Christmas Dinner Menu Planning: The Topic

[Eden]

We had a bit of a change this year, too....

Instead of the turkey, we had a pork tenderloin stuffed with dried fruits -- apricots, prunes - and braised in Madeira and molasses.

Fabulous.

←

that does sound fabulous. Was there a recipe, or a is it just a wing it kind of a dish?

[Jaymes]

Instead of the turkey, we had a pork tenderloin stuffed with dried fruits -- apricots, prunes - and braised in Madeira and molasses.

that does sound fabulous. Was there a recipe, or a is it just a wing it kind of a dish?

Followed this recipe reasonably closely...

Fruit-Stuffed Loin of Pork

[CaliPoutine]

Roast turkey, gravy, oven baked mashed potato casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, spinach gratin( ina garten), glazed carrots.

[bergerka]

I'm at the folks' house in Arizona for Christmas this year. We had 20 or so for dinner - four kids from two to sixteen years old, the rest adults. Lots of people in the kitchen - it was fun!

Menu was as follows:

Roast turkey (made by mom)

sausage stuffing (this is mom's traditional recipe. It has bread, celery, onion, all kinds of spices, sausage, and about three sticks of butter).

wild rice with nuts and dried cranberries (made by sister Barbara)

mashed potatoes (made by brother in law Brian, he is the mashed potato king)

sweet potato souffle (me)

baked sweet potatoes (whoever was closest to the microwave)

cranberry sauce with port wine and figs (me)

cranberry relish (made by Barbara, it had celery, nuts and some kind of jello)

that cranberry stuff from the can (have to have that, can't get away from it)

brussels sprouts sauteed with apples, onions and bacon (me)

corn

peas (those last two were mostly for the kinds)

pumpkin pie

pecan pie

raspberry pie

it was yum

I'm still full.

[Jaymes]

Roast turkey, gravy, oven baked mashed potato casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, spinach gratin( ina garten), glazed carrots.

I'm not sure I recognize the wine..... Local vintner?

[CaliPoutine]

Roast turkey, gravy, oven baked mashed potato casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, spinach gratin( ina garten), glazed carrots.

I'm not sure I recognize the wine..... Local vintner?

←

Oh yes, this came from the lovely Cadbury beverages Canada in scenic Mississauga, Ontario.

[Ling]

^CaliPoutine: I use Ina Garten's creamed spinach recipe too! I also add a bunch of grated Parm

[I_call_the_duck]

We had Chinese food for Christmas. We're Chinese, and had an "American" Thanksgiving, so my psycho sis's spoiled kids demanded that we have Chinese food for Christmas. This year, mom went all out, and made stuff that we don't normally see when she cooks for the entire family. Mom did a lot of the work, but my brother and I helped with the final stages. No pictures, because mom was stressing.

The menu was as follows:

soup

steamed flounder in ginger-scallion sauce

curry chicken

shrimp with walnuts

squid with pickled greens

sticky rice

bamboo-wrapped chives and shrimp

Dessert:

apple pie

blueberry pie

pannetone

peppermint bark

assorted tarts

chocolate cake

Edited December 27, 2005 by I_call_the_duck (log)

[Jaymes]

Dessert:

apple pie

blueberry pie

pannetone

peppermint bark

assorted tarts

chocolate cake

Wow. I'd always heard that the Chinese are not big on desserts. Sounds like y'all are the exception.

Oh, and CaliPoutine, thanks for clearing that up. I'll be sure to try it next time I'm in the area!

[I_call_the_duck]

Wow.  I'd always heard that the Chinese are not big on desserts.  Sounds like y'all are the exception.

←

We're not. Growing up it was strawberry shortcake for birthdays and apple pie for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Also, the spouses are not Chinese, so they and the kids are the big dessert eaters.

[rich]

We had Chinese food for Christmas. 

Dessert:

apple pie

blueberry pie

pannetone

←

So where do you find the recipe for Chinese blueberry or apple pie? Or Chinese Pannetone?

[Mayhaw Man]

Tomato Aspic (real aspic-not jello)

Baby mixed greens with stilton, pears, and toasted pecans

Beef Tenderloin (seared over very hot charcoal and finished to rare in oven)

Zipper Cream Peas with tasso

Twice Baked Potatoes with blue crab claw meat (these scored high on the swellometer)

Asparagus with hollandaise

Homemade Yeast Rolls

Coconut Cake or Banana Cream Pie

[I_call_the_duck]

We had Chinese food for Christmas. 

Dessert:

apple pie

blueberry pie

pannetone

←

So where do you find the recipe for Chinese blueberry or apple pie? Or Chinese Pannetone?

←

Made it up. Mixed the usual stuff with a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil and topped with tofu!

[rich]

We had Chinese food for Christmas. 

Dessert:

apple pie

blueberry pie

pannetone

←

So where do you find the recipe for Chinese blueberry or apple pie? Or Chinese Pannetone?

←

Made it up. Mixed the usual stuff with a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil and topped with tofu!

←

Not a bad concept. I think my next pizza will be sticky rice with pickled greens.

[SobaAddict70]

My mother -- who is an amazing cook by the way (who learned from my grandmother, yet another fantastic cook) -- spent most of Saturday cooking for Christmas dinner. Now, I should preface this by saying that Christmas Day is also my birthday. Yes, I turned 35 on Sunday.

It was quite a lot of food...and brought back memories. I literally grew up on Filipino home-cooking. She had originally planned on making dinuguan for this occasion; (for those of you who don't know what this is, it's a pork and offal stew with chiles, garlic, vinegar and pork or duck blood), but couldn't bring herself to make it because her tastes have changed. That's ok, her cooking will always be on a plateau that's untouchable as far as I'm concerned.

ukoy (prawn and bean sprout fritters), with a dipping sauce of garlic, salt, pepper and cane vinegar;

chicken and pork adobo;

sinigang (shrimp and vegetables in a spicy tamarind-based broth), with green chiles and fish sauce;

kari-kari (oxtail and vegetables stewed in peanut sauce), with fermented shrimp paste;

rice (but of course!);

green tea and cheesecake.

Best of all is the fact that I spent the day with my mom. Dinner was just icing on the cake.

Soba

[rich]

Now, I should preface this by saying that Christmas Day is also my birthday.  Yes, I turned 35 on Sunday. 

Soba

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In my family all the children were named after the saint/celebration day. I had an aunt named Natalie she was born Dec. 25 and a grandfather named Patrick - he was born March 17. Just think, you could have been named Nate.

So was dinner your birthday dinner or Christmas Dinner?

[SobaAddict70]

I'd say both.

[suzilightning]

we're 2/3 of the way through the celebrations:

christmas eve was at my sister-in-law's house with all the crew including 4 brothers, 2 wives, her boyfriend, father-in-law and mother-in-laws #1 & #3.

cheese and crackers

veges and dips

scallops wrapped in bacon

shrimp

lasagna

bread

beef pot pies(sister-in-law's first attempt at this - we WILL be having a crimping seminar later)

fried potatoes

salad

cookies

christmas day-

ham

sweet potato gratin

carrots with thyme and honey

white and green asparagus

baked beans

saturday will be johnnybird and my christmas celebration. so far i am making

roast capon

sausage dressing

smashed potatoes

sweet potato pie

still ruminating on the veg and i may do what daniel did and serve a hot cheese course of those wonderful looking rarebits. any suggestions?

[jgm]

From the "Sniveling and Whining" section, I am posting my Christmas dinner (eaten at my elderly father-in-law's):

Turkey - not fabulous, but not dried out at all, fine to eat

Dressing - hmmm. Let's not discuss it.

Potato salad - the WORST I have ever tasted.

Iceberg lettuce with bottled salad dressing (from a brand new bottle, not an outdated one for once!)

No gravy. No potatoes left to make mashed potatoes, even.

When we got in the car to leave, I turned to my husband and said, "Next year: we take control of the dinner."

[FistFullaRoux]

From the "Sniveling and Whining" section, I am posting my Christmas dinner (eaten at my elderly father-in-law's):

Turkey - not fabulous, but not dried out at all, fine to eat

Dressing - hmmm.  Let's not discuss it.

Potato salad - the WORST I have ever tasted. 

Iceberg lettuce with bottled salad dressing (from a brand new bottle, not an outdated one for once!)

No gravy.  No potatoes left to make mashed potatoes, even.

When we got in the car to leave, I turned to my husband and said, "Next year: we take control of the dinner."     

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Yeah, but semi-decent food with people you love is still pretty good.

[jgm]

You're absolutely right. Late Christmas Eve, I started to get PO'd about the potatoes, and then I realized that one holiday meal out of all the holiday meals in my life, isn't significant at all. And it's definitely nothing to get riled over.

In a couple of weeks, my husband and I are going to do our own turkey dinner, done our own way, with plenty of leftovers to freeze.

Holidays at my father-in-law's house can be a little bleak. He tends to be --okay, I'll say it out loud-- an extreme tightwad, and eating turkey sandwiches for days after the holiday can get a little old, especially since he keeps very little food on hand, and refuses to spring for stuff like mayonnaise, that others eat but he doesn't. Over the years, I've learned to bring my own.

But he's a dear man, and we have no way of knowing how many more holidays we'll have with him. One day the disgust over several days of turkey sandwiches with no mayo will turn into funny stories we'll be able to tell, along with all of the other tightwad stories we have about him, that paint a portrait of a man who's stingy with cash, but generous of heart.

[jilli42]

I had a LOT of food for 10 people, including 2 kids. There were lots of requests for items from Christmas Eve parties past, so it was an eclectic mix of food.

(I had pictures, but for some reason the color was off, everything had a weird yellow/green tint & I couldn't take the time to keep trying to get it right. Guests were too hungry, I think the kids may have rioted if I took any longer.. )

-Black Pepper Almonds (these are addictive)

-Cheese & Crackers

-Spiced Edamame

-Veg. Plate w/ dill dip

-Fruit Plate w/ Fluff dip (my 7 yr old requested it)

-Spin/Art Dip w/ tortilla chip, red pepper & sugar snap pea dippers

-Crab Dip w/ french bread

-Bonnie's Buffalo Chicken Dip (really good)

-Spring Rolls w/ spicy & reg dipping sauce

-Shrimp Dumplings w/ spicy & reg dipping sauce

-Steamed Shrimp w/ cocktail sauce

-Nueskes Applewood Smoked Ham w/ potato rolls (only things not homemade)

-Mac n Cheese

-Caramelized Baked Chicken wings

-Teriyaki Salmon Cakes (made from whole salmon, that was marinated & broiled before being flaked for the cakes)

-"Cocktail" meatballs (chili sauce, ketchup, grape jelly & Crystal simmered in the crockpot for an hour or so. My mother requested them, but I love them too ! I did use homemade meatballs though.

-Saltine Toffee (so very white trash cooking, but so very good)

-Vanilla Cake w/ cream cheese icing

-Cheesecake

-Mimosas (moms idea)

-Sparkling cider (for the kids)

-Tequila Daquiris (hubby to be made this up; tequila, strawberry daquiri mix and Sprite, very good but it packs a punch that sneaks up on you.)

That is a LOT of food, isn't it ? I was cooking for 2 days, but I enjoyed it. It may not have been the most gourmet food, but it was good, everyone had a good time and got to take a plate home.

Happy New Year !!

[Chris Amirault]

Due to the arrangements by which my household operates, I am forbidden from doing any tinkering with the basic elements of our Thanksgiving meal. Due to my decision that it may be the most wonderful food on the planet, I have decided that cassoulet must be made every New Years Day. This leaves me with Christmas dinner as the one winter holiday meal with which I can fiddle around extensively.

I've been working on the menu for a few weeks now, and I'm settling into the arrangement below. I'll be serving only five diners, so I can do quite a bit without worrying about getting trapped in the kitchen for hours between courses. I'm hoping to get some feedback here on basically any aspect of the meal, but especially including plating, wines, and tweaks to the courses. I've already gotten some great help -- thank you, Dave the Cook -- but need more. A lot more, I think.

********

Amuse 1:

Lop yuk and asparagus bundles

I had hoped to go for a rumaki revision here using the lop yuk I've been curing, but I can't get a solid source on fresh water chestnuts and refuse to use the canned crap. (In case you've never had fresh water chestnuts, be warned: you can't go back to cans ever again.) So, instead, a take on prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, with black and white sesame seeds for both visual and flavor contrasts. No beverage here. Two questions right now. First, do I need any acid in there? The second is more complicated.

I'm imagining using about three, 3-4" asparagus spears on each plate, wrapped with a 2" paper-thin (thank you, Hobart slicer) piece of lop yuk. Functionally, I think they'll hold together fine that way, but visually I'm thinking that a long strand of orange peel would make a nice accent, picking up on the dried orange peel in the curing spices of the lop yuk and adding some contrasting color. However, I can't quite figure out how to prepare the peel to tie it in a knot or bow. Does any one have any experience with this? I may have to do some experimenting with raw, blanched, even pickled orange rind.

Amuse 2:

Maine shrimp, cucumber, Thai gremolata

Every year at this time, johnnyd sends a clarion call throughout eG Forums that Maine shrimp are here, and our local Whole Foods has started carrying the little gems. Preparation for the shrimp is going to be very simple -- a quick douse in boiling water -- but I'm not sure if that water should be at all seasoned; I'm tempted to say "No" to stay out of the way of the sweet shrimp. The "gremolata" in this case is going to consist of minced kaffir lime leaf, shallot, white pepper, and thai basil; the layering is a cucumber slice, shrimp, gremolata, and a few grains of alaea salt on top for saline and contrast. No beverage here, either; everyone gets two.

My question involves plating. I can certainly stick them on small plates, but that seems lonely, don't you think? I can also serve them in some shallow Japanese bowls that would fit single items, but I have only five of those bowls and they're pretty wee: each cucumber slice would be jammed in there. I suppose I could go buy some small plates, but I'd like to avoid that purchase that if I can. So: creative thoughts on serving these?

Course 1:

Ham and eggs with toast

I've tried to resist this sort of amateurish copping of Thomas Keller's far more intelligent approach to revamping common classics, but, having tried out dry runs of this course with beverage, I actually think that this combination is going to work. Please cross your fingers for me.

On a round toast base, a poached egg, duck ham, maple syrup, ground smoked almonds, and a thyme, salt, and black pepper sprinkle. On the plate next to that, an egg shell or small glass with Red Hook cocktails in each (1 oz Sazerac rye, 1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino, 1/4 oz Punt e Mes).

Questions are legion. Should the ham be in thin whole slices or julienned for greater texture? I know I can poach the eggs beforehand, chill them, and reheat using Keller's own method in, I think, Bouchon, but are there other tricks? If I go with the egg shells for the drink, how do I cut the tops of the eggs off, and then how do I prop them up on the plate (bed of salt)? Finally, what sort of bread should go under there? I'm worried that brioche is too rich, Portuguese sweet bread too sweet, and other options a bit too toothy.

Course 2:

Lobster tempura with two sauces

This is a less literal version of some of the elements of a Maine lobster roll: the fried tempura recalling the butter-sautéed roll, the first sauce (sieved egg, arbequina olive oil, sherry vinegar, sea salt, smoked paprika) playing on mayonnaise and the second (meyer lemon juice and zest, roasted garlic, black pepper, sea salt) a tweaked lemon spritz. I'm thinking of skewering raw lobster meat (claws and tails, primarily -- the rest is cook's bounty), preparing a basic tempura batter, deep-frying it a la minute, and serving on plates with the two sauces on either side.

This is where the wine questions come in. For family reasons, I'm thinking that a sancerre might be very nice (there are sancerre fans in the house), but I would love other suggestions in the $15/bottle range. In addition, I'm having a hard time thinking though the preparation and plating sieved egg "sauce", so any ideas there would be helpful. Finally, if anyone has ever fried lobster before, chime in. I'm already afraid of overcooking it.

Course 3:

Mushroom noodle soup

This course is driven by two happy shopping finds. The first is some dried porcini at the Dekalb Farmers Market while in Atlanta, which enable me to include a porcini soup on the menu, something I really enjoy. The base recipe I think I'm going to try, from Joey's in Seattle, appears in the current (12/06) edition of Gourmet (p. 42). I'm intrigued because it calls for grinding the porcini into a powder; I'm moving away from the tarragon and Mexican oregano in that recipe toward rosemary, probably as an oil, and think I may get rid of the cream.

The other find involves unnamed cylindrical mushrooms from my local Chinese market that are about 3" in diameter and about 6-8" long. I'd love to know the name of these things and can't find anyone or anything that knows; if you have a clue (photos to aid soon), please do share it. These mushrooms have a remarkably firm texture when cooked, and I've been experimenting with cutting them into long, thin "noodles." They'll be the base, and one of the challenges will be to see how thin I can get them. I'll probably poach them in the same chicken stock I'll use as the base for the soup, chill them until serving, and then rewarm them just before plating.

Question: if I deep-six the cream, do I need to worry about the oil sinking into the soup? That may not be a problem, depending on plating: I've been thinking of serving a high mound of "noodles" on a quarter-cup of soup in the center of a flat soup bowl and then ladling the soup around the mound, in which case I could just drizzle the oil on the noodles sticking up out of the soup. Also, I've no idea what a good wine would be with this course. I'm imagining a light red, but not sure what.

Course 4:

Roasted Toulouse sausage and grapes, mashed potatoes

This is a dish that George Germon and Johanne Killeen made famous at Al Forno here in Providence. I wanted a meat-and-potatoes dish for one of the guests, and since last year I served Paula Wolfert's astonishing Gascony daube of beef, I thought this year I'd go for pork instead. I'll still be using Wolfert, as it turns out: these sausages are based on her recipe in Cooking of Southwest France and tweaked thanks to my learning this year in the charcuterie topic and the sausage cook-off.

I've made this a few times in the past, so the trick here will be getting the sausages right (I've got the meat getting ready for grinding tomorrow in the fridge) and wrenching my albatross from around my neck: mashed potatoes. I'm imagining a Cotes du Rhone with this, but, again, don't have much of a sense of particular wines.

********

So that's the plan for now, anyway. Thanks in advance for any thoughts, warnings, tips, or advice.

[Shalmanese]

Amuse 1:

Lop yuk and asparagus bundles

I had hoped to go for a rumaki revision here using the lop yuk I've been curing, but I can't get a solid source on fresh water chestnuts and refuse to use the canned crap. (In case you've never had fresh water chestnuts, be warned: you can't go back to cans ever again.) So, instead, a take on prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, with black and white sesame seeds for both visual and flavor contrasts. No beverage here. Two questions right now. First, do I need any acid in there? The second is more complicated.

I'm imagining using about three, 3-4" asparagus spears on each plate, wrapped with a 2" paper-thin (thank you, Hobart slicer) piece of lop yuk. Functionally, I think they'll hold together fine that way, but visually I'm thinking that a long strand of orange peel would make a nice accent, picking up on the dried orange peel in the curing spices of the lop yuk and adding some contrasting color. However, I can't quite figure out how to prepare the peel to tie it in a knot or bow. Does any one have any experience with this? I may have to do some experimenting with raw, blanched, even pickled orange rind.

Hrmm... This is rather a different approach but what about serving them with a soft boiled egg and have "asparagus & ham soldiers". You could drop just a tiny bit of minced orange peel into the egg before serving. I forget whether you have access to an immersion circulator but if you just keep the eggs in there at temp, this should be an easy dish to make.

Amuse 2:

Maine shrimp, cucumber, Thai gremolata

Every year at this time, johnnyd sends a clarion call throughout eG Forums that Maine shrimp are here, and our local Whole Foods has started carrying the little gems. Preparation for the shrimp is going to be very simple -- a quick douse in boiling water -- but I'm not sure if that water should be at all seasoned; I'm  tempted to say "No" to stay out of the way of the sweet shrimp. The "gremolata" in this case is going to consist of minced kaffir lime leaf, shallot, white pepper, and thai basil; the layering is a cucumber slice, shrimp, gremolata, and a few grains of pink salt on top for saline and contrast. No beverage here, either; everyone gets two.

My question involves plating. I can certainly stick them on small plates, but that seems lonely, don't you think? I can also serve them in some shallow Japanese bowls that would fit single items, but I have only five of those bowls and they're pretty wee: each cucumber slice would be jammed in there. I suppose I could go buy some small plates, but I'd like to avoid that purchase that if I can. So: creative thoughts on serving these?

I would actually make some noodles out of the cucumbers and make a nest to place the shrimp in. You mentioned you had a hobart slicer. Peel & cut each cucumber in half, scoop out the seeds and then slice them thinly. You can then marinate them in something to get some added flavour. You won't get that crunch you get from sliced cucumber but I guess you could put another layer below to get some more texture. A shrimp chip may work but it may overwhelm everything else.

Course 1:

Ham and eggs with toast

I've tried to resist this sort of amateurish copping of Thomas Keller's far more intelligent approach to revamping common classics, but, having tried out dry runs of this course with beverage, I actually think that this combination is going to work. Please cross your fingers for me.

On a round toast base, a poached egg, duck ham, maple syrup, ground smoked almonds, and a thyme, salt, and black pepper sprinkle. On the plate next to that, an egg shell or small glass with Red Hook cocktails in each (1 oz Sazerac rye, 1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino, 1/4 oz Punt e Mes).

Questions are legion. Should the ham be in thin whole slices or julienned for greater texture? I know I can poach the eggs beforehand, chill them, and reheat using Keller's own method in, I think, Bouchon, but are there other tricks? If I go with the egg shells for the drink, how do I cut the tops of the eggs off, and then how do I prop them up on the plate (bed of salt)? Finally, what sort of bread should go under there? I'm worried that brioche is too rich, Portuguese sweet bread too sweet, and other options a bit too toothy.

BryanZ came up with a really good way of splitting eggshells. I can't remember what it is though, hopefully he'll pop in. I guess you would want a finely textured, neutral bread for this. I don't see what's wrong with just a standard, good quality white bread. Fried in duck fat or butter would be ideal.

The rest of the dishes sound great.

[snowangel]

Chris, this menu sounds wonderful, but the shrimp amuse sounds particularly beguiling to me!

How about thin matchsticks of cucumber as a nest for the shrimp? You'd have more snap to them than with the "noodle" idea" but they might more easily be plated in the small dishes you have.

Oh, and ditto on the regular dense white bread fried in duck fat!

No wine suggestion, but serious envy as I'm bound by tradition (I'm the outlaw) as I will serve lutefisk and swedish meatballs.