Christmas Eve meal suggestions please

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

We've got 8 people for Christmas. They all arrive between 21st and 23rd Dec. I've got food sorted for the 23rd (lasagne) but am struggling for ideas for Christmas Eve.

My Mum won't eat anything spicy, which rules out curry. One person doesn't eat nuts (not allergic, just doesn't like them). I'm doing salmon on the 22nd for 6 of us so don't want to repeat that although am happy to do a different fish.

I was wondering about doing a buffet style meal but that is lot of work unless I buy it all which will be too expensive.

I was wondering about jacket potatoes with a variety of toppings but is that too boring for Christmas Eve? One of the guests will be my 20 year old niece who I haven't seen for 5 years so I want to make it special.

Any ideas?

Spiced and spicey are not the same thing 🙄

We usually just get a chippy so as not to mess up the prep in the kitchen and not to have lots of washing up! Became a bit of a tradition now.

We have Swedish meatballs (kötbullar) a special gravy, potato bake (Janssens Frestelte), red cabbage and lingonberry jelly. We eat it as part of a Julbord but it would work really well as a buffet meal for lots of people plus you can prep it in advance. My meatballs are made and frozen already. If you can't be bothered with potato faffing about it's equally good with mash. Plus it's a traditional dish to eat at Christmas in Sweden.

I can send you a recipe if it sounds good

I don't know why my "and" has underlined 😂

Beige buffet. All the beige. Nothing but beige.

Boursin with breadcrumbs stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in parma ham, herby new potatoes lemon and parmesan roasted asparagus and tenderstem brocoli.

Tuscan Chicken pasta with a green salad and garlic flat bread.

Steak au proivre with a big salad and selection of steak sauces.

Lamb shanks with fondant potatoes, minted peas and braised cabbage.

I'm having raclette - roasted new potatoes, veg, meat all dipped in melted cheese.

Shepherds pie
Casserole
Big pot of home made soup and crusty bread

Fondue. Get three pots (cheap in charity shop). Cheese starter, meat main and chocolate dessert.

With two days of cooking to follow, I'd be ordering a takeaway! 😘

Shepherds or Cottage Pie
Chicken casserole
Pie and mash
Fajitas
Pork goulash
Beef bourgignon or stew
Gammon and chips

Another vote here for a slow cooked beef stew. You can make it advance (all the better for it!) and re-heat when ready to serve. I'd make mashed potatoes to go with it, and serve with frozen vegetables (just to be easy). If you want to go fancyschmancy as it's Xmas Eve, I'd do the Boeuf Bourgignon version - adding bacon, small round shallots and a hefty slug of a red burgundy. I'd be encouraging guests to nip to M&S and buy an outrageous dessert as their contribution.

Cassoulet, well a cheats version.

Sauté onions, leeks, carrots and celery for a while, low, longer the better, add garlic, then chopped tomatoes, mixed beans drained, paprika, herbs de Provence, stock cube and red wine if you like (works without it though and cook for 20 mins. I like to add lamb merenguez sausages but Toulouse sausages (widely available in supermarkets, or even Cumberland work, or duck legs, just cook them separately and add to the base.) if there's vegans the Linda McCartney chorizo style sausages work well.

As long you use a gluten free stock cube it's gf and vegan until you add meat so a great option for mixed crowds as you simply cook things separately. Serve with crusty bread. Cooks well in a slow cooker too

We will be having that at some point over the festivities, DH brought 10kg back from a recent trip to France as that's the thing he is instructed to bring back.

dd practically wets herself with excitement when I get the raclette grill out

My fave Christmas Eve treat is a hot pork, stuffing and apple sauce baguettes with sides of coleslaw, or corn on the cob, sweet potato fries. So easy and tasty. We don't do pork on Christmas Day, I know some people do.

Jacket potatoes sound absolutely fine though. I'd serve with salad too, good to have something crisp and fresh. It will be special for your niece just being with you, don't make more work for yourself than you already have. That said, I think a good trifle is very festive, a lot of people make them for Christmas Day but I think probably more appreciated on Christmas Eve. Top with some Christmas sprinkles or gold and silver dragees

Jacket pot bar - sounds amazing. Quick, easy and filling.

We’ve also done egg and chips with roll ms for the hungrier or something really basic on Christmas Eve.

Swiss cheese fondue. It's my favourite Christmas tradition and much prefer it to Christmas lunch! It's been a tradition since I was a child and all my siblings and I have carried it on to our own families.

We do slow cooker ham in cola with mashed potatoes and red cabbage. Would also work well with jackets and coleslaw as pp have said.

One year I did roast duck, but that made for quite a lot of hands on cooking 2 days in a row, so I much prefer getting the slow cooker out on Christmas eve.

Lots of lovely suggestions here, thanks so much.

I'm torn between fish pie and slow cooked gammon. Do you think.cauliglower cheese and JPs would work with Gammon? I could buy a posh pudding for dessert

A ham and then 'special' picky bits

As kids it used to always be a Chinese takeaway!

Reading comprehension isn't your strong point, is it?

Gentle spices, dear.

Now go lie down and take a nap, Ms grumpy britches

Christmas Eve in my DPs house was the ham and mashed potatoes (with slices reheated next day and freshly roasted turkey). Or else spiced beef.

In our house, the years we stay home, we do"platter". Basically buffet - a few different cooked/cured meats, smoked salmon, cooked prawns, olives, hummus, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, bowl of salad, open up the Christmas cheeses etc. We usually have 1 or 2 packs of M&S party nibbles or some HM sausage rolls (I buy ready rolled puff pastry, and fill with sausage meat that I grate an apple into). And some fresh crusty bread or nice breadsticks and crackers.

Basically, lots of seasonal treats and some family favourites so there are things everyone will eat. And any leftovers are fine for snacks over the next few days (but it's surprising how few leftovers there are when people just sit relaxed over the table for a while).

What are French dips?

Christmas Eve I am doing a big ham (gammon) with cauliflower cheese and mash/small roasted potatoes. Will probably do that for lunch as we go to the pub usually late afternoon. So have sausage rolls and mince pies I made and froze that I’ll bake when I get in half cut

'Gentle' spices are still spicy, that's why they're called spices.

So seriously, if someone asked you to prepare them something, nothing spicy so definitely not a curry, you'd make them a biryani?

Bonkers!