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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Christmas dinner
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bib
Shipmate
# 13074
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Posted
Despite Australia's hot climate many of us, including me, eat the traditional hot Christmas dinner - turkey, ham, roast vegetables and then a plum pudding if we are still hungry (mind you many Australians would choose a pavlova). However, many of the younger families are opting for a cold seafood feast which suits the climate.
What are other shipmates doing for Christmas dinner? If you live in the Southern hemisphere, do you still have the trad hot meal or do you opt for the seafood or even an outdoor bbq?
Happy Christmas to all no matter how you celebrate. ![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif)
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"My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End, accept the praise I bring"
Posts: 1307 | From: Australia | Registered: Oct 2007
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Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
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Posted
Hmm, since I am going away, I am not totally sure, but I expect it will be roasted turkey, with all the accompaniments, but no gravy. Pudding will be cookies or pie, I think. My friends, hereticks all, do not like the traditional puddings. And no Christmas cake!!
I am contributing a tortiere, with a profound obeisance to my cultural heritage. And a tray of ginger date squares. And a Christmas coffee blend for the Day (and following)
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Even more so than I was before
Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
The main problem with Christmas dinner in our house is that the chef tends to be half cut on Buck's Fizz/champagne by the time it comes to cook it. However, this year I thought I might prepare individual Beef Wellingtons in advance, in the expectation that I will at least be able to find the oven. With that, a red wine/port reduction and a few buttered carrots. Christmas pudding and homemade brandy butter to follow.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
Turkey-and-all-the-trimmings (and plum pudding) for us courtesy of a couple of friends in the choir; in his capacity as part of the Cathedral staff D. is given a turkey, which we'll take to our friend, and she'll cook it.
We'll bring a bottle of wine and a couple of home-made French sticks on the day.
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
We do a traditional Christmas dinner, except that we don't much like turkey. Having tried beef, duck and pheasant over the years, we now have venison, larded with streaky bacon.
Our first year of married life was spent in Lisbon, so we have a tradition of Portuguese food on Christmas Eve: caldo verde soup, bacalhau a braz (cod) for main course, with arroz doce (cold thick rice pudding) to finish. Our son and his wife have now followed suit.
My wife is having a minor op. on December 23rd,with a possible overnight hospital stay, so she will prepare all the Portuguese stuff in advance (it freezes well); I do the roasts in our house anyway!
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
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Karl: Liberal Backslider
Shipmate
# 76
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Posted
I was going to stuff a pork leg with turkey breast, but seeing as the supermarkets don't seem to understand the concept of buying anything other than an entire turkey, or a "crown" that costs more than the turkey it was taken from, and I can't afford posh butchers that do free range turkey bits, I'm left doing A Roast Turkey in the traditional manner. I'm a bit pissed off about it, TBH. I'd do a second meat, but there's only three carnivorous adults and three young children present, so it'd be a bit of an extravagance. Going to be eating cold turkey sandwiches until June as it is...
I'll make the best of it. I'm going to make a sage, onion, chestnut and cranberry stuffing, both in the bird and seperately for the vegans present, there'll be pigs in blankets (of course). Was going to do the sprouts with pancetta but vegans again. Might have to make a celeriac and swede mash or something.
Christmas pud obviously. Must put some brandy on it. I feed it over the weeks leading up to Christmas. I gather there are some sub-humans who don't put brandy butter on it but in our house we follow the One True Way and do. Custard should result in flogging; cream with execution.
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Might as well ask the bloody cat.
Posts: 17938 | From: Chesterfield | Registered: May 2001
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Ferijen
Shipmate
# 4719
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Posted
Roast chicken in our house this year, having had beef wellington and duck in recent years. Not a fan of turkey.
Obviously roast spuds, and stacks of vegetables. Yorkshire Puddings, whilst it Not Being Beef, will still be included by virtue of their being scrummy.
Christmas pudding. Might also do a meringue rouladey type things as have discovered how easy they are to do and it makes a nice alternative.
Will roast a ham as well and use that for cold cuts over the following week.
I apologies for the provenance of this recipe (that is, the newspaper, not the author), but I cannot recommend Mary Berry's mincemeat icecream enough if you want a dead simple, prepare ahead, dessert. Would work well in warmer climes...
Posts: 3259 | From: UK | Registered: Jul 2003
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
We try to eat less beef, but Xmas is the time to pull out all the stops. A standing beef rib roast. I will make gravy and rice, and something green -- brussels sprouts or broccoli -- so that we can pretend we are eating healthy. And I will make yet one more smoking bishop, because I have all the ingredients on hand. No dessert, unless inspiration comes to me.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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MrsBeaky
Shipmate
# 17663
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Posted
The last two years we have been here in Kenya and spent Christmas Day deep in the rural areas with local friends and local food. We had beef/ chicken stew with rice, ugali, chapatti and vegetables all washed down with soda.(The only two I can stand because they don't taste as sweet are bitter lemon or ginger)
This year we are going to be with our daughter and family in New Zealand and don't know yet whether they will go the traditional or another route.
Meanwhile back in the UK our three other daughters will gather in our house and cook using my recipes which are a mixture of British and American culture...I'm salivating at the mere thought....
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"It is better to be kind than right."
http://davidandlizacooke.wordpress.com
Posts: 693 | From: UK/ Kenya | Registered: Apr 2013
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Kyzyl
Ship's dog
# 374
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Posted
Coq au vin. Warm gingerbread with a cream cheese frosting for dessert.
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I need a quote.
Posts: 668 | From: Wapasha's Prairie | Registered: Jun 2001
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
It's always turkey. I do most of the dinner, always have. This year we have one to be slaughtered on the 22nd from a Hutterite colony. - Wild rice stuffing.
- Scalloped turnips with cheese sauce.
- Mashed potatoes with whipped cream within.
- Sweet potatoes with walnuts and nutmeg.
- Brussels spouts and asparagus sweated with shallots and figs (might be dates, haven't decided yet).
- Ambrosia salad (mini-marshmallows, pine apple, coconut in sour cream).
- Likely another simple leaf salad with goat cheese and cranberries
- homemade cranberry sauce.
- mince and pumpkin pie, possibly also a rhubarb
- chocolates
- buns I make
We tend to eat this repeatedly until Near Years, when we light a fire in the burning barrel on the driveway and play shinny (hockey with your boots on in the street) and barbeque burgers outside. There's a trophy, players aged from from about 7 to 70. It was nearly -30°C last year but we hope for better this year.
[ 16. December 2014, 17:08: Message edited by: no prophet's flag is set so... ]
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Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
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Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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Kitten
Shipmate
# 1179
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Posted
I haven't had to cook a Cristmas dinner for eleven years since the Christmas I was ill and my son took over. He enjoys cooking and I dont
He will be doing nut roast with all the trimmings with a turkey roll for the non vegetarians. He does the most amazing trimmings, the way he does red cabbage is amazing and his honey roast parsnips are lovely.
We probably won't have pudding, we have had pudding in the past but it has been left over until the next day as nobody has room for it, and it will be accompanied by sparkling grape juice.
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Maius intra qua extra
Never accept a ride from a stranger, unless they are in a big blue box
Posts: 2330 | From: Carmarthenshire | Registered: Aug 2001
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:
I was going to stuff a pork leg with turkey breast, but seeing as the supermarkets don't seem to understand the concept of buying anything other than an entire turkey, or a "crown" that costs more than the turkey it was taken from, and I can't afford posh butchers that do free range turkey bits, I'm left doing A Roast Turkey in the traditional manner. I'm a bit pissed off about it, TBH. I'd do a second meat, but there's only three carnivorous adults and three young children present, so it'd be a bit of an extravagance. Going to be eating cold turkey sandwiches until June as it is...
My mother's solution, as the family dwindled and scattered, was to joint the beast and only cook as much as was likely to be eaten (also meant she didn't have to get up at the skreagh of dawn to put entire bird in the oven). Thighs and drumsticks (boned and stuffed) would reappear from the freezer about Easter, and diced turkey pie filling/turkey stock whenever.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
I've had two Christmas lunches already, one with lobster tagliatelle, the other with three kinds of pork served with calvados gravy, parsnip mash and red cabbage. There'll be a traditional roast turkey lunch early next week. Personally, I wouldn't choose turkey unless it was the only option on the menu, but it'll make the other person present happy. Then I get to have whatever I want for Christmas Day itself.
In previous years Christmas Day lunch has featured things as diverse as spaghetti bolognaise, or curry, pheasant, Chinese duck pancakes, etc. The idea being to have whatever I'm really in the mood for. I have no plans right now and may even just take pot luck at the supermarket on Christmas Eve, when they start reducing all the specials for quick sale.
I have a Christmas pud somewhere which will be accompanied by Greek yogurt - looks like thick cream but is a lot more refreshing and cuts the richness of the pudding nicely.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
If you are cooking a whole turkey and don't want to spend many hours on it, the trick suggested by Mark Bitman of the NY Times is to spatchcock the turkey; cut out the back and flatten it. It takes under an hour to cook and you don't have the problem of parts drying out while others aren't done. You have to do the stuffing separately, but that's easy enough, using the back you cut out for stock for basting the turkey and stuffing.
I'm probably eating alone this Christmas. If I get ambitious I may succumb and make a small rib roast. Alternately there's the Jewish tradition of going out to a Chinese Restaurant on Christmas.
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
The week leading to Christmas last year was nerve wracking here . Son and I went to church early in a multicultural area. We bought good croissants on the way home from one of the many hot bread shops which were open. Actually I could have done an entire grocery shop, so many places were open.
Returned home and had croissants and fizz, not true champagne but very pleasant and some good coffee. We then both slept for another two hours and were not hungry at lunch. Prawns intended for lunch became dinner. Cooked with curry spice rub and coconut and served with salad. Then mini meringue nests with mango and cherries.
This year? Not sure. I will be away minding two grandchildren till later Christmas Eve. We are not sure when son will have his children on the day. They want sausages and mash. Their mum does not do mash for them and they love it, so why not? We rarely eat potato, so I must remind son to get some for them.
[ 16. December 2014, 20:52: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Rowen
Shipmate
# 1194
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Posted
An Australian here.... Prawns, oysters, salad, loads of summer fruits.... My hosts are hunters, so maybe BBQ venison and roo.
[ 16. December 2014, 21:03: Message edited by: Rowen ]
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"May I live this day… compassionate of heart" (John O’Donoghue)...
Posts: 4897 | From: Somewhere cold in Victoria, Australia | Registered: Aug 2001
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L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338
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Posted
We usually eat ours at about 6pm: start with something fishy, then a poultry main course, getting to the cheese at about 7pm.
Often a pause between that and pudding - traditional, lit with brandy, served with rum sauce - before finishing with coffee.
This year it will probably be turkey for main course, served with veg and gravy.
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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet
Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012
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Evangeline
Shipmate
# 7002
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Posted
An Australian who proudly celebrates her cultural heritage by eating a full roast lunch of turkey with stuffing, roast potatoes, baked ham, green veggies,cooked tomato and onion, I don't eat plum pudding but the rest of the family will with custard, cream and Grand Marnier sauce (the sauce is really nice) all washed down with that most Australian of wines, sparkling Shiraz-perfect for Christmas dinner. We also have fruit cake and fruit mince pies in the lead up to Christmas and will probably have some Christmas cake with a cup of tea as a sort of breakfast/morning tea on Christmas day prior to the main event. Although Loth, the fresh croissants sounds fabulous-what suburb?
Posts: 2871 | From: "A capsule of modernity afloat in a wild sea" | Registered: May 2004
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
Auburn and Ashfield. You have to be a bit picky to get proper croissants. Some of the Vietnamese hot bread shops have ones which are almost a cake inside. Pleasant to eat, but definitely not a croissant.
[ 16. December 2014, 21:39: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Evangeline
Shipmate
# 7002
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Posted
Yes I agree re croissants, it's hard to get good ones, often they're greasy as well. I haven't eaten them since I was in France, but do think a good croissant with buck's fizz followed up by excellent coffee would be just the thing for a Christmas breakfast.
Any particular recommendations in Ashfield?
Posts: 2871 | From: "A capsule of modernity afloat in a wild sea" | Registered: May 2004
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
It's a while since I have been shopping there. Vietnamese shop on south side of Liverpool road up from Teks used to be OK but they could have changed hands by now. Ages since I bought stuff there.
On your way through you could check out Fivedock or perhaps Bowen Island? Even freeze some and thaw and warm? Or Papa Patisserie in Haberfield but they would need to be bought before Christmas. If you go there, the cakes are very good but loads of kilojoules. Corner of St Davids Road I think, and Ramsay Road.
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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John Holding
Coffee and Cognac
# 158
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:
I'm going to make a sage, onion, chestnut and cranberry stuffing
Recipe, please (proportions, that is, and any ingredients you haven't mentioned). And could you indicate how you prepare the chestnuts -- they're beginning to be available in this part of the world, mainly in their shells.
John
Posts: 5929 | From: Ottawa, Canada | Registered: May 2001
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Barnabas Aus
Shipmate
# 15869
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Posted
Another Australian here. Croissants for breakfast, as our 15 month old granddaughter has decided they're the bee's knees, probably with the strawberry conserve I made yesterday. Lunch will be seafood and a mango-based fruit salad accompanied by sparkling pinot chardonnay, or dealcoholised bubbly for pregnant daughter. Dinner will be traditional turkey and ham with the trimmings, followed by pudding, with sparkling shiraz. Then to younger son's house on Boxing Day, where lunch will be roast pork with the trimmings - not much to drink as I'll have a 2-3 hour drive home depending on holiday traffic.
Posts: 375 | From: Hunter Valley NSW | Registered: Sep 2010
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Latchkey Kid
Shipmate
# 12444
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Posted
If lkkelderson is able to visit he could bring croissants from the West End Vietnamese bakery. They have been good for the last 30 years. The French Patisserie could not compete.
I will be cooking the turkey and ham in the the BBQ to keep the heat out of the house. lkkyoungerson's Japanese girlfriend has requested we requested roast beetroot like last year when she first tried it. Haven't decided which stuffing to use yet. This will be the evening meal. Lunch will be our traditional salmon terrine made by lkkspouse, and probably prawns as well.
Christmas pudding will be of the ice cream variety. Mince pies are made with puff pastry to be ultra light.
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'You must never give way for an answer. An answer is always the stretch of road that's behind you. Only a question can point the way forward.'
Mika; in Hello? Is Anybody There?, Jostein Gaardner
Posts: 2592 | From: The wizardest little town in Oz | Registered: Mar 2007
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
1 pm will see a dozen of us - we three, my father, my sisters and their families minus those in colder climes - sit down to a cold lunch of balmain bugs in a white wine sauce, followed by roast turkey breasts with salads (not mini-marshmallows though!), then some cheese and finally hot christmas pudding with brandy butter sauce. The pudding is made by someone we know, and the sauce comes from a large dept store. Dry white with the bugs and sparkling shiraz with the turkey and cheese. No port with the pud. The turkey comes from a farm at a rural suburb about 20 minutes drive away, and is organic free range from an older breed. Plenty of flavour. Madame will cook them then cool them the day before in oven bags to keep them moist and the flavour in.
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Galloping Granny
Shipmate
# 13814
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Posted
One of life's milestones is the point at which the next generation takes over the Christmas meal.
We'd long since given up on the hot and heavy meal at midday, and in my childhood lamb was what you roasted anyway – poultry was expensive (how times have changed!). So we'd base the meal on cold ham and salad and then strawberries and cream, followed by Christmas cake.
Now son and DiL will prepare ham, buttered new potatoes and veges from their garden (the Grandad still has to avoid salads but I expect there will be a selection). I'll contribute a light refrigerated dessert and an ample fresh fruit salad.
GG
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The Kingdom of Heaven is spread upon the earth, and men do not see it. Gospel of Thomas, 113
Posts: 2629 | From: Matarangi | Registered: Jun 2008
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
The other thing is, from the cook's POV, Christmas dinner is just one of an interlocking series of meals that have to be planned and shopped for.
Christmas Eve I will probably do something special with fish. I've tended to scallops and bacon the last few years, but I fancy a change. Christmas Day brunch is scrambled egg with smoked salmon, toasted muffins, Buck's Fizz and coffee. Boxing Day I'm thinking of reviving the fondue.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Karl: Liberal Backslider
Shipmate
# 76
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by John Holding:
quote:
Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:
I'm going to make a sage, onion, chestnut and cranberry stuffing
Recipe, please (proportions, that is, and any ingredients you haven't mentioned). And could you indicate how you prepare the chestnuts -- they're beginning to be available in this part of the world, mainly in their shells.
John
I'll make it up as I go along, but the chestnuts come cooked and peeled and vacuum packed from Merchant Gourmet ![[Biased]](wink.gif) Do you have Costco in Canada? You can get them there in the UK.
The basic principle will be:
Fry chopped onion (possibly red for the look of it) with a garlic clove until turning transparent. Remove from heat and put in mixing bowl.
Add real breadcrumbs and enough boiling water from the kettle to make something malleable.
Add salt, pepper, a spoonful or two of mixed herbs and a generous handful of chopped fresh sage (from the garden; it only stops being usable in Feb). Add also a handful of cranberries and a handful of chopped chestnuts (as above)
Mix it all together, add boiling water as required. Allow to cool, then stuff into neck of bird and form remainder into balls to give a quick ten minutes to at the end.
I don't stuff bird cavities, just the neck, so there's generally plenty left over to form into balls. I don't get doing stuffing separately as often done, as the whole point of stuffing is you stuff meat with it
My cooking tends to follow general principles rather than precise recipes (unless I'm making cakes and stuff that needs to be precise, obviously) - it generally works!
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Might as well ask the bloody cat.
Posts: 17938 | From: Chesterfield | Registered: May 2001
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Karl: Liberal Backslider
Shipmate
# 76
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
quote:
Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:
I was going to stuff a pork leg with turkey breast, but seeing as the supermarkets don't seem to understand the concept of buying anything other than an entire turkey, or a "crown" that costs more than the turkey it was taken from, and I can't afford posh butchers that do free range turkey bits, I'm left doing A Roast Turkey in the traditional manner. I'm a bit pissed off about it, TBH. I'd do a second meat, but there's only three carnivorous adults and three young children present, so it'd be a bit of an extravagance. Going to be eating cold turkey sandwiches until June as it is...
My mother's solution, as the family dwindled and scattered, was to joint the beast and only cook as much as was likely to be eaten (also meant she didn't have to get up at the skreagh of dawn to put entire bird in the oven). Thighs and drumsticks (boned and stuffed) would reappear from the freezer about Easter, and diced turkey pie filling/turkey stock whenever.
I have done that in the past, but for various reasons Christmas is a bit more frantic than normal this year, or believe me I would. Won't be the "Skreagh" (good word! Gaelic or Scots origin?) of dawn because it's not a massive turkey, heavens be praised.
As a side note, I'm really, really glad I'm not an Ozzie at this point. All this talk of seafood is making me feel slightly ill. Don't you have any people over there with a aversion to it? Quite common here.
[ 17. December 2014, 08:17: Message edited by: Karl: Liberal Backslider ]
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Might as well ask the bloody cat.
Posts: 17938 | From: Chesterfield | Registered: May 2001
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Alex Cockell
Ship’s penguin
# 7487
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Posted
Wiltshire Farm Foods comes to my aid here - so will be nuking a Hearty roast turkey tray...
Got a couple of Tesco Christmas puds - mini ice cream..
Posts: 2146 | From: Reading, Berkshire UK | Registered: Jun 2004
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
I have made 7 Christmas cakes and that's it. On Christmas Day I will be taken out to lunch by a friend. We have know each other over 30 years, and despite often living in different cities have managed Christmas lunch together most years.
Then on Boxing Day I will have lunch with another friend - the recipient of one of the cakes and will probably take along a Christmas pud made in the slow cooker and some peas in their pods as they were one vegetable our family always had for Christmas.
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
Karl, there are some people here who are allergic to shellfish or fish. It's to cater for them, without any table discrimination, that we're serving Balmain bugs followed by turkey. Balmain is a long-established inner city suburb, with late C19 terraces and so forth. Well, you probably know what lives in such places. You'd find them in (say) Bayswater or Notting Hill as well, areas which bear a strong resemblance to Balmain.
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Karl: Liberal Backslider
Shipmate
# 76
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Posted
I'm not allergic; I just can't bear them. Could no more eat them than I could rotten meat and bin water
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Might as well ask the bloody cat.
Posts: 17938 | From: Chesterfield | Registered: May 2001
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Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
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Posted
We'll probably have a traditional Kerala Sadiya - a veggie feast served on a banana leaf - rice [Kerala red rice, of course*], a dozen or so veg curries, assorted pickles and chutneys [all home made] followed by an afternoon kip then cake and ice cream in the evening.
*If you want to try red rice make sure it is Kerala rice and not Sri Lankan, they are quite different animals.
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Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
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Karl: Liberal Backslider
Shipmate
# 76
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Posted
I should add I did get the Belmain Bug joke eventually...
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Might as well ask the bloody cat.
Posts: 17938 | From: Chesterfield | Registered: May 2001
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Jane R
Shipmate
# 331
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Posted
We always have chicken (with all the trimmings; chipolata sausages, bacon, balls of stuffing, assorted vegetables; followed by home-made Christmas pudding), as there are only three of us. For historical reasons we have Christmas dinner for the first time on Christmas Eve, this year in between the carol service and Midnight Mass. Then we have all the same things again at lunchtime on Christmas Day and if there's any chicken left over we usually make it into a pie on Boxing Day.
The advantage of cooking the chicken on Christmas Eve is that you don't have to get up early on Christmas Day to start the dinner.
But I really hate peeling the sprouts. I wish there was some way of peeling them by magic (perhaps I could pinch Mrs Weasley's wand), because all of us like eating them but hate preparing them, so we only have them on special occasions.
Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001
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Karl: Liberal Backslider
Shipmate
# 76
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jane R:
We always have chicken (with all the trimmings; chipolata sausages, bacon, balls of stuffing, assorted vegetables; followed by home-made Christmas pudding), as there are only three of us. For historical reasons we have Christmas dinner for the first time on Christmas Eve, this year in between the carol service and Midnight Mass. Then we have all the same things again at lunchtime on Christmas Day and if there's any chicken left over we usually make it into a pie on Boxing Day.
The advantage of cooking the chicken on Christmas Eve is that you don't have to get up early on Christmas Day to start the dinner.
But I really hate peeling the sprouts. I wish there was some way of peeling them by magic (perhaps I could pinch Mrs Weasley's wand), because all of us like eating them but hate preparing them, so we only have them on special occasions.
Buy the ones on a tree. They keep fresh and don't need peeling or the ends cutting off or owt.
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Might as well ask the bloody cat.
Posts: 17938 | From: Chesterfield | Registered: May 2001
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leftfieldlover
Shipmate
# 13467
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Posted
On Christmas Eve I always make fish pie (prawns smoked fish, cod) followed by raspberry and apple crumble in a pastry case, served with cream.
Christmas Day: Turkey with ALL the trimmings including my scrumptious bread sauce, followed by Christmas pudding and custard or a very alcoholic sauce! There is always Christmas cake at tea-time, which has been fed over the months with copious amunts of dark rum. On Boxing Day I am making Coronation Chicken and some kind of fricasse with left-over turkey. I have also made some icecream - rum and banana, chocolate, and a small batch of lemon. Any New Year resolutions will include 'exercise'.
Posts: 164 | From: oxford | Registered: Feb 2008
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
We will have Christmas dinner at 1:00 in the afternoon at D-U's in-laws. It's going to be simple: pot roast, baked potatoes and sweet potatoes, and whatever veg strikes our fancy at the grocery store. Hopefully we can get D-U and her hubby to make some sort of dessert!
I'm also going to make the case for paper plates and disposable everything to make clean up as simple as possible.
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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spork
Shipmate
# 18260
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Posted
We always have turkey and all the trimmings (incl. Yorkshire puds and mushy peas obviously) then Christmas pudding and brandy sauce. It's very interesting to read what others eat on Christmas day.
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God only made one of me, most people agree this is a good thing
Posts: 62 | From: Lincolnshire, England | Registered: Oct 2014
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Matt Black
Shipmate
# 2210
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Posted
Not. Turkey. Ever.
Hate the 'meat': so dry when I used to have it as a kid that you ended up mummified from within by the end of the meal.
This year I am cooking and we are having Mrs B's parents for dinner. As they are rather dry and stringy as well, I am cooking duck with roasties and a red cabbage and apple accompaniment.
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"Protestant and Reformed, according to the Tradition of the ancient Catholic Church" - + John Cosin (1594-1672)
Posts: 14304 | From: Hampshire, UK | Registered: Jan 2002
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
This thread has persuaded me. I'm going to look for a half lobster I can grill and have with chips and a glass of good white wine.
It's simple, but the memory of the first time I had this still lingers in my mind as one of the best meals I've ever had.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Captain1
Apprentice
# 16153
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Posted
Forgive me but I'm from the US - could somebody please explain the whole balmain bug thing to me? I have no idea what y'all are talking about!
Posts: 8 | From: Central VA, USA | Registered: Jan 2011
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Evangeline
Shipmate
# 7002
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Captain1:
Forgive me but I'm from the US - could somebody please explain the whole balmain bug thing to me? I have no idea what y'all are talking about!
Balmain bugs are a type of lobster but the they taste better than the "regular" bigger lobsters. They and their relatives, the Moreton Bay bug live in the mud flats around the southern half of Australia.
NSW fisheries website
Posts: 2871 | From: "A capsule of modernity afloat in a wild sea" | Registered: May 2004
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Captain1
Apprentice
# 16153
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Posted
Thanks Evangeline!
Posts: 8 | From: Central VA, USA | Registered: Jan 2011
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jane R:
But I really hate peeling the sprouts. I wish there was some way of peeling them by magic (perhaps I could pinch Mrs Weasley's wand), because all of us like eating them but hate preparing them, so we only have them on special occasions.
There are two ways to do sprouts fast and sloppy. You still have to trim a little, but not much if you throw on a little oil and roast them till the outsides are brown.
My favorite recipe is from Julia Child.; Trim sprouts quickly,then chop into a "hash". Steam lightly and stir fry in butter. Because you're cutting them to bits, it's easy to get rid of the trimmings.
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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Ferijen
Shipmate
# 4719
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
This thread has persuaded me. I'm going to look for a half lobster I can grill and have with chips and a glass of good white wine.
I've seen quite a lot of deals on frozen (cooked) lobster - Aldi and Lidl were both advertising it, although, whether there is actually anything available is another thing. I think its to do with the glut of lobster in the North Atlantic, or something (vaguely remember reading the reasoning about the relative cheapness of it)
//ponders whether anyone else would share lobster with me over Christmas...
Posts: 3259 | From: UK | Registered: Jul 2003
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
I've had the Lidl lobster and there was little discernible flavour bar the garlic butter. I would try and track down that rare beast, the Reputable Fishmonger, and get a fresh one.
ETA. I do not mean to imply that the generality of fishmongers are disreputable, but rather that they are few and far between these days.
[ 18. December 2014, 09:06: Message edited by: Firenze ]
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Vulpior
Foxier than Thou
# 12744
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Posted
I'm going to Midnight Mass (110km round trip) and Mum is picking up two friends from residential care in the morning (80km round trip) so we'll have a late breakfast of scrummy cooked stuff: black pudding, baked beans, sausage, etc.
We'll then eat halfway between lunchtime and dinner time. I cook the turkey and spiced beef the day before, and we'll have seafood and salad too. They're key components, but we don't have to do everything the same from year to year.
Mum says she did the full roast her first year in Australia, and after the heat decided never to do so again. We have our dose of roast turkey and all the hot trimmings win we do Christmas in July for 24 people.
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I've started blogging. I don't promise you'll find anything to interest you at uncleconrad
Posts: 946 | From: Mount Fairy, NSW | Registered: Jun 2007
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