wise, trifle? Or something light after the big dinner, like pavlova?

mirrorwall14

Never heard of spiced beef. I'm from the west but living in Kildare so might ask around! Butchers is a good idea alright.

Notjustsweet unfortunately I have a kitchen with miniscule countertop space, I can't leave anything on the floor with a walking baby and with a turkey in the fridge that'll be stuffed so I'm not sure if I'll squeeze it in. Might do a trial run of sorts. If I use sealable containers I might be able to stack chopped veg around things.

Can you make pavalova up the day before? (Turkey would be in the oven lol). Other half loves trifle. I hate it. Ah well, I could keep him happy and go for it!

Dizzyblonde

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

Never heard of spiced beef. I'm from the west but living in Kildare so might ask around! Butchers is a good idea alright.

Notjustsweet unfortunately I have a kitchen with miniscule countertop space, I can't leave anything on the floor with a walking baby and with a turkey in the fridge that'll be stuffed so I'm not sure if I'll squeeze it in. Might do a trial run of sorts. If I use sealable containers I might be able to stack chopped veg around things.

Can you make pavalova up the day before? (Turkey would be in the oven lol). Other half loves trifle. I hate it. Ah well, I could keep him happy and go for it!

You can bake the shell, whip the cream and keep it in a bowl in the fridge and then you just have to assemble it on the day.

With regard to Christmas Eve - we always get a takeaway because I'll usually have been preparing the veg etc for Christmas Day and I need a break from the kitchen

dibkins

And keep the pav well covered! Else you will have a sweet eggy mess.

confusticated

We leave veg and spuds chopped up under cold water in pans on the hob overnight on Christmas eve, and they're usually fine, so you could maybe do that to save fridge space?

Neyite

I've a tiny kitchen too. One workaround last year that worked well for me was to fill a lockable cool box with low-risk items - veggies etc that would normally reside in the fridge and put it outside on the balcony in a shaded area. It gave me more fridge space and the temperature outside was pretty much the same as a fridge. We do it during the winter with beer too.

I wouldn't store dairy or meat items outside though -stuff like spuds or cauliflour or cabbage that are hardy enough. Veggies and salads that wilt I'd keep indoors if its particularly cold.

Pick a dessert that you can prepare ahead. Ditto with a starter if you are having one. Can you put up a stair gate at the kitchen door while you are doing the actual cooking, when you are juggling that bit, a toddling baby can easily come up behind you without you realising when you are carrying something hot.

Alun

Yes, we have a conservatory on the back of the house that's as cold as a fridge during the winter, so we keep all our overflow veggies and drinks out there. No need for any cool boxes

Ol' Donie

Yep. Stack the beer and that in the shed for the whole damn time.

Man, I can't wait!

mirrorwall14

Gosh that's all great advice thanks so much everyone!! Really excited now, a month today its turkey dinner!!

robruck

The more easy form to cook the turkey is to cut by pieces. Marinate with soja sauce, fresh ginger, five spices.

catho_monster

I'm doing most of my Christmas cooking this weekend and freezing it so it's ready in advance for a stress free holiday season!

Highly recommend making roasties in advance and freezing them like I described here, then cooked from frozen http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057085727/9/#post88260547

Stuffing can be made in advance in balls from BaZmOs recipe here (frozen, defrosted then roasted) http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2056772901/1/#post81099163

Turkey gravy can be made in advance from cheap turkey legs, from Minder's stock recipe here:
http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057085727/2/#post87674667

Faith

mirrorwall14, I hope you don't mind, but I have taken over your thread to make it the official Christmas Dinner 2015 thread . It just helps to keep everything in one place!

So, folks, this is the place to ask any questions you have about the daunting task of cooking Christmas dinner, offer recipes or suggestions, or just share what your menu looks like

I have the traditional Christmas dinner. I never bother with a starter. I stir fry the sprouts, cut them in quarters and cook in oil. For the stuffing, I fry an onion in 2 ozs butter and add to a packet of stuffing mix with an extra 2 slices bread crumbed added. Lazy, but delish! Roast parsnip, carrot and potatoes. Marrowfat peas are a must. Trifle for dessert. Club orange to drink!
Stevens Day, bubble and squeak (mashed potatoes and sprouts mixed together and fried) Cold turkey smothered with relishes/pickles. Plum Pud and custard and/or cream for dessert.

Gloomtastic!

Major in-law invasion this year, my family staying away which means not having to cater to a PITA vegan (sorry sis)!!!

Going to try and repeat last year's feast, without the veggie options! Now to try and find the post where I listed everything..... :eek:

Edit: Found it! Including a link to Turkey Crown brined in Buttermilk which was fantastic. Highly recommend it (shorten the cooking time though)

Recipe here......

Dizzyblonde

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Recipe here......

I'm cooking a turkey crown for the first time in decades because nobody liked turkey until recently, so I'll be trying the buttermilk brine

Gloomtastic!

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

I'm cooking a turkey crown for the first time in decades because nobody liked turkey until recently, so I'll be trying the buttermilk brine

I bought a whole turkey last year and crowned it myself, there's loads of YouTube tutorials. You also get the added bonus of 2 turkey legs that you can bone and stuff with sausage meat. Wrapped in streaky bacon and then tin foil, roll it into a tight sausage. Poach for an hour or so and allow to cool. Take the tin foil off and fry the sausage until the bacon is browned. Slice and serve. Delicious!!!

Am doing a bring your own thing before Christmas, and have to do veg. Any suggestions? Enough for 13!

C.K Dexter Haven

Anything other than Turkey/Ham suggestions welcome

Neyite

I'm doing venison this year. I'm not overly fond of turkey. Other years we've done organic lamb which was gorgeous, so I'm going to try to source organic venison this year too. Duck or Goose might be alternatives to turkey too.

C.K Dexter Haven

Neyite wrote: »

I'm doing venison this year. I'm not overly fond of turkey. Other years we've done organic lamb which was gorgeous, so I'm going to try to source organic venison this year too.

Any recipe ideas yet?

Neyite

Dónal wrote: »

Am doing a bring your own thing before Christmas, and have to do veg. Any suggestions? Enough for 13!

Fennel Roasted Parsnips
Stir fried Brussell Sprouts with bacon.
Spiced Red Cabbage
Lemon & orange carrots

Any of those sound good?

Neyite

C.K Dexter Haven wrote: »

Any recipe ideas yet?

Yep, I have a recipe for spiced blackberry sauce which goes well with venison medallions. I did it one year with blackberry and port sauce (Darina Allen book) and it was amazing. Going to do Bazmo's stuffing balls, because, stuffing balls like!

I got my veggies recipes out of a good housekeeping booklet and its one of the best little books ever.

I'll do the homemade trifle as it was a big hit last year. Tuna Carpaccio for starter again was requested this year.

I did a spinach and feta pie with sticky hoisin sausages on St' Stephens day.

C.K Dexter Haven

Neyite wrote: »

Yep, I have a recipe for spiced blackberry sauce which goes well with venison medallions. I did it one year with blackberry and port sauce (Darina Allen book) and it was amazing. Going to do Bazmo's stuffing balls, because, stuffing balls like!

I got my veggies recipes out of a good housekeeping booklet and its one of the best little books ever.

I'll do the homemade trifle as it was a big hit last year. Tuna Carpaccio for starter again was requested this year.

I did a spinach and feta pie with sticky hoisin sausages on St' Stephens day.

Sorry, I just meant the "venison" - (but thanks for the other ideas too )


cool so, medallions of venison- are they going to be purchased via vacuum pack or do you have a supplier? do you slice thinly or purchase pre-sliced or slice a fillet yourself?

Neyite

I don't know yet, I'd like to source organic so it might depend on what I get.

The last time we had venison, it was Aldi medallions and they were seasoned and fried in a tiny bit of butter for 2 mins each side, so they were served medium, and they were gorgeous, but so simple to do. So I might even see if Aldi are doing them again if the organic ones are too much of a pain to find.

mirrorwall14

Has anyone spiced and cooked their own beef? I'm reading up on it and it looks like a lovely alternative to ham for my house!

C.K Dexter Haven

Neyite wrote: »

I don't know yet, I'd like to source organic so it might depend on what I get.

The last time we had venison, it was Aldi medallions and they were seasoned and fried in a tiny bit of butter for 2 mins each side, so they were served medium, and they were gorgeous, but so simple to do. So I might even see if Aldi are doing them again if the organic ones are too much of a pain to find.

Many thanks, i'll post back here when i check with my butchers- there was a lot of venison about a month ago out there but not sure what the season is.

The Hill Billy

I'll be doing the traditional Christmas fare again this year. It ain't broken, so Mrs B won't let me fix it.

Christmas Eve
Slices of the ham that I'll serve on Christmas Day
Cheeses
Pickles
Crackers
Mulled wine

Christmas Day Breakfast
Smoked salmon & brown bread with G&Ts in Nana Billy's

Christmas Day Dinner
A glass or two of chilled sherry while I am cooking
No starter apart from a glass of bubbly with Mrs B
14lb turkey (so we plenty of leftovers) unbrined & roasted with lots of herby butter under the skin & a blanket of streaky bacon
Ham (boiled & baked au naturel on Christmas Eve - glazing is too much bother for very little return)
Stuffing with breadcrumbs, sage, onion, thyme, garlic & lemon
Roast carrots with cumin, honeyed parsnips & spuds
Stir-fried sprouts with bacon (& possibly chestnuts)
Giblet gravy
Dessert TBD - probably baked cheesecake
Bottle of Barolo or some other chunky red

Christmas Day Supper
Turkey & pickled onion sambos with a mug of tae

Dizzyblonde

Neven Maguire is doing a Christmas special on RTÉ One at 7.30 tonight

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/homechefchristmasspecial.html

RentDayBlues

I'm do all the prep I can on christmas eve morning, with 2 toddlers we're doing a simpler meal this year, but we're spreading the nicer food out over the day.

Breakfast:
French toast, bacon and maple syrup

Lunch Platter: (with the inlaws)
Crumbed brie with cranberry sauce
Pate with a selection of homemade bread
Smoked salmon pancake bites
Bucks fizz

Dinner:
Turkey, ham and stuffing
Garlic potatoes
Purple cabbage
Sprouts
Some other veg

Going to do a cheese platter for dessert in front of the tv, with some sneaky ports

MissFlitworth

On Christmas day my Mam will be cooking and she likes to do it all herself so, apart from the gravy which is my realm (although I nearly lost that right one Christmas before I figured out how to cook with alcohol and put nearly a full bottle of pinot grigio & full lemon's worth of lemon juice into it. *Bit* tart). Roasties, mash, sprouts, inexplicable mushy peas, turkey, boiled ham, stuffing (lots of stuffing) and gravy.

The other side of the table is from Norway so we'll have Norwegian Christmas dinner on Christmas eve - this is roast pork belly, meatballs, boiled potatoes, a killer cream gravy and a shot of aquavit (could happily skip that bit). Which means Stephen's Day will have the ultimate leftover sandwich with 4 different meats in it. Woop! Hungry already.

Toto Wolfcastle

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

Neven Maguire is doing a Christmas special on RTÉ One at 7.30 tonight

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/homechefchristmasspecial.html

He's doing a Q&A on Twitter at the moment until 6 if anyone has a Christmas cooking question for him.

dee_mc

We'll have a nice simple Christmas dinner this year. I do it all except for the veg peeling, which is usually subcontracted
Turkey crown with herby garlicky butter under the skin, small bacon joint with a mustard, honey and whiskey glaze, potato and breadcrumb stuffing and some form of roast potatoes (probably just diced baby potatoes roasted with a bit of cajun spice) are the most important bits.
Every year we say we won't bother with sprouts because nobody likes them, and every year my mum ends up buying them on Christmas eve. Might tart them up with bacon bits.
And my homemade mulled wine cranberry sauce -wouldn't be the same without it
No idea what to do for dessert, we're usually too comatose after the main course to bother with it, but the starter will be Burren smoked salmon wrapped around Quark (soft cheese) mixed with lemon zest, juice and fresh basil. With brown bread if I remember to bake some.
This year is special because my little nephew will be having his first Christmas dinner! Could get messy

Faith

I'm thinking of doing venison this year. There's only two of us, but leftovers would be nice. Can anyone recommend a cut that's good for roasting?

Dial Hard

We all go to my folks for Christmas. My sister and I will stay there Christmas Eve.

Breakfast is a full Irish cooked by my dad, with champagne. Pretty much the only fry I'll eat all year.

Brown bread (which I make) with smoked salmon during the day.

Then dinner at about 7pm. We don't have a starter; the dinner is so huge that there's just no need for it. Turkey, ham (boiled, not baked), gravy, cranberry sauce (also made by me), mash, roasters, stuffing, carrots, sprouts, mashed carrots & parsnip and garden peas. My mam always buys a pudding and then gives out because nobody except her and my dad eats it.

Then, around midnight there's usually a round of turkey & Branston pickle sambos.

And then we do it all again on Stephen's Day.

Loire

dee_mc wrote: »

the starter will be Burren smoked salmon wrapped around Quark (soft cheese) mixed with lemon zest, juice and fresh basil.

Wow - that's added to my list!

Bateman

Anyone got any tips on turkey for 12 people? Full bird or boned and rolled? Where are people buying their turkey from? Apologies if this is the wrong thread for any of this.

The Black Oil

Going to attempt chocolate truffles.

Mrs Fox

Last night I made Christmas pudding truffles for a friend's do. Blitz shop-bought plum pudding, take about tablespoon and roll into balls. Freeze them for 30 minutes to firm. Then dip them in melted dark chocolate and let it set on a lined baking sheet. Then drizzle with melted white chocolate on top.
I got about 36 balls out of an 800g pudding.

The Hill Billy

Faith wrote: »

I'm thinking of doing venison this year. There's only two of us, but leftovers would be nice. Can anyone recommend a cut that's good for roasting?

A decent sized fillet would do you.

The Hill Billy

Bateman wrote: »

Anyone got any tips on turkey for 12 people? Full bird or boned and rolled? Where are people buying their turkey from? Apologies if this is the wrong thread for any of this.

The size really depends on whether you want leftovers or not. An 8lb crown would do a dinner for 12 hungry people. However, you could go for a 16lb full bird which will feed them & leave you with the making of sambos on St Stephen's Day.

I've ordered a 14lb full bird for our dinner & that's just for 4 of us. But we I love gorging for days afterwards on plates of cold turkey with plenty of salt & white pepper, & loads of pickled onions.

Dial Hard

Bateman wrote:

Anyone got any tips on turkey for 12 people? Full bird or boned and rolled? Where are people buying their turkey from? Apologies if this is the wrong thread for any of this.

I'd always go for a full bird, that say you get all the pickings etc and can make stock with the carcass.

We get our turkey off Sean O'Brien. Seriously.

Spanish Eyes

Can someone help me with stuffing please?

Not blowing trumpets or anything, but I can manage the rest of things fine including the roasties! But stuffing always goes wrong on me.

It is either too wet, too dry, or overcooked and hard, woe is me.

I don't stuff the bird, but make it separately. Maybe I should just stuff it up the birdie's bum and try it lol.

Anyway, it's just the usual breadcrumbs, onions herbs and seasoning. I gently fry off the onions in butter and rapeseed oil. Then add the breadcrumbs. When all mixed up put in a dish and dot with (lots) of butter and into the oven covered with foil.. I'm probably leaving it there for too long. I dunno. I'm fed up now.

Thanks anyway.

mirrorwall14

Turkey and veg in the slowcooker as we speak for the gravy base. Maris pipers bought ready to try tomorrow for frozen roasties as per boards advice and I'm going to have a stab at the stuffing balls too. I'll use some for Sunday dinner this week to test it out Only thing that'll be left then is to par boil and freeze the veg but I'll do that much closer to the time as I've done it before. Having to bag and tag everything because its only 3 of us on Christmas Day but 8 on Stephens Day!

Dizzyblonde

You might be leaving it in too long. I find 25 or 30 minutes is plenty, unless your dish is very deep. I also add hot water to the stuffing which works better than using all butter.

BaZmO* has a great recipe for stuffing balls in the Cooking Club if you fancy something different http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056772901

homemadecider

Just the two of us for Christmas this year; we're locking the door, putting on the fire and hibernating.

On Christmas morning we'll open a bottle of champagne and have a glass along with a slice of Lidl's Pandoro for breakfast.

We'll spend the day cooking together and making terrible jokes, eventually sitting down to eat beef wellington, brussel sprouts, roast spuds and gravy. There will be lots and lots of red wine.

Over a movie in the evening we'll get through some Jamaican rum cake and chocolate roulade, and probably several whiskeys.

We'll cook plenty of food so that the Stephen's Day hangover will be eased by lots of leftovers!

Dubl07

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Can someone help me with stuffing please?

Not blowing trumpets or anything, but I can manage the rest of things fine including the roasties! But stuffing always goes wrong on me.

It is either too wet, too dry, or overcooked and hard, woe is me.

I don't stuff the bird, but make it separately. Maybe I should just stuff it up the birdie's bum and try it lol.

Anyway, it's just the usual breadcrumbs, onions herbs and seasoning. I gently fry off the onions in butter and rapeseed oil. Then add the breadcrumbs. When all mixed up put in a dish and dot with (lots) of butter and into the oven covered with foil.. I'm probably leaving it there for too long. I dunno. I'm fed up now.

Thanks anyway.

I blitz the onions and herbs together. They don't need frying and the onion provides adequate moisture meaning I don't need liquid in my stuffing. If you're old school and want onion bits, just chop the onion a day or whatever beforehand and freeze it. The freeze/thaw works the same way it does with fruit structure so the cell walls are compromised. No need to fry. Crumbs, onions, fresh and dried herbs, seasoning and melted butter work for me. Meat juices are a bonus of course. I roast for 20-30 mins in a pyrex dish, uncovered.

Leinster1980

I'm making the starters and I'll be doing Delias scallops. I make them ahead of time, freeze them and then cook from frozen! They are delicious.

http://www.deliaonline.com/home/Print-Recipe.html?PID=2057&ampCID=469