Christmas Eve naice dinner - help!

[Raptorrethy]

We have family staying for Christmas and I want to do something quite special for Christmas Eve (especially as we always celebrated CE when I was a child as my parents are Eastern European). However, I don't want to be stuck in the kitchen all day as I will be busy enough with prepping for Christmas Day and enjoying the excitement of the DCs. SO, I want dinner to be very simple. Simple, but delicious and a bit special too. Is this possible?!

Any suggestions most welcome! I did think about a soup to start, that I could serve in little glasses, as I can make it ahead and freeze it. Pudding I thought of a winter pavlova...

Oh, it'll be for six adults and two children, by the way

I like to do Roast ham and baked spuds. NIgella has a recipe in her Christmas book for some sort of ginger studded ham thing which looks lush but wouldn't take long especially as you could boil it the day before.

If that's not posh enough what about some sort of rolled pork and stuffing joint?

Thank you Northern - that sounds delicious although I will be doing a ham on Christmas Day, alongside the turkey, so it may be a bit too much ham
Any other ideas?

For the past 20 years I have done a buffet on Christmas eve. It always goes down well and is a nice contrast to the Christmas day roast. This year I have ordered it all from M&S and my DS's have put in some requests too. Nice and easy, probably less than an hour in the kitchen.

Not sure about special but an easy but very tasty dish is an all in one I do.

Lots of chicken, skin on
Chorizo pieces.
Red onions
Small potatoes skin on
Couple of glugs of olive oil

Put all in a baking tray and cook.

Boeuf Bourgignon? You could probably freeze this too.

Serve with creamy mash or Potatoes Dauphinois and green beans.

Nigella has a recipe for lamb and date tagine with a pomegranate and red onion salad and spied cous cous which is really wonderful and quite festive, I think. Are pomegranates festive? Dates are, anyway.

spiced, not spied...

Lamb tangine in the slow cooker? Delicious but a bit different?

We are an odd family and have a lovely homemade curry with all the sides and Christmas Eve as we find all the traditional dinners an overload at Xmas

Great ideas, thank you!
Bœuf bourguignon - of course!! Perfect. And I live in France, too, so should have thought of it
Perhaps I'll serve it with couscous as Christmas Day will be potato overload...or rice?

It's my husband's birthday on the 24th so I always have to come up with nice dinners... This year it's spanish style stuffed Turkey breast (on Christmas day we always have goose) but in the past I've made slow cooked lamb shoulder (forget it in the oven for 4 hours), rolled meatloaf (hard to explain or translatetranslate see here:www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/1831881297000201/Hackbraten-gerollt-die-Fuellung-machts.html) stuffed with spinach and feta cheese. For dessert Big pavlova with tropical fruits went down well last year, again you can prepare ahead and assemble at the very last minute.

Sorry link fail. www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/1831881297000201/Hackbraten-gerollt-die-Fuellung-machts.html

Salt baked fish? Looks kind of festive and absolutely delicious. Sea bass if you can afford it. Nice to accessorise with clams, mussels cooked with garlic?

We always have a whole salmon.

Easy, delicious and a light-ish meal before the gluttony of the following day

I'm doing duck a l'orange. Going to prepare it on the 23 as we've over invited for brunch on the 24th. My plan is cook ducks (7 for dinner) in the day make the sauce with the meat juices and oranges, cut up duck add to sauce, reheat on the 24th. Serve with steamed potatoes and green beans. If you live in France lidl are doing foie gras to fry on Wednesday, serve on toasted bread with fig jam for a very rich but quick starter.

Sorry forget to add I haven't decided yet for a pudding but I was thinking about a lemon tart for something a bit lighter to finish, again it can be made the day before.

I wouldn't do couscous with beef bourguinon - just doesn't seem substantial enough. Couscous would be great with salmon though.
If you're going for beef bourguinon, how about sweet potato oven baked chips?

We usually have salmon on Christmas Eve as there will be so much meat in the days that follow. For simplicity, I bake a big piece of salmon (or a few fillets) wrapped in foil in the oven, with a dusting of cajun spice, and a good squeeze of lemon before it goes on the plates. I would serve it with either boiled baby new potatoes or plain basmati rice, plus wilted spinach, steamed broccoli, possibly garlic mushrooms, onions too if I can be bothered.

Side of salmon or en croute. Easy, and quite light before the richness of Christmas

Buffet....
Jacket spuds
Salad
Quiche/nigellas egg and bacon pie - can be made in advance
Beef Wellington
Pavlova - can be made in advance

I am planning Jamie Oliver's fish pie - lots of salmon and prawns.

Soup: Pea and ham (served in vintage teacups if you have some). Can make ahead of time and freeze. Ask for free ham bones from your butcher for the stock. Drizzle of truffle oil or basil oil or chill oil in the soup just before serving transforms it.

Main: Baked whole salmon in foil.
Baby new potatoes tossed in sour cream and chives.
Fine French beans, steamed and tossed in olive oil, toasted flaked almonds (buy the ready toasted ones) and sea salt.

Pudding: Mango fool. Puree a few ripe mangos with double cream in roughly equal quantities in a food processor or blender. Serve in glass tumbles with a physalis on to, leaves opened and carefully folded back. A little Cointreau put in at the puree stage makes it taste more adult.

I meant serve in glass tumblers with a physalis on top

Mmm...Beef Wellington. With dauphnoise pots, green beans and red cabbage.

Yy to soup - butternut squash and red pepper.

With the winter pavlova, soak the fruit in balsamic vinegar before using to add a spiciness to it.