What are you serving up for Christmas lunch? I fucked the turkey up last year..

[Dustysilkflowers]

Last year I bought a ridiculously expensive free range turkey. It was so big it needed the seat belt on in the car as it was setting the seat belt alarm.

I followed Jaimey Oliver’s recipe to the T, basted the life out of it. Looked fantastic when I took it out of the oven and drew gasps of delight but in it was soooooooooo dry.

Never getting turkey again. Normally we eat out or if my arm is twisted I cook a rib of beef but I’m bored of that now.

What are you eating for lunch? Starters and desserts included please!

If your having meat how do you dress it? What veggies do you have? I hate the sight of a massive plate of food so would rather do a nice starter, a ‘posh’ main and a dessert. Then coffees ect..

( not sure what a posh main is but in my minds eye I see every thing piled up like a pyramid )

Same as every year. No lunch. Just a well stocked fridge and an all day running buffet. No cooking, no deadlines no pots to wash.

Visitors can come when they like and go when they like and can join the buffet if they wish.

We get a frozen free range turkey. I put 2 cut up lemons inside it, stuff with a meat and herb stuffing, make a mix of jerk seasoning, English mustard, and butter to smear on the skin, then cover the whole lot in streaky bacon. I cover it with tin foil for the entire cooking time and baste every 30 mins. It's never been dry yet.

Starter is Coquilles St Jacques or other pre-made bought in fishy thing.

Sides for main are:
Roast potatoes
Rice and peas
Roast carrots and parsnips with honey and caraway seeds
Brussels
Fruity red cabbage
Chipolatas
Yorkshires
Proper gravy

Pudding is Xmas pud with a choice of cream, custard, or ice cream but this usually served in place of dinner (as too full to eat it after lunch!). DH and I may then also squeeze in some cheese or a turkey sandwich once the kids have gone to bed.

I'm thinking of buying the veg ready done this year from M&S or Waitrose to make things easier, as we'll have spent less on entertaining and going out.

Chicken, for the last few years we have a large roast chicken, as we realised how disappointed we were with previous turkey Xmas dinners. We all much prefer chicken.

Marks and spencer shin of beef. 2 hours in the oven. Mash and veg. Easy done.

Cheese board and a Christmas colin. From Marks and Spencer too.

@Fridgeandkitchen sounds fab, I might go for that next Christmas.

We stick with traditional turkey meal though usually only 3 of us, cos you have to have loads left for endless sandwiches for days to come which is the best bit about Christmas. We have been impressed with the Iceland turkey 'roll' for the last few years, easy to cook and carve. Also do ham and beef. Used to do naice salads but only I ate them so I keep it simple now (though dd is bringing her surprisingly tasty kale salad).

Goose or duck here.

But if we were serving 13 then a giant fat beast of a turkey. Secret to moist breast? Grab a shedload of your favourite season sausages, squeeze them out of their skin, and then shove the sausage meat up under the skin. The fat sizzles the skin beautifully and the flavour goes into the meat.

We already have a giant bit of pig in the freezer...Costco had a great offer on pork leg when we were last up.

Also picked up a frozen DOUBLE stuffed boned turkey crown in Lidl of all places for fear of not having anything else...DH like to come over all hunter gatherer coming up to Christmas and prowls the reduced like a bargain hunter Caveperson. To be fair we have never missed out and it all adds a little fun to the big day when there is a surprise goose, or 3 lbs of parsnips to deal with :o

Last year I bagged the last la-di-dah fancypants free range, gold plated, prepped by angels and boxed by Virgins in silk frocks, turkey in Aldi and it was absolutely amazing....so I might look out for one of those again

We have a boneless turkey breast with stuffing from M&S. Everything else is from M&S or Waitrose, except roasties and Yorkshire puddings, which are home made.

Waitrose:
Parsnip rostis
Pigs in blankets
Sausage meat stuffing
Shredded sprouts with chestnuts & pancetta

M&S:
Carrot & swede crush
Gravy
Green veg medley
Cauliflower cheese

Not everyone has everything, I put it all out and we serve ourselves. Left overs make DH's festive Christmas sandwich for his supper & lunch or tea on Boxing Day

We also have either festive Colin, mince pies or a small Christmas pudding for pudding, if anyone fancies it

Along with copious amounts of Buck's Fizz or Veuve

Never ever have turkey, the blandest of all the meats.. This year we are edging towards lamb (we buy a half lamb every 4-6months from the village farm). With all the traditional Christmas trimmings and Xmas pud for afters. Don't do a starter as have huge breakfast baps to keep us going.

How many people were at dinner for a Turkey that needs a seatbelt? Are you Jesus, were you feeding the 5,000?
I usually make a huge gammon. One year I cooked a Turkey crown and everyone went for seconds, they were smacking their lips. I put a garlic butter under the skin and a hatch of streaky bacon on top. It was rather tasty.

We've ordered the Kelly bronze turkey here. So easy to cook s asks never dry DP worth the £££. There was some discussion about having something different this year as we won't be going anywhere or having any guests, but I love the traditional Christmas dinner!

We'll have something nice for breakfast, a 'starter' around noon, mail meal about 4-5 and desert/cheese early evening if we can face it. Boxing Day will be all about leftovers and grazing.

Op, you get the 'best opening paragraph in a new thread' award , hilarious (although obviously traumatic as it's been 11months before you could share it with us )

We are having a roast ham with a raclette cheese fondu (no hideous cheap white wine, just melted cheese). We will eat it with pickled onions, picked gerkins and new potatoes.

Then we will have chocolate log for pud. Sorted!

Get the whole thing from M & S. For Christmas Eve, Christmas Day Boxing Day and the day after. Works out cheaper, no stress, and was the best Christmas food we’ve ever eaten. Get the catalogue, choose what you want and just pick it up when you want. Easy.

We’ll be having roast lamb - we don’t really like turkey and chicken is our usual go to when we have a roast. We love lamb but hardly have it due to cost.

We don’t have a starter, so will be lamb, roast and mashed potatoes, carrots, brussles, parsnips, pigs in blankets, yorkshires and gravy. DH (he does all the cooking) might put some suet and onion pudding on there and stuffing.

MIL brings deserts usually from M&S.

I'm another marks and Spencer's fan. I cook from scratch every day of the year (almost) but on Christmas Day about 5 years ago I decided to go simple. (Had split up from exh and no longer had to feed the five thousand!).

Since then Christmas days have been relaxed and the food fabulous.

A turkey is much better if you rest it for an hour, upside down. The juices flow into the breast so it’s not dry. A big one can be a bugger to handle though - you need rubber gloves and two cloths.