Christmas Day buffet…?

[TwoBigNoisyBoys]

Posting here for ideas please! We have decided to do a buffet lunch this year on Christmas Day, for various reasons. I’d like it to be really luxurious so people don’t miss the roast dinner! I’m planning a Turkey crown, cooked ham, poached salmon, nice salads…and after that my mind is a blank! I do buffets a lot, but seem to be lost for ideas to make this really lovely…what else should I include?

Pigs in blankets!

Buy it all in from M&S or Waitrose 🤣

Also how about a lovely cheeseboard? Easy to assemble!

Will be entirely a cold buffet? Or a mixture of hot and cold?

Beautiful platter of fruit. Really good bread. Olives and lots of other lovely things that come in jars and pots, like artichokes. Potato salad.

I love hassleback potatoes. Look great, super easy to prep and only need a bit of time in the oven and then bring out to the buffet just before serving time. Bit more luxurious than roasted or boiled!
I do them with jersey royals if I want something a bit special, or any of the larger new potatoes.
Slice across the potato in thin segments leaving a few mm at the bottom so they remain attached. Pack them into a high sided tray, slices upright. Drizzle over olive oil, rock salt, pepper and a good handful of Herbs De Provence. Bake at 180°c for around 40minutes, and they'll be beautiful (just check now and then that they aren't catching, cover with foil if they do) and slide a knife into one at thenendnto check cooked through.

Sounds like much more of a faff than a roast, tbh.

But a sumptuous cheese board and it could be a great success.

Individual mini starters like prawn cocktail and mini Yorkshire puddings with beef and horse radish
I'd agree definately do a cheeseboard

Lovely puddings

Roast potatoes and other vegetables, stuffing balls, sauces for the meat and fish

Nice selection of breads & dips, mini deserts….

Personally I’d just go mad stocking up on easy yummy party food at all my favourite food shops.

Mini yorkshire puddings with a slice of rare cooked steak and a teaspoon of horseradish, yum!

A luxury winter coleslaw with red cabbage and walnuts

Thank you! Yes to a cheeseboard for sure! Winter coleslaw sounds lovely too…pigs in blankets, great idea! I’d still like it to be ‘CHRISTMASSY’ and luxurious, so the hassle back potatoes and sauces are a great idea too. Just to mix it up I also have a vegan family of four arriving too. They normally offer to bring their own food but I’d like to cater for them too.
I agree in some ways it’ll be more of a faff than the roast, but I need to cater for people arriving at different times etc, not everyone is able to be together at the same time. So thought a buffet would be the best way forward, then it can be replenished. Mixture of hot and cold is good. Was thinking of having the buffet out in mid afternoon, then replacing it with the puddings in the early evening.

Thank you all so far 😁🎅🏼

Buy it from Booths, or just wait until the Booths Christmas food brochure is out and just pick what you fancy!

Ah no Booths near me, alas!! Might do some nice M&S bits, though 😊

Ah. What people used to call a 'running buffet'! Sounds wonderful.

Btw you can get vegan mayo now for coleslaw etc.

For vegans. A pumpkin chopped into large chunks which are parboiled. When it’s cooled a bit, slice and layer in a casserole, baking dish, whatever with a veggie tomato sauce (like lasagne). Grate a bit of nutmeg and sprinkle a little cinnamon as you go. Breadcrumbs on top and brown in the oven. Pumpkin finishes cooking in the sauce.

Make ahead, reheats really well, very filling, good as a side dish or a main. I like making it in a clear Pyrex dish as I like how colourful it is. Bacon bits or good Greek feta for a salt hit are nice inclusions.

Also for vegans - I mention this Meera Sodha tomato, pistachio and saffron tart frequently, but it's really good, not too difficult or expensive or time-consuming, and the colours are festive and particularly good for Christmas. Works well warm or cold. First time I made it I was able to get some tomatoes of mixed colours which looked great, but that's not essential. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jun/09/meera-sodha-recipe-tomato-pistachio-saffron-tart-vegan