Christmas dinner ideas with a twist!

[ningaj]

I'm cooking Christmas dinner for 8 people this year and am looking for some ideas on how to make it a bit different to the norm.

We'll be having turkey, and one other meat (yet undecided) and also a veggie main.

I would normally do roast potatoes, parsnips, stuffing, sprouts & carrots, p in b's etc but all feels a bit 'samey'

Would love to hear if anyone puts an interesting twist on their meat, potatoes and veg so I can steal it!!!

https://altonbrown.com/recipes/ginger-glazed-carrots/

these can definitely be made the day before and reheated. I tried to skip them last year and my family volunteered to do the peeling and chopping so I would make a double batch instead.

I saw Mary berry do cauliflower cheese wrapped in Parma ham which looked delicious and can be prepped in advance

thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/mary-berrys-parma-ham-and-cauliflower-cheese-parcels/

My favourite part of Christmas Dinner is cheesy leeks. I don't like cauliflower cheese so do cheesy leeks instead.

The twist is... It's in a bowl. 😂😂😂

Don't forget the carrot crush.

Would you agree to go the traditional route for afters @storminabuttercup ....Viennetta?

Shred the sprouts and stir fry in butter,cream and wholegrain mustard. Delish.

@Tomatocutwithazigzagedge absolutely, maybe some of Dave's dad's rhubarb wine

I think a balance is needed so you don't have too many competing flavours / spices etc, and don't create too much extra work You can mix up the textures (eg mashed swede); pimp the sprouts with bacon and chestnuts; have one lightly spiced dish (either red cabbage or carrots glazed in butter and eg star anis - personally I wouldn't do both, I love red cabbage so just have plain carrot batons)
We have dried prunes and dried apricots wrapped in bacon alongside the pigs in blankets. We have both bread sauce and homemade stuffing but I stick to a fairly simple stuffing. Oh and Delia's Parmesan parsnips are always requested by the family. One year I did a root veg mash (swede, parsnips, carrots) which was lovely but people missed the Parmesan parsnips!

A couple of years ago we did Caribbean spiced turkey with rice and peas and it was amazing.

I too was going to suggest brussels with bacon and chestnuts, but saw your update that your DH is veggie.
-Brussels cooked in a frypan with butter and marmite sounds bizarre, but if you like both, its delicious.
-Carrots with honey and carraway seeds
-This makes a lovely entree, or make a larger one and use as a dip. https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/individual-smoked-salmon-terrines-for-christmas/

I only cook for me and dp so I just do the usual roast except we don't like turkey so do beef

Thanks for all the replies, some great ideas which I will be stealing!

Definitely going to add red cabbage - I agree about the added texture.

Unless you really knows everyone's taste in foo I wouldn't muck around with anything. Some of these suggestions would get an uggh from my family. One thing that would go down well (except for me) is broccoli covered with cheese and popped under the grill like cheese on toast.

I wouldn't suggest putting red cabbage to steam over your boiling potatoes. Pink mash on a Christmas dinner just doesn't look right! 😂