Christmas dinner?!
Christmas dinner?
I know it early I am having my in laws and sister in laws family round so in total 9 people ( one my daughter only will be 21 months) I would like some ideas for starters and idea of timings for the main meal as this is my first time ( i want to do a traditional dinner i'm in the UK) Thanks for any help
Answers: Cook your turkey the day before and then just cover with foil. That way on Christmas day itself you can just slice it up and cover with gravy and foil and heat up in oven when your roast potatoes are cooking.
I usually do for starter
Melon Balls
or Garlic breaded mushrooms
Roast Turkey
bacon wrapped sausages
sausage-meat stuffing balls
Roast potato's
Swede, carrot and leek puree (just cook all together and then mash with black pepper and butter)
sprouts,
petit pois
gravy
Pudding
Christmas pudding a and brandy cream
Or
chocolate and rum log.
I usually cook the roast potato's for about an hour. Pre boil them for 5-7 mins, drain of water and then roast in goose fat for about 60-70 mins until cooked. I usually add some fresh rosemary to it. Cook your stuffing and sausages then in oven too.
The veg only take about 20 mins.
After the pudding i usually serve coffee, mints and Liquires if anyone likes them.
Also to add fun to the table i usually put name tags at each place setting with a cracker to pull and a small wrapped gift. (only costing about a pound)
The table looks great with festive tablecloth, napkins , crackers and Christmas foil confetti dotted over.
Have a great Christmas.
Also i usually buy a Turkey crown from waitrose as there is more meat on it. I don't like the wings or legs anyway.
Oh and another tip!...................prepare all your vegetables on Christmas eve! peel and chop then cover with water and cling film. Means you get more time to enjoy the big day itself! I normally do my veg whilst watching scrooge in the afternoon on christmas eve with a large port and lemon to drink!
Frisbee great answer! Source(s):
Have cooked christmas dinner for family for over 16 years now! prawn cocktail always goes down well...
simply take ya serving dish, line with some lettuce leafs.
take your prawns mix with mayonaise and some tomatoe ketchup, add some celery if liked place on top of lettuce leafs.. spinkle with a touch of paprika for decoration.
either serve, or place in fridge for chilling. A good starter is, dice some bacon, finely chop a clove of garlic, fill field mushrooms with this mix and sprinkle with grated cheese and pop under the grill. You can prepare these the night before and keep them in the fridge. You can serve these while the lunch is finishing off, they do not take long to cook. Or you could always serve soup with some soft brown rolls and butter, keep things light as you will be serving 3 courses. Make sure its a cold starter one that you can prepare the night before. Pate works well, its very traditional too. you could have crackers instead of toast. Melon or prawns are other ideas.
If I were you I would cook the turkey the day before to or buy a boneless rolled turkey, much easier. Par boil your roasting veg and it will be quicker to cook. Gravy can be made in advance and just heated.
I hope it goes well. We are having our first Christmas with our son. Just the three of us, can`t wait.
Good Luck and Merry Christmas :-) potato and leek soup
turkey and ham, well i have a roast chicken coz i dont eat turkey and some stuffing
carrots, sprouts, roast and mash potatoes
ice cream
have it every year It can be really tricky.....I usually look for a starter which can be prepared beforehand and put in the fridge such as prawn cocktail....The main course again should me made up of things which can be prepared in advance.....Of course the Turkey is the main thing.....depending on size can take 3 or 4 hours. I generally prepare all the vegetables, parsnips, carrots, cabbage or whatever early on....the Parsnips can be put in with the Turkey for about 20 Min's until nearly done and then taken out and put on one side to go back in the oven for five Min's at the end just before serving....The gravy can be made before hand using giblets and put in fridge to be either microwaved or heated in pan for 5 Min's at same time as parsnips...same with roast potatoes...all can be partly done beforehand so only need to be finished off whilst the Turkey rests for 20 Min's before carving.....Cabbage can cook for about 5 mins in boiling water....bread sauce, cranberry sauce can be bought ready made to heat up in Microwave....cocktail sausages can go in about 20 Min's before serving...
Don't expect miracles first time, but practice beforehand....so timings are right....the thing is to try and get most things done beforehand to only finish off when guests arrive....that's how I do it anyway. I suggest you serve your sprouts with chopped chestnuts and bacon , yummie . Tip No. 2 use duck fat to cook your roast potatoes. Tip No. 3 make real gravy and stuffing, it's easy! Packet mixes are not food! Finally after the port and stilton you may wish to light some scented candles as traditional British Christmas dishes can have unpleasant side effects on the more elderly( don't sit them too close to any naked flames though! I can only tell you from an Italian Background. We used to have great feasts on Christmas. I would get it catered, its so much easier. start with with a nice salad, then a great winter soup, (bean soup), then a Bacala Salad. Pasta with claim sause, then stuffed shrip. A nice stuffed Goose is very traditional. Then, ice cream with plum pudding. Followed by small black hot coffee with Sambuca. This is a lot of food, your guests will be stuffed.! what about nice veg soup and use the stock from the Turkey, easy to make and it is nice and warm...
also tesco and m&s do lovely brie cheese that you do in the oven takes 10mins, in the box they give you the cranberry coulis to serve with it, i make it and chop cucumber, tomatoes and red onion on a but of lettice to serve on the side.. its so easy and tastes just like the resturants...
also good oly egg mayo you can also do this the night before..
make sure not 2 take on 2 much stress, your wee child is the most important thing on chrimbo day, make sure mummy not stressed in the kitchen.
why not deligate out to your guests...
get sis in law to bring starter
mother in law to do pudding and you concentraiet on lovely dinner with all the trimings...
daddys will wash up.
christmas is family time everyone will be glad to help to take the pressure off you..
good luck and merry christmas xx Grapefruit cocktail is a good starter, as it's sharp, not filling but an appetiser. It can also be thrown together last minute.
You will need...
1 large tin grapefruit
1 tin unbroken mandarin segments
marachino/cocktail cherries
brandy (or other preferred spirit)
drain grapefruit put in a bowl and add brandy, leave overnight to soak (if it's last minute, an hour would do)
To serve...put some grapefruit and some of the liquor into a cocktail glass, place 4 mandarin segments on the top centre (like a flower design) and put a cherry in the centre of the mandarin.
For a little added glamour, you can frost your cocktail glass by dipping the rim in lightly beaten egg white, then granulated sugar, then leave to dry before adding the food.
Enjoy I think you are being too over the top, there is no need to have a starter on Xmas day. Just prepare some drinks and nibbles. Concentrate on the main meal and ensure you have lots of nice veg/trimmings etc. Timings will depend on the size of the turkey. Good luck and you have plenty of time to prepare in advance! Ah, sounds like you would need this to be quite an easy meal to do. Well, to start with you can do soup. This always goes down well and there is not much preparation.
If you have room in your freezer, then prepare the spuds a few days before and spread them onto a baking sheet, then freeze, then on the day no hard time peeling and cutting, you just simply roast them from frozen.
I do a mixture of different flavoured stuffing balls. Red cabbage is always nice and colourful too. Glazed carrots. Baby sausages are always good, especially if wrapped in bacon.
Just remember, you can do a lot of preparation the night before, then you too can relax on Christmas day. Also, let people help you on Christmas day, with clearing up etc. dresssing Hmmm for a starter how about some kind of light fish dish for the adults and chuncks of melon for the kids. Main meal is obvious, basic roast turkey, easily mashed up for you little ones. Christmas pudding for pudding, with mince pies which are easier for children to eat without the fear of being burnt. Followed by cheese and crackers and grapes and finally coffee :) enjoy! We usually start our Christmas dinner with pate and melba toasts or prawn cocktail.
I always use a turkey breast joint rather than a whole turkey, it cooks quicker and there is less waste although it also means that there is no carcass leftover to make turkey soup the next day (this is something my mum does every year, tastes fantastic!). We always have roasted and mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, sprouts (for decorating my plate, I can't stand them!), bacon wrapped chipolatas and stuffing. If there is room we usually have some Christmas pud or warm mince pies with cream.