What's for dinner? Christmas edition

[DCnDC]

What's the main dish for the big Xmas meal? I know some people do the big meal Christmas eve, others Christmas day, some do both. Whichever is the case, what are you going to have this year?

[Alice The Goon]

I usually like to make a nice whole beef tenderloin roast. Some mashed potatoes, haricot verts, crusty bread, red wine. Then freeze leftover roast and on New Year's, make stroganoff with it. Yum.

[WhyNot]

I'm not sure yet. It was just determined last night that I'm doing Christmas dinner this year. My cousin is doing Christmas Eve, but I have no idea if she can cook or not (I suspect not; there are a lot of prepared foodlike substances in her pantry.) So now I have to walk a fine familial line of making a good meal that isn't so great it will offend her if hers was crap the night before. So I'm thinking full Beef Wellington is out, but I don't really want to do another Turkey...

I like Alice the Goon's idea. I may steal that.

[longhair75]

I make a huge pot of chili for our Christmas get together and leave it simmering all day. This does not tie us to getting everyone to sit down at the same time for a big meal.

[DCnDC]

My mother is a slave to tradition. Honey-glazed ham for us.

[enipla]

I do the Thanksgiving 'Turkeyfest' for the family. It's a lot of work, but I do like to cook so I don't mind.

For Christmas, we tone it down. A lot. I suspect we will order in Chinese food like last year and play some board games.

[Chefguy]

Not sure. I got burned on a prime rib last year; that was one weird chunk of beef. Maybe a crown pork roast or a rack of lamb.

[SeaDragonTattoo]

If my farmer has leg of lamb available, I'll be cooking that. If not, probably ham. Though I'll be trying my hand at a roasted crispy duck later today. If that turns out good, maybe I'll get another one for Christmas. She said on Tuesday she might have a goose or two, but those would be too big. I'm hoping for that lamb, though.

[Sigmagirl]

We probably will be served lasagna.

[Johnny L.A.]

I didn't vote.

Traditionally, I make roast prime rib and Yorkshire pudding, red potatoes, and some veg. This year we're going on vacation the week before Christmas. We'll probably be sleeping late on the 22nd, and I don't know if we'll be inclined to go out and shop for the traditional dinner. We'll think of something.

[koeeoaddi]

Used to make Dungeness crab every year, but I don't live anywhere near there anymore.

[DMark]

Originally Posted by Sigmagirl

We probably will be served lasagna.

Ditto - family tradition here. I use dad's recipe that he got from his mother and I believe she brought with her from Sicily. Takes a day in advance just to prepare the meat sauce.

[Motorgirl]

I am thinking seriously about Bon Appetit's "porchetta" recipe.

I can't fit a whole pig in my oven, so this is as close as I'm going to get at home.

[Chefguy]

Originally Posted by Motorgirl

I am thinking seriously about Bon Appetit's "porchetta" recipe.

I can't fit a whole pig in my oven, so this is as close as I'm going to get at home.

These are big in parts of the Midwest. We used to have one every year when we went to my ex's home in northern Minnesota. The butchers all have their own recipes. My MIL would buy these finger rolls to make small sandwiches on, heat in the MW and add a bit of mustard. Juicy, flavorful and tender. You can't miss with this, and although we never had it as dinner, it would likely go over very well. Now I'm thinking perhaps I'll give it a try meself.

[LavenderBlue]

We're Jews so Chinese food.



There's a fabulous local buffet that's always open on Christmas Day. Chicken corn soup, spring rolls, marinated ribs, chow fun, duck, shu mai, sauteed bok choy and almond cookies are on my holiday dinner.

[Hockey Monkey]

My mother-in-law usually hosts Christmas dinner, but this year they've moved into a smaller house. Luckily, it's only 4 doors down the street from us, so we can still have Christmas at her house, but I can do the dinner because (1) I'm a much better cook, and she'll tell you so, and (2) we can seat more people at our table.

So, I'm thinking about doing a Prime Rib Roast out on the rotisserie. For Thanksgiving, we do the turkey out on the rotisserie on the grill and have 6-8 side dishes. For Christmas I want to scale down the quantity and scale up the quality. What do you think about doing the roast with a horseradish cream sauce and pan gravy, haricot vert, and mashed potatoes the way Joel Robushon does them, and having a cookie/candy assortment for dessert? It will be my first time doing a beef roast that isn't a pot roast.

[Becky2844]

We have Honey-Baked ham because my older brother sends us a gift card as our Christmas present. I ain't complainin'.

[Charley]

We're all about the traditions, very very English. Christmas Eve dinner is fish pie. Breakfast on Christmas Day is something smoked salmony, with champagne. Lunch is roast turkey for the carnivores, the world's greatest nut roast for the veggies, with Christmas pudding (which I'm making with my daughter tomorrow) for afters. Tea is turkey sarnies, cheese and biscuits plus chips 'n' dips. Alcohol on constant feed, plus tradition dictates you need to have eaten most of the chocolate orange out of your stocking by lunchtime. There's also a huge tin of chocolates on the go.

Essentially it's an orgy of food and drink that disgusts any right-thinking person. I love it.

[melondeca]

I'll be trying my hand at making Timpano. It looks interesting and I think I can pull it off. Last year we did seafood and the year before was enchiladas. Meals are always accompanied by copious amounts of beer. Not good beer, either, but Natty Light because we are classy like that.

[xanthous]

This year we're spending Christmas at my boyfriend's mom's house, and she typically builds her meals around Walmart's boxed potatoes au gratin

I'm going to very subtly offer to prepare Xmas Eve dinner and weave in my own family's tradition of muffuletta and some kind of home made soup. We, in my family, almost value the Xmas Eve meal over the Xmas Day meal because Xmas day tends to be a little nutty and the meal that day, though special, is almost an afterthought to all the activity.

[Teacake]

I will be roasting a goose and a ham, and serving them with sprouts, roast and mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, gravy, bread sauce, cranberry sauce, and a couple of kinds of stuffing (at least two, maybe three). Christmas pudding and mince pies I trust will be made by my mother, not my culinarily-challenged sister (who gave us all food poisoning last year but we can't tell her that), and will be served with brandy butter and cream. There will also be a trifle, cheese and biscuits, nuts and clementines. No starter. We eat around the Queen (main before, pudding after), then have leftover sandwiches some time in the evening.

[AnkhAscendant]

I'm about 700 miles from my nearest relatives, so I'm thinking microwave Michelina's.

[Lute Skywatcher]

I'll be cooking ham in the crock pot and hope to procure three rotisserie chickens from a grocery store's deli dept.

[DMark]

Originally Posted by AnkhAscendant

I'm about 700 miles from my nearest relatives, so I'm thinking microwave Michelina's.

Slight hijack, but on my 22 pound turkey this Thanksgiving, there were directions how to thaw and cook printed on the label. I had to laugh out loud when, under the category of "Microwave" it said, "Best results are cooking in oven. See your microwave manual."

I was just trying to imagine what size of a microwave oven I would have needed for that 22 pound bird, and what it would have looked like and tasted like afterward.

[the_diego]

Whenever I have my way, I try to have some of that "good solid food" the hobbits had at bree: hot soup, cold meats, a fruit pastry, good bread, lots of butter, and cheese.

[aruvqan]

We normally have a crockpot of french onion soup simmering, and a layout of assorted breads, crudites, chips and dips, arranged plate of christmas cookies and slices of stollen [mainly whatever I feel like baking and/or are given by friends] that is ready whenever people wake up. We tend to like to sleep in. We were strange kids - not up at the crack of dawn. Very civilized.

Typically we open presents around 1030-1100, while munching the brunch buffet.

Dinner is later, around 7pm and what we have varies.

This year we decided to do a classical baked ham [never a spiral sliced yuckky, we want nice thick slices we do ourselves.] Sides are probably going to be the classic scalloped potatoes made fairly cheesy, wilted spinach salad with bacon, and for after a brie baked with sliced almonds, apple slices and cinnamon in puff pasty. The usual coffee, tea or cocoa to round up the evening.

[Rhiannon8404]

Christmas Eve:

Ham
Homemade mac n cheese casserole
Homemade baked beans
Greenbeans w/almonds
Brussels sprouts w/bacon
Corn muffins

Christmas Morning:

Breakfast pie made with left over ham, spinach, red potatoes and cheddar cheese

[AllShookDown]

We generally rotate between ham, lasagna, beef stroganoff, enchiladas, brisket in wine sauce, or prime rib. It's brisket in wine sauce this year.

[peedin]

For years, my sister and I have wanted to do appetizers and candy and cookies for Christmas but Mom always insisted on the full turkey dinner. Well, Mom's been dead for almost 2 years. I looked at my sister a few weeks ago and said "this is the year." So we are having pigs in a blanket (hot dogs stuffed with cheese wrapped in crescent rolls), Wavy Lays chips, whatever other snacks we feel like having, homemade cookies, and I bought a 6 pound tin of Harry London individually wrapped chocolates. The chocolate will be delivered the week of December 10 so it may not make it til December 25.

[flodnak]

We do Norwegian Christmas on the 24th and American Christmas on the 25th, because we can.

Our Norwegian Christmas has tended to be ham-centered, but one of the boys really doesn't like ham and the other has said he's getting bored of it, so we're thinking of a smoked leg of lamb. Because we can.

Our American Christmas has never had a fixed menu beyond "something special", and we haven't decided for this year yet. Roast duck has been mentioned.

When I was a young flod, Mom would generally roast a ham on Christmas Day and serve it with potato rolls and whatever sides she felt like making. She'd put it all out mid-afternoon and people would eat when they were hungry. I've reached the age that I'm beginning to understand the appeal of this set-up, from the cook's point of view.

[SanVito]

Originally Posted by Charley

We're all about the traditions, very very English. Christmas Eve dinner is fish pie. Breakfast on Christmas Day is something smoked salmony, with champagne. Lunch is roast turkey for the carnivores, the world's greatest nut roast for the veggies, with Christmas pudding (which I'm making with my daughter tomorrow) for afters. Tea is turkey sarnies, cheese and biscuits plus chips 'n' dips. Alcohol on constant feed, plus tradition dictates you need to have eaten most of the chocolate orange out of your stocking by lunchtime. There's also a huge tin of chocolates on the go.

Essentially it's an orgy of food and drink that disgusts any right-thinking person. I love it.

Sounds like we could swap houses and not notice the difference.

You forgot a honey-glazed ham on Boxing Day. And turkey curry the day after.

And a glass or two of sherry at about 10am. Nobody normally drinks the stuff, but it feels appropriate.

Lunch is at One, so we can watch the Queen's speech at 3pm.

[tadtooornamental]

We typically do a honeyed ham, and possibly a turkey breast, if there are enough people showing up. Everything else is munch-on-the-go type stuff. Deviled eggs, meat/cheese/crackers, veggies and dip, and of course waay more cookies, cakes, pies and candies than are strictly necessary.

I'm usually much more excited about Christmas breakfast, which is GOOD coffee (Dad usually buys the cheap stuff) with fresh cinnamon and orange rolls, and possibly banana nut bread.

[terentii]

Leaning toward oyster stew and gravlax on toast points as starters; goose with oyster stuffing and duck with apple stuffing as the main course, along with chestnut puree, spiced apples, and red cabbage. Maybe a Christmas pudding and mince tarts for dessert. And a cheese board, of course.

For libations, egg nog with brandy, hot buttered rum, and Athol Brose. Apple cider and cranberry juice as beverages with the dinner.

[Algher]

Standing rib roast
Yorkshire puddings
Roasted taters
gravy
My brother in law's wine cellar
Something green nobody will eat

The rest is irrelevant.

[Becky2844]

Originally Posted by AnkhAscendant

I'm about 700 miles from my nearest relatives, so I'm thinking microwave Michelina's.

Is there a Chinese restaurant nearby? They're usually pretty full on Christmas day and you wouldn't have to be alone.

[adhemar]

shrimp!

[FairyChatMom]

We'll be with my husband's folks again this year, and I'm pretty sure my MIL will do ribs, which she does rather badly. She boils them for a while, then puts them in the oven covered in BBQ sauce. They're usually tough and the only flavor is the sauce. She's also of the school that cooks the life out of veggies. But she's an amazing baker, so desserts will be good.

Unfortunately, they live 800 miles away, so there's no practical way for me to make the dinner, even if she'd let me take over her kitchen. Oh well...

[slightly askew]

Christmas Eve at my mom's will be a traditional (somewhat Americanized) Slovak feast.
Raw garlic
Oplatky, a communion-like wafer we buy from church
Bolbalki, dough balls in a honey and poppy seed glaze
Fried cod
Peas
Pagach, bread dough stuffed with mashed potatoes, cheese and sometimes fried cabbage, rolled thin and baked, then brushed with browned butter
Fried eggs with mushrooms
Pirohy, dumplings filled with cheese and mashed potatoes, slathered in butter and onions
Kapusta, a kind of gravy with lots of my Dad's homemade sauerkraut in it

It's a wonder that any of us can move after all that.

Then after midnight mass we eat the ham that's been cooking all day. Drives my non-catholic husband nuts that we eat anything after midnight mass instead of just going to bed.

[ems]

I get to go home and do Christmas 'English Style' or at least in the style of our family this year.

Christmas Eve - My mam always cooks the turkey Christmas Eve to make things easy in the chaos of Christmas Day. Christmas Eve brunch is usually bacon or sausage sarnies in really good homemade rolls. Then Christmas Eve night we usually have a kinda open house with the neighbourhood. Crack open the bubbles around 5PM ish and over the past few years if I am home I make the nibbles always chips and dip, stuffed mushrooms, shrimp, home made cheesy biscuits with gooood ham, cheese and crackers and I am doing some bacon wrapped scallops. And a good time is had by all.

Christmas Day - pick at nibbles from the night before for breakfast if you are starving and bacon & eggs if you want it. Crack open the bubbles at 10AM ish Lunch is at 1 or 1.30 and is roast turkey stuffed at one end with pork sausage and the other with my mam's family stuffing recipe. New potatoes (from my Dad's garden in the summer) roast potatoes out of my Dad's fresh crop, peas & broad beans picked in my Dad's garden in the summer and frozen and brussel sprouts picked out the garden the previous day and trimmed & cleaned by me and tons of gravy. No one ever eats dessert after that.

Christmas Day Evening - Turkey and/or Ham sammiches, cheese and biscuits and dessert which is usually pavlova of some kind and teh good ice cream. Used to be trifle but we don't do it anymore.

Boxing Day - Everyone goes out for fresh air. Either a walk along the local beach or local parks then turkey sammiches for lunch. Supper is cold turkey, ham, stuffing sausage meat (if you want it) bubble and squeak and the one day of the yeah my mam makes home made chips.

I LOVE Christmas. mr ems and I are doing our own US Christmas on New Years Eve when we get back and ordering pizza and doing our presents then.