Christmas Dinner

Eat turkey? We do everything the Americans do and no questions asked.
I think they tend to eat something else for their christmas meal.

Howard

Usually pheasant, or another game fowl. Turkey lasts a while with just the two of us!

Bruce

In the States turkey is eated at Thanksgiving. Not sure what is eaten at Xmas but my family out there usually has roast beef.

CD5/112/150/S5e's/smiling

Goose.

A nice tasty bird unlike turkey. Served with potatoes, parsnips and other assorted vegetables all roasted.

Followed by a Christmas pudding - I will cheat and buy one in (now I must look at the Christmas pudding thread).

Mike

Back in the early 1900's, Santa was in white hat & coat. Coca-Cola was massive even then, but it wasn't until they discovered the hanging throat of the turkey made the perfect red dye for tin (about the 1920's), that Coca-Cola advertised itself over a Christmas period with Santa in red for the first time, as no-one had been able to use red on tin before. It stood out as revolutionary. Coca-Cola were sourcing massive amounts of this new red dye, and tin works were invariably now located next to turkey farms to supply the throats for the dye. Due to the clout of Coca-Cola, Santa in red has stuck ever since, because he was made a mainstream figure for the first time. With the huge demand for turkey throats over the Christmas period, the traditional goose was exchanged for turkey, obviously because there were millions of them left over. It stuck.
That is why we now have turkey. Coca-Cola.

can't I select two options? At home my Mum usually (always) does a Turkey and a joint of Ham

Turkey McNuggets with extra fries, mmmm.

Steve B

"At home my Mum usually (always) does a Turkey and a joint of Ham"

Or you could just do a joint and then eat everything

Being a veggie, I was wondering what other veggies have. It is always a problem and would be nice to not have to think about it. I will probably go for a red onion tart with cranberries.

I'm a veggie (technically a Pescinarian) and my favourite Christmas dinner is Apple & Stilton Soup, followed by Wild Mushroom Coulibiac with Garlic Fanned Roast Potatoes, Spiced Red Cabbage, Braised Brussel Sprouts and a Madeira Gravy or Mushroom Sauce. The dessert varies from year to year, but my favourite is a Coconut Tart.

I like that menu BLT - might have to nick it! Although I would change the gravy to warm cranberry sauce knocked down to syrup in a saucepan with cranberry juice.
My dessert this year will be something that I tried at the weekend. I didn't want to have pastry, but wanted to do pumpkin pie - so I lined a ramekin dish with butter and crushed toasted pecan nuts, and poured the pumpkin mixture into that and baked it (Pumpkin puree, 2 eggs + extra yolk, molasses, light brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, grated nutmeg, double cream). After about 5 minutes cooling, it shrunk enough to turn it out onto a plate, and served with a dash of double cream with grated nutmeg & orange zest mixed in.
It was pretty good and I will write it into my big notebook. It sounds rich, but it was only small.

And champagne

I go to my Mum and Stepdad's every other year. Mother is a veggie, so unless they've got visitors, my stepdad tends to go along with what she eats.

He loves meat (and is a fab cook), though, and always uses Xmas as an excuse to buy and cook vast quantities of flesh for the huge number of people that troop through tthe house.

Last year, we sat down to divine suckling pig, which was scrummy. In 2001 we dined on saltmarsh lamb (from the Romney Marsh in Kent, the best you can buy), which was delicious.

Usually we have goose, very occasionally rabbit, but never turkey, which no-one in our family seems to like.

So I'd say try suckling pig, or a nice bit of lamb. Slurp!

Kevin (BBC Radio 4)

PS - Of course, the best meal at Xmas is the one you have on Boxing Day - cold meats, mashed potato, minted peas with butter and home-made pickles.

There can be only one meal for christmas and that is turkey with all the trimmings.

Regards


NB

quote:

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Of course, the best meal at Xmas is the one you have on Boxing Day - cold meats, mashed potato, minted peas with butter and home-made pickles.

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I always enjoyed breakfast on boxing day - cold ham, boiled eggs and champagne.

Spam.

Bloody Vikings!

John.

At Tasha's place they do a selection of different roast meats as they have the oven space and one of those hostess trolley thingies. Nice.

However, I'll be having my Crimbo dinner at home with my own parents which will probably be turkey. I may yet be able to persuade my Old Dear to go for the goose option though...

I'll probably working on Christmas Day so having dinner at my future in-laws won't really be an option during my two-hour break as they live about ten miles away.

Regards,

Steve.

Rasher, just let me know if you want any of the recipies - the soup, in particular, is very easy to make but possibly my all-time favourite soup . I would maybe try a cranberry type sauce, too, but I already have cranberries in the spiced red cabbage
The pumpkin dessert sounds good - I'll have to give it a shot.

If at my parents in UK, then turkey/roast potatoes etc.

If at my in-laws in France, the some/all of the following: foie gras/sea snails/ langoustines/oysters(creuse/plat) coquille st. jacques /lobster/pheasant or something (by then we don't care). Four or five different types of wine.

So. This year we're in the UK.

BLT - I would love you to share the soup recipe with me.

Kevin-W. Thanks for reminding me why I'm a veggie . Suckling pig is just too descriptive. I can just see this poor baby being prised from it's mothers breast to be put in the oven. Each to his own, eh?!

We'll probably have Turkey with all the trimmings but on Christmas Eve.

We've found that having a large roast meal on Xmas Day is usually too much to face after our traditional visit to the Local Pub (and a couple or three pints of Christmas beers averaging 7% or more).

So it'll be cold turkey on Xmas day then.

One word: Turducken!

-=> Mike Hanson <=-