Alternatives for Christmas ? Not Turkey

[Pandora452]

Having a family Christmas this year and parents are thinking they want something that isn't Turkey. I am not sure on this!

What do you have? any ideas? We've mooted Beef, but then Dad is on about swapping sausagement for beef mince to make stuffing?! so I don't know..

u don't have stuffing with beef??! unstuffed could work, though not here as IL's like it charcoaled and we like it med rare. A whole salmon - again wouldn't work here as not everyone likes fish. i've heard others mention pork and lamb on here - though to be honest if you stray from traditional i think you might as well have something u all like - chinese takeaway would be my choice

gammon maybe? thats reasonably traditional, pretty easy and can be used for lefovers on boxingday

sorry drip feeding here.....goose is very traditional - arguably more than turkey - but its expensive and i recked it when i did it.

My IL's used to have chicken, but that seemed really boring.

If it was size I'd suggest a turkey crown or, for a very small party, duck. Or goose, v traditional.

A ham can also be traditional, maybe with something like a corn pudding which is what Nigella suggests? I like that kind of thing but it isn't everyone's cup of tea.

I'm doing duck for dh, the dds and ILs (I don't eat meat) because it's far smaller and we're away from Boxing Day so no time to manage the leftovers, and it's far less dry than Turkey. I'm thinking of buying one that Tescos are selling ready stuffed with apricot stuffing, it says it serves 5 and my ILs barely eat and dd2 is only 2 so it will still probably be too much but it seems like the best option apart from chicken which doesn't seem special enough for Christmas

The stuffing has come about as he's on about all the traditional trimmings you'd have with turkey (stuffing, pigs in blankets etc) but with Beef..
I was suitably horrified don't panic!

Not all of us like salmon or duck, but gammon could be an option

Venison? We did that a few years back, and it was absolutely wonderful. We had a boned and rolled haunch which was marinated overnight in Olive Oil, Garlic and Rosemary. It doesn't take too long to cook and there is no bone to worry about when carving. Not cheap (2Kg joint is under £20) but very rich so you don't need to eat mountains of it. In fact, I have just looked up "Free Range" turkey and it is about £10/Kg, but that includes bone and carcass! On that basis, venison is cheap.

Ooh never had venison .. don't know how that would go down with us all?

I did beef wellington last year and it was a huge success. Instead of the mushroom veloute layer I did breadcrumbs,bacon, onion stuffing whizzed together. Then I did the usual veg - sprouts, cauliflower cheese, roast potatoes, potato gratin, peas etc. I did a pink peppercorn/brandy cream sauce with it too. Way nicer than turkey.

Nut Wellington?