Christmas Dinner Ideas

[Onionbhajisandwich]

If you don’t go down the turkey / roast dinner route what do you have for Christmas lunch? I’m looking for ideas to try and sway DH 😁

I love turkey but my son does not like it so I always do a turkey crown and a beef. This year he is living in his own home and he has offered to cook Xmas dinner for me, DH, his dB and foster son. I will offer to pay for shopping and enjoy a as out of kitchen. I will happily eat whatever he serves.

I love the idea of doing a Thanksgiving style meal. I'm from the UK (like many of us I'm sure) so don't do thanksgiving but I was listening to a podcast once and they were talking about Thanksgiving and it sounded amazing, so I thought of doing some sides.

Another thing I've really fancied doing is either a massive Chinese takeaway or an Italian feast (not a traditional Christmas one just delicious pasta and sides)

Just dreaming now but my Italian Christmas Feast Menu would look like this:

• Spinach and ricotta ravioli with home made n'duja tomato and honey sauce
• Seafood Linguine
• Brisket beef or roast pork joint
• Mushroom Arancini
• Baked camembert served with bruschetta
• Fancy foccacia
• Huge charcuterie with olives, tomatoes, cured meats, chestnuts

Our local one isn’t. One year we had Dominos delivered on Xmas eve and reheated for Xmas lunch. Kids were happy!

Have also been out to an Indian restaurant on Xmas day before. The one we’d booked phoned us at 10pm on Xmas eve to tell us they weren’t opening the next day, but luckily we found another that was open and had space for us! Otherwise that would have been one disappointing Xmas lunch - cereal anyone?!

We have turkey but if we didn't I think I'd make a beef wellington.

I usually do fish on NYE so wouldn't want that on Christmas Day too.
We end up having buffets at various friends over the festive period so will have had my fill of those.

Having seen it mentioned up thread though I am finding the thought of curry on Christmas Day very attractive!

I do venison steaks with a port wine sauce - there's only ever at most 4 of us so a turkey & ham dinner would be an utter waste. Roasties and three veg sides of carrots, sprouts and red cabbage (pre-made, frozen and reheated) and that's the main course.

I do a cold fish starter where the dressing is pre-made. The soup course is also premade and frozen so I defrost it Christmas eve in the slow cooker and just turn it on to bring it up to serving temperature by dinner time.

Trifle is made the evening before too so really all I do on the day itself is drink prosecco because the dinner is not much more effort than a usual Sunday dinner.

Chinese's style duck with pancakes etc

I've found a recipe for pork roast in milk, cinnamon, orange and bay, so I think that's this year's meat. The recipe calls for loin but I'll be doing shoulder. Sides will be potatoes dug that morning and roasted with rosemary (also from the garden), and whatever other veg I can coax out of the ground in time. I might do a herby stuffing as well; we're all stuffing mad.

Christmas morning breakfast will probably be pigs in blankets and ketchup. We're classy that way

Another day will involve a marmalade (and maybe whiskey?) glazed ham with potato gratin and sprouts.

We'll probably barbecue some salmon one of the days, that's a huge favourite in this house, and have it with hollandaise (if the chickens are still laying; some winters they do, some they don't).

Fresh baked bread with homemade rillettes or bacon jam (probably both) and homemade chutney. Some nice cheese, too. That's usually Christmas Eve because it's light and doesn't generate much washing up. And then some nice chocolates and macarons for Jolabokaflod.

we are having chicken this year, it'll take about 2 hours to cook the full roast, with everything oven ready any way ( I prep it up on Thursday and Friday)

mb is really good in December as its old enough to be tasty, we've had lamb several times and cook with with garlic and rosemary.

friends are having lamb shank cooked int he slow cooker then all the roast potato and vegetable stock go with it