Christmas eve meal (some dietary restrictions)

[Todaynotalways]

We will be hosting on Chriatmas eve, in the group we have one person with a severe nut allergy (peanuts, tree nuts, sesame) and another with dairy allergy.

I'd like something rich, warming, easy to make, delicious, and that would suit their tastes.

We eat almost everything else (not a massive fan of lamb or pork, but I'll eat it).

I'm keen to hear any starter/canapé ideas, main course, and dreaded pudding (which all seem to have dairy in).

Watching with interest. I will be hosting someone with a nut allergy and someone who is vegan.
I was thinking of having a ham, and nut roast for the vegan, but it's a bit boring.

A proper shepherd's pie. You could do the dairy allergy one in a small fish and use something like olive oil to make the mash and use butter and cheese on the other.

For dessert something like an apple crumble.

Canapes, I like:

• smoked salmon bilini, lemon and capers
• Prawn and chorizo skewer
• mini tomato and basil brusetta
• sticky honey mustard cocktail sausages

dessert

• apple crumble (made with margarine not butter)
• Vegan chocolate brownies

Big side of salmon, warm potato salad with vinaigrette dressing not mayo, green veg. Poached pears for pud, with ice cream, cream or non dairy version?

This,is amazing and cook ahead! annasfamilykitchen.com/recipes/asian-beef-stew/

Hummus is classically made with tahini, which is sesame paste, so it would have to be a variant recipe.

A big help yourself pot of chilli with a colourful fruit salad to finish.

Starter -leek and potato soup

Dessert - apple pie with vegan ice-cream, dairy ice cream for non vegans

I use King Arthur no roll pastry recipe for the apple pie.www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/no-roll-pie-crust-recipe

You can use any white plain flour and I use rapeseed oil but sunflower oil would also work.

These are some great ideas, thank you - and good catch @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g on the tahini in houmous, I was just wondering if that was the case (and trying to remember the word 'tahini').

You know what, a side of salmon, potato salad (could do it with cornichons and capers), and salad sounds great...

I'm also tempted by the salmon and cucumber rolls (never too much salmon), and the prawn and chorizo skewers.

Poached pears are a great call too, nice and festively spiced, but not too heavy.

Lovely menu! How about poaching the pears in red wine with mulled wine spices? For added faff, you could also have some poached in white wine or cider or something else that would make a nice contrast of colour and flavour with red/mulled wine.

@Todaynotalways i’ve used this recipe so many times (with red wine not Marsala, though that sounds lovely) and it’s utterly foolproof and easy to do in advance. Good old Delia!

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/collections/easy-entertaining/pears-baked-in-marsala-wine

Coconut milk chowder

Basically leek and potatoes
Then once soft add sweetcorn and fish chunks
All cooked in stock and coconut milk frozen prawns also

Salt Coriander chilli lemon juice seasoning

It's worth getting good quality fish for , it's lovely

Nigella’s Caramelised Oranges. Served with ice cream / vegan ice cream. The look bright and shiny and taste gorgeous with the cardamom www.nigella.com/recipes/chilled-caramelised-oranges-with-greek-yoghurt

@Globetrotterwitch

Roasted vegetable and hummus platter: This is a simple and tasty option that is easy to make and suitable for both vegans and those with nut allergies.

But may well kill the guest who the OP says has a severe allergy to sesame.

Lots of people with nut allergies can’t have sesame.

Tagine- I make it with merenguez sausages but you can make it vegan or with any meat, it's dairy and nut free.

One of my primary aims is to kill zero guests.

Good call on Tagine @gogohmm - in fact, many eastern (middle east, far east) cuisines are good for lack of dairy.

I think I'd go for:

Antipasto platter with lots of meats, pate, olives, crudites, fruit and nut-free crackers. You could have a separate platter with some cheese to prevent cross contamination. You could include chutney if you wanted something to dip. Or tapenade?

Beef cheek or shin and chorizo stew with dairy free mash and green veg.

Then the caramelised oranges suggested above.

I am not so sure that making a nut roast is such a good idea if you have someone there who has a nut allergy. I would be checking to see that they could be at the same table as someone eating nuts. There is also the issue of potential cross contamination.

How about a mushroom wellington?

Yes, I would do my best to eliminate nuts from a meal if I knew I had someone coming with a nut allergy. What about a lovely creamy mushroom and leek quiche or pie?

I wouldn't bother with starters.

Beef and ale stew or coq au vin with greens. Can serve with optional mash or rice.

Nigella has a warm polenta raspberry cake which you can serve with vegan ice cream, custard etc.

Mother of severely peanut / nut allergic kid here.... she wouldnt eat anything prepped in a home kitchen that was also churning out a nut roast but I think PP have already thrown cold water on that.... another cuisine that is good for lacl of nuts and dairy is Japanese but it difficult to do well. Middle eastern is a lovely sharing meal that can avoid most stuff if you ditch the houmous. but lots of aubergine type dips or beetroot can give you the soft element that it leaves if ommited. Waitrose do a fab Levatine Table range that would allow you to buy in parts while checking the labels. Love hosts that really look into these issues and its really nice if you can achieve a menu that everyone can enjoy all if not most of! Mega points for being lovely!

A couple of suggestions of chorizo - most chorizo has milk in so check the ingredients carefully.

Did not know that!

I should say that my nut allergy relative isn't coming on the same day as the vegans so there won't be a risk of cross- contamination.