Christmas Dinner Menu Planning: The Topic

[jackal10]

Chicken pie, since you will have chicken

or a hot ham

or a ham and chicken pie

You are crazy doing crepe suzette (either type) for 20.

[Chris Amirault]

A few of us are making Chinese food for Christmas. What are you making this year?

[Corinna]

Christmas Eve at my mother's house, so she is mostly in charge of the menu. I am bringing local short ribs to be braised in red wine. She'll make her beloved scalloped potatoes and a spinach salad. We'll need another side or two. Asparagus was suggested, but I think it's too out of season.

I'll probably make Fish House Punch, or some variation thereof, to have beforehand.

Christmas Day at my Aunt & Uncle's, an Italian-American style feast featuring antipasto, vegetable lasagne and hot sausages. We'll take some Finger Lakes wine and local venison sausage, perhaps a fennel & orange salad.

Desserts at both meals will be traditionally English: mince pies, Christmas cake and plum pudding-- always served with Argentine Sidra (Sparkling Hard Cider) What a mutt I am!

Edited December 21, 2009 by Corinna (log)

[LindaK]

With my family, the menu on Christmas day is leftovers from Christmas eve, which is when we traditionally celebrate.

Our Christmas eve menu would not hold up under scrutiny for coherent menu planning. Perhaps it did once upon a time, but now it's been pared down to everyone's favorite dishes from our Greek, Swedish, and Polish heritage, plus some New England favorites and some excellent salumeri that I bring from Boston's North End. So there's roast lamb, cured fish with dill, perogi, salt cod cakes, stuffed clams, and more. Sweets are my mother's swedish cardamom bread and lots of cookies. What's not to like?

[Lapin d'Argent]

With my family, the menu on Christmas day is leftovers from Christmas eve, which is when we traditionally celebrate.

Our Christmas eve menu would not hold up under scrutiny for coherent menu planning. Perhaps it did once upon a time, but now it's been pared down to everyone's favorite dishes from our Greek, Swedish, and Polish heritage, plus some New England favorites and some excellent salumeri that I bring from Boston's North End. So there's roast lamb, cured fish with dill, perogi, salt cod cakes, stuffed clams, and more. Sweets are my mother's swedish cardamom bread and lots of cookies. What's not to like?

What indeed? Sounds like heaven!

After 20 years of faithful traipsing between his family and mine, last year my husband and I inaugurated the first year of "Christmas In Our Own Home." Anyone is welcome to join us, but since they can't be bothered to get in a car and drive to us for a change, we have a peaceful, quiet holiday on our own.

We also like to have our main meal on Christmas Eve, and this year it will be a rib roast from Niman Ranch (ordered through a local market), served with Cabernet jus, and pan-roasted potatoes and carrots, and yorkshire pudding. Earlier in the day, we'll be sustained by shrimp cocktail, cheese spread, homemade olive oil crackers, and homemade pate de campagne.

Not sure what to do about dessert -- probably I'll end up buying something, since there won't really be time to bake.

Christmas day will be mostly leftovers.

[Chufi]

I'm feeding my extremely unadventurous relatives this year - there'll be 8 of us, and it's been a challenge to think of a dinner that's not completely boring for my husband and me, and still ok for them..

nibbles with drinks (although they don't drink, I will probably need to) crackers with cheese and pate, devilled eggs, nuts.

Then we'll start with a salad with panfried zucchini, wild smoked salmon, and a lemon caper dressing.

Chicken braised with shallots, bacon and mushrooms and a lot of sage..

braised red cabbage

roast brussels sprouts with balsamic vinegar and almonds

potao-celeriac gratin

dessert will be storebought macadamia brittle ice cream with little pancakes and poached pears.

It all sounds pretty dull to me but I know they'll think it's really exotic...

[DeliciouslyLekker]

Christmas Menu

Prosecco cocktail

Amuse (suggestions, please? No mushrooms or shellfish)

Deviled Eggs

Sage, leek & onion balls

Smoked Salmon with an Asian dressing

Roast beef (however, I went to the butcher yesterday to order a rib roast- which turned out to be riblappen in Dutch according to the butcher-, and was told because I'm only ordering 1kg, I can only get it in a slice rather than a chunk so if that doesn't work out, I'll use that for a boeuf bourguignon on the 24th. Christmas main will be store-bought stuffed pork roulade instead)

Dessert will be a raspberry panna cotta OR pineapple tarte tatin with rum&raisin ice cream

Coffee and store bought bon bons

Edited December 23, 2009 by DeliciouslyLekker (log)

[Lapin d'Argent]

Well, I had just put the pate de campagne in the oven:

...and had finished washing all the dishes and was about to clean the counter, when I suddenly spotted this:

The chopped pistachios were, of course, supposed to be mixed in to the pate before it went into the pan.

However, I guess they'll now get toasted and sprinkled on the exterior, and no one will be the wiser. (Except all of you.)

Anyone else started cooking?

- L.

[Edited to actually finish what I was writing; a little trigger-happy on the Post button. Hmm...this could be a theme developing...]

Edited December 23, 2009 by Lapin d'Argent (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Your signature pistachio-encrusted pate, you mean!

Deliciously Lekker, what prosecco cocktail are you making?

[judiu]

Christmas Menu

Prosecco cocktail

Amuse (suggestions, please? No mushrooms or shellfish)

Deviled Eggs

Sage, leek & onion balls

Smoked Salmon with an Asian dressing

Roast beef (however, I went to the butcher yesterday to order a rib roast- which turned out to be riblappen in Dutch according to the butcher-, and was told because I'm only ordering 1kg, I can only get it in a slice rather than a chunk so if that doesn't work out, I'll use that for a boeuf bourguignon on the 24th. Christmas main will be store-bought stuffed pork roulade instead)

Dessert will be a raspberry panna cotta OR pineapple tarte tatin with rum&raisin ice cream

Coffee and store bought bon bons

If the sage, leek and onion balls are not to 'bready', how about gougieres for an amuse? Or spiced nuts of some variety or another. Maybe pickled herring? HTH!

[Lapin d'Argent]

DeliciouslyLekker,

I second the idea of gougeres, or even simpler, frico. Lovely with Prosecco! Or were you thinking of something more elaborate, perhaps one of those special spoonfuls of something exotic?

Like Chris, I'm interested to hear about the Prosecco cocktail; we'll be drinking our Prosecco straight.

Chris -- thanks for the pistachio perspective reorientation...just what was needed!

[DeliciouslyLekker]

Hi,

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm afraid it might be too bready especially since my partner isn't a big eater! Picked herring would have been a success but he served me smoked trout earlier this month (to cut the long story short, this is a little competition haha)and herring 2 years ago so I want something 'different' for him. I'm indeed looking for one those pretty, pretentious spoonfuls of goodness

I finally decided on seared tuna with a SE Asian salsa (tangy sambal belacan).

Regarding the prosecco, the "recipe" can be found here (scroll to the end): Prosecco Cocktail

When my girlfriends come for dinner, I usually serve prosecco with a glug of Ribena (I know, I know). The Christmas prosecco cocktail is actually an Italian after-dinner drink (or so I've read) but I'll be serving it as an aperitif. After that, we'll move on to some red wine

[et alors]

I don't think person looking for a Bouche recipe got his answer pepin's recipe with my comments When ever doing anything difficult, i turn to m.pepin. he seems to know the fastest, easiest most trustworthy way to do anything.

We are doing a pork crown roast with dirty rice stuffing. We had a terrific crown roast before and it looks so proud coming out of the oven, but the stuffing was disappointing so we're trying this creole twist. We have a fishitarian in the crowd so I'm considering a etouffee as a alternative/complement. But we're on the west coast, so shrimp and crawdads are not really the best option, and I'm afraid dungeness (even though it's high season) might fall apart.

The rest of the meal is pretty proscribed-- green bean casserole, oyster casserole, some potato dish, and such.

Edited December 24, 2009 by et alors (log)

[DeliciouslyLekker]

Trio of 'Amuse'(really just simple things made pretty)

- Sage,Leek & Onion Ball, Mousse of Duck Breast (store bought. Tuna was sold out) and Deviled Egg

Wild Smoked Salmon with Asian Dressing

Roast Beef Roulade with roast vegetables and new potatoes (Dutchman's favourite)

Panna Cotta (yum!)

Coffee & Bon Bons

Tonight: Family dinner

[Baron d'Apcher]

Julbord. Swedish Christmas buffet.

Tre Sorters sill Three kinds of herring

Matjes sill Soused herring

Rökt lax Smoked salmon

Sill salad Herring salad

Grav lax Cured salmon

Jansons frestelse Janson’s temptation

Prins korv Prince sausage

Julskinka Christmas ham

Köttbullar Swedish meatballs

Rödkål Red cabbage

Rödbetor Pickled beets

Gurksallad Cumucber salad

Lingon Lingonberries

Ris a là Malta Rice porridge

Små kakor Small cookies

Linie akvavit, chilling.

Herring and salmon varieties.

Christmas ham in Swedish aspic.

Sweets.

[tug]

Since I only seem to kill the threads I post in, I've waited until after Christmas to try this one

Our evening started with chips and dips that ranged from the cliched onion dip to fresh hummus.

My husband made his signature homemade mac-n-cheese.

I made beef wellington for the second year running. Full pictoral here: Beef Wellington

For dessert we served a Sherry Triffle and Mince Pies.

Fun and yummy.

[ruthcooks]

Christmas Brunch and Dinner at my son's house:

Brunch: (his wife cooked)

Quiche with Bacon

Sausage Balls

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Dinner: (he cooked most)

Standing Rib Roast

Horseradish Sauce

Yorkshire Pudding, Gravy

Mashed Potatoes with Grilled Onions

Glazed Carrots

Greek Salad

Dinner Rolls

Pecan and Chocolate Chess Pies

(I provided the salad and horseradish sauce.)

No leftovers to bring home, so I'm having my own holiday dinner today:

Roast Turkey Breast, Gravy

Scalloped Oysters

Green Beans

Cranberry-Grape Relish

Dinner Rolls

Whipped Cream Fruit Dessert (Cooked pineapple-orange "pudding" with whipped cream folded in, orange supremes, pineapple chunks, green grapes, dates and bananas)

Not too creative, but I've been in too much pain to cook for two months. I'm better now, but still this took me 3 days to complete. Looking forward to hot browns later this week.

[Kouign Aman]

Christmas eve dinner = buffet of appetizers

Meatballs in sweet & spicy sauce

Brie w caramelized onions

apples w caramel dip

french bread

red grapes

cheese-tart (cheesecake/pie thing - sweet)

Christmas day

pigs in blankets for breakfast

Christmas dinner

roast beef (horseradish, salt, pepper crust)

mashed potatoes (lack of oven space defeated the preferred roast potatoes this year. )

glazed carrots

roast sweet potatoes 'in their jackets'

sauteed mushrooms

steamed parsimmon pudding w hard sauce

apple pie

creme brulee

Green is not a popular color w most of those at the table Xmas day, and the menu catered to that.

[rooftop1000]

We arrived too late for Christmas Eve dinner due to a misunderstanding. There were still chips and dip and salami on the table along with dessert, so thats what I had.

Christmas breakfast was homemade bacon and waffles.

Dinner was

A 4 bone Standing Rib roasted at 200F until 125F

Roasted Garlic Smashed Potatoes....smashed around here means unpeeled red potatoes

Roasted diced Butternut Squash with Brown Sugar, Butter, and Cinnamon

Green Beans with Shallots and Bacon

WW dinner rolls

I didn't get any pics of the meat because it looked like I carved it with a chainsaw, then I didn't get any pics because I forgot...but all the food was hot

Tonight the rest of the roast will be sliced with my new Slicer dipped in warmed garlic butter and draped carefully over french bread that has hot beef jus on it

Tracey

[LindaK]

Julbord. Swedish Christmas buffet.

Tre Sorters sill Three kinds of herring

Matjes sill Soused herring

Rökt lax Smoked salmon

Sill salad Herring salad

Grav lax Cured salmon

Jansons frestelse Janson’s temptation

Prins korv Prince sausage

Julskinka Christmas ham

Köttbullar Swedish meatballs

Rödkål Red cabbage

Rödbetor Pickled beets

Gurksallad Cumucber salad

Lingon Lingonberries

Ris a là Malta Rice porridge

Små kakor Small cookies

Linie akvavit, chilling.

Herring and salmon varieties.

Christmas ham in Swedish aspic.

Sweets.

Holy cow, this is a gorgeous menu! The herring and salmon alone would have been a huge hit with my family. But I have to ask about the colors of the vegetables and the ham in the aspic photo...are they for real?

[Kim Shook]

DeliciouslyLekker – what a lovely meal! Everything looks delicious!

Baron – I’m just awed with that meal. The ham is amazing and even the garnishes are lovely.

Well, we ended up with 33 for dinner on Christmas Eve, instead of the expected (and cooked for) 50, so I have lots and lots of leftovers.

Mr. Kim’s Beer ‘Cooler’:

Turkey and Ham:

My version of Paula Deen's Oyster Dressing:

Sour Cream Cheese Potatoes:

Sweet Potatoes with Bourbon Syrup:

My grandmother’s fruit salad, Orange cranberry sauce, Relish Tray w/ pickles, olives, celery & Rachel’s ‘Paminna” cheese:

Mixed green w/ romaine, frisée, Bibb, spinach & sectioned oranges – My Daddy's

Paprika dressing and Marlene's Bleu cheese dressing and HM croutons:

I somehow missed getting a picture of the dessert spread, but I had:

Lemon chess tarts

Decorated Sugar Cookies:

These are some cookies that I made that I was very excited about, but probably won’t bother with again. These were made with sugar cookies, royal icing, assorted sprinkles and some gorgeous edible wafer paper that I ordered. A big, fat pain in the butt. I am just not very good at piping and you needed to be perfect. On many of them, the icing didn’t ever truly harden. They took forever to dry during the various steps. And, on top of everything, the most impressive part of the cookies was something that I didn’t have anything to do with – the design of the paper. I get a lot more pleasure out of doing my regular cut out sugar cookies and decorating them. I was so wrapped up in these that I didn’t even decorate many regular cookies and just left them to Jessica and Mr. Kim.

Peanut Butter Cookies w/ & w/out Hershey Kisses:

I had a good idea – I sprinkled some of them with fleur de sel. Really fantastic – who doesn’t like salted peanuts?

Sponge Candy plain and dipped in Cadbury chocolate:

These were a happy accident, so that’s what we named them:

I made them from the shards left from breaking up the sponge candy and the leftover chocolate that I dipped some of the sponge into. I just mixed it all together and rolled them into balls. Wow. I will be making these every Christmas from now on!

Aunt San’s Fudge – plain, creamy milk chocolate fudge

Reeses Cup Fudge – a layer of peanut butter fudge w/ a topping of chocolate fudge

Cherry Almond Dark Chocolate Fudge

Iced Almonds

Peanut Brittle, Plain and Chocolate Covered

pretzel pecan turtles

White Chocolate Toasted Almond Fudge

White Chocolate Gumdrop Fudge

Christmas Breakfast:

ET bagels and cream cheese, mini quiche Lorraine, sausage rolls, Whack-a-roll Orange Danish rolls (I don’t think Jessie ate even one this year, but they are just traditional)

Mr. Kim’s mom’s Candy Cane and leftover fruit salad from Christmas Eve dinner.

[Baron d'Apcher]

But I have to ask about the colors of the vegetables and the ham in the aspic photo...are they for real?

Yep. Pickled, naturally colored romanesco, yellow and purple cauliflower varieties. Aspic was colored with turmeric and blue food coloring, though yellow beet juice could have been used for the former.. A cross mold was cut into cardboard, lined with plastic and the yellow aspic poured in. The blue was poured into a dish and cut into quarters. Clear aspic was poured over the ham, the pieces aligned and more clear aspic spooned over. An triangular picnic-ham shaped pan/mold would have yielded better results. Next year.

[Lapin d'Argent]

Wow -- really impressive, everyone! I'm just blown away! Truly inspiring.