Traditional Christmas Dinner

phormium

Real marrowfat peas are getting harder and harder to get, lots of no soak and tinned ones which are not the same thing! Aldi seem to be selling off their packs in the discounted spot for weeks now, I buy more every time I go in, I'm prepared for a siege at this stage! I have them all year round, cook a big pot at a time and freeze in portions, very handy with the old fish dinners.

Anyway Christmas dinner for our gang is always the same, Prawn & Salmon Cocktail (not everyone likes prawns so they can have salmon only), Turkey, ham, bread stuffing, sausage stuffing, cranberry sauce, bread sauce, roast potatoes, dauphinoise potatoes, mash, sprouts someway or other to make them palatable (yuk), roast veg mixture and of course marrowfat peas and a vat of gravy. Dessert is jelly trifle and a second sherry/no jelly trifle, pudding/brandy custard there too but usually not served until after second round in evening (keep the custard in a flask, very handy!)

iniscealtra

Sprouts are delicious halved and roasted. Or shredded / sliced, sautéed on the pan with smoked rashers and then add a good dash of cream. I wouldn’t put them anywhere near water.

Posy

I only heard of pigs in blankets on American TV until recently. They have no place on a Christmas dinner though.

Mine has to have at least 5 types of stuffing on the plate. I'm already getting my annual 'what if there's not enough stuffing' Christmas anxiety. 😄

DvB

Turkey, ham, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, roast carrots and parsnips (with a little red onion) sprouts, stuffing, bread sauce for me, cranberry sauce for the grandparents and gravy for the kids. Oh and marrowfat peas too!

Dessert will be baileys cheesecake or Christmas pudding with vanilla ice cream or baileys whipped cream.

No starter, can't do starter and dessert

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121515682#Comment_121515682

5 types of stuffing? Does it not all end up mixed in together?

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121515380#Comment_121515380

I'd need 18" plates for all that, and you'd be waiting for a while till I finish my mains as I eat tasty dinners very slowly! I'll pass on the soaked peas though.

tscul32

SIL is bringing a charcuterie/smoked salmon/melon board for starters, at least an hour before mains. Then turkey, glazed ham, roasties and mash, roast parsnips, steamed carrots, sweetcorn, shredded Sprouts with bacon, cream and parmesan.

Dessert this year will be toblerone cheesecake and lemon meringue pie with homemade ice creams. Also homemade mince pies, biscuits and Christmas cake. It's a whole day affair and we'll still be picking (and drinking wine) at 10pm.

Loughc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121515748#Comment_121515748

Well technically the whole dinner gets mixed in together in my belly 😂

freshpopcorn

I'd say pigs and blankets only took off in the mid 2000's but more so as party food.

I don't think cranberry Sauce is very popular in Ireland either in my experience.

Similar with this big fry on Christmas morning. I've never really heard of this until the supermarkets started having it in their brochures.

We have Just Roll Cinnamon Swirls when the dinner is cooking.

BorneTobyWilde

Roast Spudtatoes a must

Cork Lass

Goose, glazed ham, spiced beef, stuffing made with sausage meat, apple and chestnuts. Roast potatoes (using the fat from the goose), sprouts fried with pancetta and chestnuts, roasted veg, potato croquettes, red cabbage and Sunday peas. Gravy made from goose giblets.

Starter is always prawn cocktail and dessert would be ice cream, meringue and cream or a slice of winter berry tart (shop bought).

phormium

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121515916#Comment_121515916

Ah that's just the selection 😁 not everyone eats everything on the list, I usually just plate up the turkey/ham/stuffing/gravy and the rest goes on the table for everyone to help themselves to whatever bits they like. Personally I eat a very small plateful as usually concentrate on the meat/stuffing/bread sauce plus the peas which everyone loves believe it or not. I eat fast as can't stand cool food, has to be hot! Bought a new cordless hotplate for the table this year to help with that.

SarahLil

I always heat my plates before serving food

We have never done the big Christmas fry up Christmas morning there is always too much going on in the kitchen but never say never, we have an air fryer could easily rustle up some sausages and rashers in a couple of minutes. I have to say though I couldn’t do my Christmas roast potatoes in the air fryer I love roasties from the oven

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121515270#Comment_121515270

I have an absolute hatred for any food the English put stupid twee names on. They might taste nice I don't know but I will never warm to "pigs in blankets, bubble and squeak or toad in a hole"

I assume the recent invasion of bacon wrapped sausage in Ireland is coming from all the M&S and Tesco ads.

Sigma101

My kids will be having the traditional Irish starter

BK5

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121515916#Comment_121515916

We bought extra large plates a few years ago for Christmas dinner and they were the best idea yet. You avoid having a huge pile up on the plate and can actually enjoy the dinner more when you can load up your fork the way you like it.

StrawbsM

I’m salivating.

Starters - prawn cocktail

Main - Turkey, ham, sausage meat stuffing, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, mashed carrots and parsnips, brussel sprouts, marrowfat peas, pigs in blankets, aunt Bessie’s Yorkshire puds, gravy & cranberry sauce

Dessert - lemon posset with shortbread, trifle or some chocolate dessert.

Later that night and the next day the salad replaces the veg and the piccalilli is lashed on.

sprucemoose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121515191#Comment_121515191

nah chipolata is a type of sausage, not a sausage roll

Loughc

So did everyone’s dinner turn out as they hoped?

Tried anything new that worked?

BK5

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121553005#Comment_121553005

Dinner turned out really well, Christmas day and Stephen's day. I usually fixate on any element of the dinner that didn't turn out well but this year all good.

Going to to do the whole thing tomorrow for us - minus the turkey though.

DvB

Ours was timed to perfection in the end ( a first) but tasted better on st Stephens day for some reason.

Tried nothing new other than using 2 types of stuffing, a tray of it and stuffing balls too, both very tasty.

Loughc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121553108#Comment_121553108

Mine tasted even nicer on Stephen’s day too. I think it was because there was no stress only needed to cook fresh mash the next day.

DvB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121553193#Comment_121553193

We just had sprouts to do as well. Didn't bother with mash second time around.

Was just the 4 of us too so considerably less stress.

phormium

All went well, I love it St Stephens Day, same dinner and already cooked so no hassle. Had prawn cocktail for later on and still plenty trifle, had to make another bowl of that actually as requested!

What was left then was turned into pie, had my final ham sandwich yesterday, will have to find something else to cook for dinner today.

Posy

-I didn't get the turkey crown I wanted in Tesco, so next year I'll head down to them the first day they're in stock!

-I tried a Tesco garlic and herb stuffing, which was awful so not getting that next year!

-I incinerated my parsnips, rectified that on Stephen's Day. 🙂

Apart from that, all was good! And my trifle was a triumph so I'll do the exact same with that next year. 😁

hynesie08

Probably a stupid question but here goes,

I have a 4lb turkey crown that basically split down the middle during the brining process, leaving me with 2 2lb breasts. I put them in separate small roasting dishes.

I presume my cooking time is based on 2lbs rather than 4? Cooking them side by side.

Loughc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121553650#Comment_121553650

Yes base it off 2lbs but factor in more time if you are cooking them in oven together.

10-10-20

I brined my rolled and boned turkey a day before in a salt and orange peel solution and then oven cooked it in a bag. Now it was slightly overcooked (the carry-over heat brought it up to 81C instead of 74C as I had hoped), but the turkey turned out exceptionally well all of the same; very moist. Better than the slow-cooked ham which was pre-cooked on Christmas eve. So yeah, all good, but there were only four of us.

Ezeoul

Xmas dinner was nice, turkey was ok, a breast joint from Dunnes (double the size I ordered!) and baked ham from Aldi that just had to be heated, but at the end of it all, I sat think thinking why didn't I just do a large roast chicken? I think I convince myself I should do turkey just because its christmas. Stuffing, gravy and veg were all lovely.

Roast beef tomorrow, I've just finished peeling and parboiling the spuds for my roasties and will pop them in them in the freezer when they're cold. Cook straight from freezer tomorrow. Mash and stuffing already done, will have the same veg from last week (marrowfat peas, sprouts, glazed chatenay carrots) with belgian chocolate sponge pudding for afters.

😋

Robert Jackson

Had a Chinese this year nice to have something different instead of boring turkey glad Christmas is over to be honest absolutely hate it will be going away somewhere next year to get away from everyone