Favourite Part of the Christmas Day Dinner?

Loughc

Not a tournament just an interesting question.

(Tournament coming tomorrow or Monday.)

If you could only pick one item, what would be your favourite part of the Christmas Day dinner?

HeidiHeidi

Stuffing!

I'd eat a dinner plate of that alone. And more for dessert.

A cup of te

Has to be the roasties!!!

Caranica

If there was one part I'd have it all the time and it wouldn't just be for Christmas. So it's the combination of everything. But the most important part of Christmas dinner for me is family ❤️

Littlehorny

Wow, that is such a tough question. So many things need to be thought of here, how many times a year do you actually eat turkey? Roasties? Brussel Sprouts? Bread Sauce?

After giving it serious consideration I would go with stuffing because I make it from scratch and it brings the whole meal together where not everyone picks everything on the menu, they all put a good spoonful of stuffing on the plate.

DvB

There's nothing in a Christmas dinner we don't eat throughout the year, we just wouldn't eat them all at the same time. For me what makes it the Christmas dinner is the turkey though, we only get a full crown once a year and I love it. When cooked properly its delicious.

Loughc

Yeah same as you @DvB its the Turkey for me. We tend not to have Turkey throughout the year so for me it’s the difference maker.

Roast potatoes are on another level of amazing but I literally could have them all day everyday. I haven’t done that yet but I might haha.

Posy

Stuffing for me. There's no other day I have at least 3 types of stuffing! And cranberry stuffing is just nyom.

Turkey and Christmas crackers are also a must have, though. 😁

Loughc

3 types of stuffing? Bread, sausage meat and cranberry?

Do you make your own cranberry stuffing? If so share the recipe or where you get it from.

growleaves

The Turkey since I wouldn't have it very often.

TRS30

Probably turkey for me. It's more the whole process around it, the hours of cooking, carving etc. I have turkey a bit during the year however never with all the ceremony like Christmas.

Jude13

Stuffing with lovely gravy preferably homemade. Its the only time of the year I have either of these food items.

Cork Lass

Definitely the roasties for me - wouldn't have them that often but at Christmas they are always cooked in either goose fat or duck fat. Delicious 😍

CheerLouth

Definitely sausage-meat stuffing 🤤🤤 When we were kids (& even now as adults), we literally be fighting over the left over stuffing 😅

jellybear

Definitely stuffing for me...yum!!

Posy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118444347#Comment_118444347

Yes, I love sausage meat stuffing balls, nyom. 😁

I have made cranberry stuffing in the past, but the last couple of years just get tesco finest cranberry, apricot and clementine stuffing, it's delish. 😋

AyeGer

The turkey and ham combo as i only have those together at Christmas.

con747

Homemade sausage stuffing and homemade cauliflower and cheese, couldn't choose between them.

Jude13

Honorable mention to goose fat roasties.

God I'm starving now.

tscul32

All of the above, and yes, I'm hungry too now.

A cup of te

This thread is flippin' mouth watering 😋 I have to agree that sausage meat stuffing is fab. I don't get to make that though because my mam just likes ordinary stuffing which is also gorgeous too. Love the gravy too. The whole thing is gorgeous. My favourite dinner. I always said if I get married I know what the menu will be - turkey and ham!

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118456730#Comment_118456730

While Christmas dinner at home is just about my favourite meal, bar none - turkey and ham on catering/banquet scale is up there with the most disappointing meals in the world, bar none!

I've never had sausage-meat stuffing, it sounds bizarre - I love stuffing (which for me is breadcrumbs with herbs), and I love sausages - but the two together with chicken/turkey??? Dunno about that!

Cork Lass

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118456757#Comment_118456757

We always use sausagemeat stuffing - sausagemeat, chestnuts, apple, onion, egg and a bit of salt and pepper. My husband prefers it to any of the meat.

Littlehorny

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118456790#Comment_118456790

Hi Cork Lass, is there no breadcrumbs in this stuffing recipe?

BarneyJ

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118442220#Comment_118442220

I'm delighted you've mentioned bread sauce. For me, Christmas dinner wouldn't be Christmas dinner without bread sauce, but up here in Donegal no-one has ever heard of it and everyone just has gravy!

Cork Lass

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118456876#Comment_118456876

No - absolutely none. It's more like a meatloaf but is delicious. It's a Delia Smith recipe that I've used for years.

Littlehorny

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118456933#Comment_118456933

They are missing out so!

I work with some people from Donegal so I'll quiz them up on the bread sauce. 😃

DvB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118456933#Comment_118456933

Good call. I love bread sauce and always have it with Christmas Dinner... none of my inlaws had ever tried it before I put it on the table for Christmas Dinner just gone, one or 2 tried it but said they preferred gravy and left me to eat 90% of it. Happy days.

Loughc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118457861#Comment_118457861

Yeah I’m a bread sauce kind of guy too. None of the Dublin folk I know like it. They prefer gravy too.

Although I never had sausage stuffing until I came up to Dublin.

DvB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118457945#Comment_118457945

My family always had it and we're all Dubs... though we have family in kilkenny too... but never associated it as being a regional thing.

Half of my inlaws are from Yorkshire and they put gravy on corn flakes 😅

freshpopcorn

We have turkey, ham, potato stuffing, sausage meat stuffing, another bread stuffing(Crumbs, herbs, onion, salt, pepper and bacon lardons or some of the Christmas ham chopped up, veg(Carrots, cauliflower, parsnips, sprouts, Broccoli), potatoes, bread sauce, gravy.

I'd day I my favorite part is the ham.

TRS30

Have to admit I've never heard of bread sauce let alone tried it. Must keep an eye out and give it a try.

DvB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118459322#Comment_118459322

Funnily enough its usually hard toi find in the run up to christmas, every year if I leave it to the last week or so before I struggle to get it in any of the local shops, so I usually pick a couple od sachets up earlier than anything else for the christmas dinner. Did see loads of it in Dunnes on Saturday though ( now the demand has dissipated 😀)

tscul32

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118458731#Comment_118458731

My 10 year old said he's be happy enough if we just served him a massive lump of ham! Must be done in cider though and baked with a glaze to finish. I think we're spoiling him a bit.

freshpopcorn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118459371#Comment_118459371

We couldn't find knorr bread sauce this year at all I tried various supermarkets in towns and normally I've no issue getting it.

I eventually got Coleman's which I never saw before but from reading the packet it all seems to be made from Unilever.

I do know you can make it from scratch but it's a lot of hassle to be honest.

sporina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118442220#Comment_118442220

lol I over looked your post apologies.. funny you should mention bread sauce.. I created a thread about this last Christmas; we are from the NE but live in the South now.. and last Christmas was our 1st here.. and we always have bread sauce at home with turkey.. but we couldn't find it anywer here.. and I asked a load of my mates down here had they ever heard of it - and they hadn't..

I don't like it myself but himself loves it..

We didn't think of it Christmas gone.. our hearts weren't feeling v festive as we had been bereaved a few mths beforehand..

Littlehorny

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118476295#Comment_118476295

Very sorry for your bad news during the year, hope you all are doing better now.

My wife always picks up a few packs of bread sauce around Nov time as it can be very hard to get closer to the big day and one year we couldn't get any at all. Out of the 6 of us only 3 like bread sauce so it's not for everyone alright and your right I have known people who haven't got a clue what it is.

sporina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118478703#Comment_118478703

is it a regional thing?

none of my mates down here in the South had ever heard of it - but its v popular at home in the NW

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118479197#Comment_118479197

We always had it with Christmas dinner (dubs, but the cooking Mammy was from the west of Ireland). Haven't heard of it in years though, had completely forgotten about it! I was never mad about it myself.

Littlehorny

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118479197#Comment_118479197

Don't know, I'm from Meath and apart from living in Dublin for about 7 years about twenty years ago I haven't exactly moved around a lot 😃

It must be popular enough when the likes of Knorr, Colman's, Schwartz etc make it, maybe it's originally an English thing?

Littlehorny

Just looked it up there and bread sauce dates back to medieval times in England, cooks used bread as thickening agent for milk based sauces then added herbs and onions to taste.

It accompanied turkey, chicken and duck back then.

sporina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118479613#Comment_118479613

that explains why its popular where i'm from - the last county to be planted.. like, the same reason why we eat potato bread (divine)..

freshpopcorn

I always thought bread sauce was a popular thing but I suppose it could be more of a traditional thing in some houses now.

M&S do tubs of it as part of there Christmas food even.

Cork Lass

Bread sauce galore in Aldi this morning. They had their own brand and the Shwartz brand - they were marked as seasonal sauces but there was a lot of them left. the Shwartz ones were reduced to 49c.

sporina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118482659#Comment_118482659

do M&S stock em all year round?

Littlehorny

Don't be anywhere near an M&S Sporina so can't help you there, but I did make some Colman's bread sauce with the dinner yesterday as we had a ham fillet, it's not everyone's cup of tea but I love it.

Loughc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118526501#Comment_118526501

I had Colman Apple and Cranberry sauces before and I would recommend both.