Christmas dinner

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Re: Christmas dinner

We eat turkey here on Thanksgiving. As previously mentioned, the worst of all the meats. So at Christmas, we eat want we want. My sister-in-law is Italian-American. She usually makes pork chops with a "secret" family gravy. There's usually a pasta dish too. It's mostly about the snacks though.Various meats, (prosciutto -"proshute", capicola ham "gabagool" (it took me years to figure that one out) And cheeses, they literally call mozzarella "mootzadelle" and ricotta "rigote". It's like I'm living in the Sopranos. Then they all get pissed and someone cries. Good times. No one gets whacked though. So that's a plus. There are plenty of stories though.

Does anyone get a horse's head in the bed as a present?

[Majorblue]

Re: Christmas dinner

Not being a Christian the whole thing means very little to me.

The Christmas meal thing totally passes me by as turkey is the blandest meat you can have and if I want to generate vile smelling farts then a curry is preferable to sprouts.

OK, I will accept pigs in blankets as an exceptional treat although I am obviously going to be dammed for eternity for eating them and as a fan of stuffing then the choice widens every December.

Then there is Christmas pudding, is that a punishment for being bad.?

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Re: Christmas dinner

Not being a Christian the whole thing means very little to me.

The Christmas meal thing totally passes me by as turkey is the blandest meat you can have and if I want to generate vile smelling farts then a curry is preferable to sprouts.

OK, I will accept pigs in blankets as an exceptional treat although I am obviously going to be dammed for eternity for eating them and as a fan of stuffing then the choice widens every December.

Then there is Christmas pudding, is that a punishment for being bad.?

You are obviously spared the quandary of wondering whether to think of the baby Jesus or Santa as you force-feed yourself the meat equivalent of MDF and whilst drinking copious amounts of the demon alcohol.

Bless you, my son.

[Ninja]

Re: Christmas dinner

Looks like it'll be turkey in my house, which I'm disappointed with to be honest. I have half a leg of lamb stashed in the freezer for later in the week though.
You can't beat lamb, especially the juices for a homemade gravy.

Here's a tip for you though lads if you're having turkey...

Get a large chunk of butter in a cereal bowl, add to it the zest of a Clementine and a little of the juice. Finely chop a bunch of fresh sage and add that in along with a generous pinch of salt and a small pinch of black pepper.

Mix it all up, and stuff some of it under the skin on the turkey breasts. You'll have to work your fingers under the skin to get in there, but do that and squash some of the mix under there, flatten it all over both breasts.

Use the rest to cover the turkey, legs etc if you're not having a crown.
Also, cut a Clementine and a small onion in half, and shove it in the cavity with some fresh sage.

Trust me on this, I've been doing this for a good few years now, it adds a lovely flavour and helps keep the ugly bird moist

[bluemoon]

Re: Christmas dinner

lamb for me, mrs likes turkey, all the usual trimmings... i got to admit went over aldi the other day and they had a special selected stuffing was banging and will be on my xmas dinner...

quality cruble or some choc log for desert...

other than that 1 year i totally flipped it and had a chinese, 1 of the best ever, ordered it late xmas eve ate it for xmas dinner was top stuff

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Re: Christmas dinner

Never got the whole pigs in blankets thing. Cooked dinner should always have a Yorkshire though and crispy stuffing no matter the meat.

As I understand it, whole pigs are not enveloped by the bacon blankets but just enough of the pigs that it takes to fill very small sausages.....

[mrbluejay]

Re: Christmas dinner

Turkey is fine but you've got to brine it first.

Get well soon Elwood & Bob.

[Swiss Peter]

Re: Christmas dinner

Polish Christmas dinner at work tomorrow, traditional meal of Carp, yes, that’s right Carp. I’m trying to keep a open mind, I’ll report back tomorrow.

Big favourite in Germany too. I remember being in the food hall of a department store in Berlin a couple of days before Christmas, and people choosing their live carp from a large tank. They would then be hit with a big stick. (The carp, not the people). Didn't seem very festive to me!

[superfeathers]

Re: Christmas dinner

Turkey without question.

Yorkshire puds have a home on every single type of cooked dinner of that sort, so yes.
Bread sauce, cranberry sauce.
Obviously roasties.
Small amount of stuffing, less is more.

Pigs in blankets - It would be ruined without them.

Veg - Carrots, if really necessary.

Mash, gravy, then topped off with mint sauce (some neanderthals think mint is only welcome on certain meats, which is NOT the case).

[theclaw]

Re: Christmas dinner

Everything but Cramberry sauce,horseradish for me.

[Swiss Peter]

Re: Christmas dinner

Alternate between goose and turkey. Every time we have turkey we say bloody hell that was dull we'll go back to goose next year. Every time we have goose we say bloody hell that was expensive we'll go back to turkey next year!

[North Cardiff Blue]

Re: Christmas dinner

Turkey, Beef, roasties, mash, honey glazed roasted parsnips, garden peas, sliced carrot, cauliflower cheese, Yorkshire pud, cranberry sauce, swimming in gravy, jobs a good en!

Keep your stuffing, pigs in blankets, and shove your sprouts!

[Tuerto]

Re: Christmas dinner

We usually get those micro chicken dinners from Iceland with the reformed chicken breast. Kids love them.

[jeepster]

Re: Christmas dinner

Alternate between goose and turkey. Every time we have turkey we say bloody hell that was dull we'll go back to goose next year. Every time we have goose we say bloody hell that was expensive we'll go back to turkey next year!

I have never had goose,what is it like?

[Swiss Peter]

Re: Christmas dinner

I have never had goose,what is it like?

Full of flavour - so you'd need to like that flavour! Can be fatty, if not rendered.