Christmas Dinner Menu Planning: The Topic

[Chris Amirault]

Here's what it looked like in execution. Devils on horseback canapés, which paired up fantastically with the Red Hook Cocktails:

Maine shrimp bundles, which were tied with the cucumber pickle noodle things and were the best dish of the night by all accounts:

Mushroom noodle soup. The rosemary really exuded a wonderful aroma stuck into this twisted noodle nest:

Lobster tempura, the one dish of the night that wasn't a success, as the tempura frying didn't at all bring out the sweet flavor of the lobster. The sauces, however, were great, and the celery leaves were a good idea, as they gave off their own aroma under the hot oil of the lobster:

Finally, following a plate problem and a bit more wine than is good for successful photography, here's the ham and eggs, another winner:

No sausage course, as people were bursting at the seams after the lobster course and I kept 'em in the fridge.

The wines were fantastic -- thanks, Jack, especially for the gewurztraminer recommendation, which was beloved by all.

I appreciate everyone's help!

[Domestic Goddess]

What a fantastic dinner Chris! Kudos to you, your impressive courses and the wonderful pictures. Thank you for sharing and for making me hungry (again).

[BertaBurtonLake]

Years ago, I stopped making a sit-down Christmas dinner. The reasons for this were two. One, I was tired of spending all day in the kitchen cooking while everyone else was socializing and enjoying new Christmas presents. The second reason was an incident which occured 10 years ago.

I had made a traditional English Christmas dinner with Roasted Prime Rib (THAT will set you back a bundle!) with Yorkshire pudding etc. As you know, neither of those "holds" well if dinner is delayed for some reason. My daughter and her fiancee were driving in, supposedly to arrive 2 hours before dinner......until in the seasonally early dark of the evening when only 10 miles from our home they hit a cow. Yes, it was a black cow in the black of the night. Needless to say, they were then delayed 3 hours while the police were called and came, the farmer moved the cow...blah, blah, blah. Dinner was ruined.

Since that year, I have done a heavy hors d'oeurves buffet every Christmas Day. That way, I can do preparations ahead of time and food is out all afternoon (appropriately replenished and kept hot or cold as needed...no food poisoning here!) for grazing family and visitors who drop in during the day and evening.

Short story made long...I would like some suggestions of hot things I could serve which can be kept in a chafing dish. I have some things I do every years because I have been informed by my family that it "would not be Christmas without them", but would like to change it up a little this years.

Any suggestions or recipes from all you great cooks out there? While not a professional chef, I am adept in the kitchen. Foods that can be prepared up to a couple of days and held in the fridge till heating and serving time would be perfect.

Thanks in advence,

Berta

[JimH]

A baked ziti/penne dish would hold well, I used to make one with a meatball or sausage mixture on the bottom, cheese & sauce mixed with the pasta and topped with panko breadcrumbs. Sauerkraut would work too but I'm ethnically biased. A seven or eight layer dip goes over well at the holidays here. Not fine dining but it does taste good and they are easy to make.

ETC: spelling - The nun's are spinning in their graves over my multiple mistakes.

Edited December 6, 2007 by JimH (log)

[Octaveman]

Rack of lamb...frenched, crusted, red wine/balsamic reduction served atop a medly of sauteed mushrooms and garlic with side of fingerling potatoes and wilted baby spinach. Going to do a test run tomorrow night before family comes for Xmas. Time from prep to plate is about 30 minutes.

Edited December 6, 2007 by Octaveman (log)

[MSRadell]

Several ideas come to mind but one of the easiest might be Fondue. Of course you could do a traditional cheese fondue with various fruits, breads are even hard sausage to do. But you can also do an entree fondue using either oil or Bouillon as the cooking medium. With this you can serve various meats, seafoods and vegetables to be cooked by your guests as they desire. And of course you can always do a chocolate fondue (or the and new in chocolate fountain) with any multitude of things to dip.

There are many multitudes of other things they can be done in a chafing dish that will hold for extended periods of time such as Swedish meatballs and other things along that line. But in my opinion in order to ensure and the food does not deteriorate in quality as time goes along things like cooked meats and vegetables that are not in some kind of a sauce will tend to dry out or overcook (I hate mushy vegetables) as time goes on.

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

Berta, Mom and I rebelled several years ago for similar reasons... two or three days' worth of work, gone in a 60- 90-minute sit-down dinner, and then another three hours of hand-washing all the good china & silver while everyone else plays with their toys? No, thanks!

Our solution? We go out to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant for dinner, and we keep light, snacky things around for grazing during the day.

We do wind up with a lot of buffet-style goodies on Christmas Eve, however, and since we only started doing things this way a few years ago, we've been able to get away from the "must haves" we are stuck with at Thanksgiving. You might look over at the thread about things to make <a href="http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=109596&hl=">Before the Feast</a> for lots of good ideas.

A few things come to mind that I've done for buffets that hold well in chafing dishes for extended periods: dirty rice and/or jambalaya, chili, almost any pasta dish (ravioli does especially well,) saltimboca, moussaka, pulled pork (bbq), my 5-cheese spinach & artichoke dip and/or hot crab dip, chicken & dumplings, and my favorite main-dish style baked beans. I'm sure everyone here will have tons more ideas (and I'm always looking for new ones, myself!)

[Chris Amirault]

So you want smallish items that can be kept at a warm temperature in a chafing dish without significant degradation of the food, yes? If that's so, I'd be worried about lamb chops, pasta, and so on, overcooking or drying out.

A few things that might not be too terrible by hour three:

stuffed mushrooms

a curried squash soup served in, I dunno, onion cups or hollowed apples

devils on horseback (click here for a version)

jambalaya, biryani, naw mai fon, or another rice 'n' stuff dish

macaroni & cheese

cassoulet or another bean dish (this one's not awful)

[Sony]

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate dinner incident .

I'm thinking about soups and stews as well....gumbo, boeuf bourguignon, coq au vin......

Mashed potatoes can hold OK over a double-boiler and is always great for saucy dishes.

Less formal, but still tasty- different chilis, held in crockpots, with baked potatoes kept warm in the oven and slices of good cornbread. Topping that can be laid out: pickled and fresh jalapeno slices, sour cream, good tortilla chips, chopped cilantro, minced onion.....

Good luck! I'm interested in the ideas that come up here as well....

[Marlene]

What are the things you are already doing? Do you want bites, or more substantial things?

Honey garlic meatballs. Can be made ahead, warmed and held in a chafing dish.

Cheddar cheese tartlets. Warm or at room temp.

Mini tourtieres, Made ahead and served warm or at room temp.

Bacon, onion and cheese tart. Can be made ahead and served warm or at room temp.

Chicken wings can be held well in a chafing dish.

Garlic cheesecake

Warm cheese dip with crusty breads or crostini

Potted Cheese

mini quiche hold well

mini savoury clafouti

[Natho]

I have been invited to a christmas dinner in a weeks time. I have been asked to bring something that isn't a main or a salad (I live in australia.. it's summer here) but kind of a "filler" type dish. It was suggested that potato bake would do or something like it. Any suggestions?

One of the mains is roast lamb and roast veges plus salads. About 15-20 people are expected.

Maybe prawns as well.

[Sony]

Potatoes and lamb always sounds good to me . Quick question in thinking of suggestions- will you have access to oven space, or will the lamb/roasted vegetables occupy all the room? If the latter, I sometimes forget how good boiled potatoes are. (not really something with wow factor, but they are tasty!)

[baroness]

A big pot of rice pilaf would be good as well.

Will you have cooking/warming capacity at the dinner, or will you have to bring the dish hot and try to keep it that way?

[MattJohnson]

What about some kind of bread/biscuit?

[tsquare]

couscous - this could be construed to be a salad if served cold or room temp, but easy as a filler.

Include lots of chopped red and green vegetables, peppers for instance. Pretty, festive.

[Kim Shook]

Lots of us here have had very good luck with Tony Bourdain's Gratin Dauphinois. and Jacques Pepin's Gnocchi Parisienne.

Kim

[Fugu]

Potato pave, consisting of thinly sliced Yukon Gold potatoes and orange sweet potatoes. Layer each colour of potato every half inch to get an orange and yellow layering when served. Prepare as with gratin potatoes baked in a deep pan. This can be served family style or as individual tower portions, first, allowed to cool and then cut out with a 3" round cutter and baked. Idea inspired by Charlie Trotter.

[LindaK]

Lots of us here have had very good luck with Tony Bourdain's Gratin Dauphinois.  and Jacques Pepin's Gnocchi Parisienne.

Kim

Potato pave, consisting of thinly sliced Yukon Gold potatoes and orange sweet potatoes. Layer each colour of potato every half inch to get an orange and yellow layering when served. Prepare as with gratin potatoes baked in a deep pan. This can be served family style or as individual tower portions, first, allowed to cool and then cut out with a 3" round cutter and baked. Idea inspired by Charlie Trotter.

I'm in the potato camp. Everyone loves potatoes as a side. These ideas are all good. If you're looking for something a bit lighter, I've also done a gratin with layers of potatoes, zucchini, and tomatoes with great success--since you mentioned it's summer in your neighborhood, I assume you can get good tomatoes that would be worthy. Sprinkle with chopped garlic and breadcrumbs near the end. It's really good.

edited to mention that this side works really well with lamb.

Edited December 13, 2007 by LindaK (log)

[Katie Meadow]

It being early summer, do you have good tomatoes yet? If so a tabouli salad with bulgur and tomatoes and cukes and lots parsley and mint might be good "filler" without being too wintry. And it's colorful. Or if you like the potato idea, how about a warm/room temp potato salad with radish, celery etc and a bright mustard olive oil dressing? Or a rice salad with roasted red and green peppers and pine nuts? That a nice complement to lamb.

[Doodad]

I have been invited to a christmas dinner in a weeks time. I have been asked to bring something that isn't a main or a salad (I live in australia.. it's summer here) but kind of a "filler" type dish. It was suggested that potato bake would do or something like it. Any suggestions?

One of the mains is roast lamb and roast veges plus salads. About 15-20 people are expected.

Maybe prawns as well.

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How about an asian flavored ratatouille? I remember Martin Yan having such a dish and it is killer with a flavorful meat like lamb.

If not that a creamed spinach, mushroom and cheese bake.

[Natho]

I doubt i would have access at the event to heating beyond maybe a microwave but i only live a 3 minute drive away anyhow. Problem is i may need to prepare in advance as i may not have the time on the day to cook it.

Great suggestions so far thanks everyone! Keep em coming

[Shalmanese]

If it's lamb, you could make a White Bean & Mint puree with lots of garlic and olive oil. The good thing is you can serve it warm or cold and both are delicious. Either soak and cook some white beans or just use well washed canned ones.

[BrandonPHX]

Lots of us here have had very good luck with Tony Bourdain's Gratin Dauphinois.  and Jacques Pepin's Gnocchi Parisienne.

Kim

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Bourdain's Dauphinois is maybe my favorite potato recipe. I've always had good luck with it.

[Kim Shook]

It being early summer, do you have good tomatoes yet? If so a tabouli salad with bulgur and tomatoes and cukes and lots parsley and mint might be good "filler" without being too wintry. And it's colorful. Or if you like the potato idea, how about a warm/room temp potato salad with radish, celery etc and a bright mustard olive oil dressing? Or a rice salad with roasted red and green peppers and pine nuts? That a nice complement to lamb.

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Speaking of potato salad, I have a wonderful recipe for Potato and Green Bean Salad from Cuisine at Home magazine that was wonderful.

Kim

[asult316]

Hey i was put to make a 20 person sit down untraditional christmas dinner that isnt really expensive. problem is that i have everything pretty much in place except for the entree. i want to do something braised, something hearty. heres my menu so far:

app: ceviche in a tortilla bowl with cucumber caviar

soup: cream of chicken soup with wild rice

entree: ?

dessert: crepe suzette

i was thinking maybe a hearty swiss steak with risotto and sauteed broccoli. any ideas?