Christmas Dinner Foods
December 18, 2019 4:16 AM Subscribe
What dish or food item are you most looking forward to eating at your Christmas meal?
My elderly parents have finally agreed to pass on the Christmas dinner responsibilities to me. I'm planning the meal, thinking about what to change up or add relative to past years, and am looking for inspiration from your dinner table!
My elderly parents have finally agreed to pass on the Christmas dinner responsibilities to me. I'm planning the meal, thinking about what to change up or add relative to past years, and am looking for inspiration from your dinner table!
Sage bread stuffing with onions and celery (I have simple stuffing preferences) and gingerbread cake with lemon glaze.
posted by Feminazgul at 5:05 AM on December 18, 2019
posted by Feminazgul at 5:05 AM on December 18, 2019
Same stuffing as Feminazgul.
Also, maybe, my homemade apple pie. With homemade crust. Has to be homemade crust.
posted by amtho at 5:22 AM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Also, maybe, my homemade apple pie. With homemade crust. Has to be homemade crust.
posted by amtho at 5:22 AM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Brussels sprouts! Roasted with a little balsamic vinegar. We also do a rib roast which is good, but is best the next day for sandwiches.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:33 AM on December 18, 2019
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 5:33 AM on December 18, 2019
Every year for Christmas, my uncle would make twice baked potatoes. I loved them, and asked why they weren’t on the menu more often and he told me that they were just too much of a pain in the ass to make regularly, and he wasn’t really wrong about that.
That said, my version of twice baked is a little more excessive: roasted garlic, smoked cream cheese, and crispy fried chunks of bacon blended into the scooped out potato innards, along with some cream to smooth it out, then once the innards are back inside, a nice sliver of Gouda cheese to crisp up on the top. It’s just about perfect.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:40 AM on December 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
That said, my version of twice baked is a little more excessive: roasted garlic, smoked cream cheese, and crispy fried chunks of bacon blended into the scooped out potato innards, along with some cream to smooth it out, then once the innards are back inside, a nice sliver of Gouda cheese to crisp up on the top. It’s just about perfect.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:40 AM on December 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
Our Christmas is more munchie than dinnery, but I get complaints if we don't have:
- deviled eggs
- sausage cheese balls
- spinach and artichoke dip
- ham (I think this year we're trying raspberry chipotle ham)
posted by joycehealy at 5:45 AM on December 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
- deviled eggs
- sausage cheese balls
- spinach and artichoke dip
- ham (I think this year we're trying raspberry chipotle ham)
posted by joycehealy at 5:45 AM on December 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
Bread sauce (goes with roast chicken or turkey)
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:52 AM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 5:52 AM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Pig in blankets (sausages wrapped in bacon not sausage rolls)
posted by missmagenta at 5:53 AM on December 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by missmagenta at 5:53 AM on December 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
Christmas Eve: pierogi - savory: meat and cabbage, sauerkraut, potato served with rye bread and sour cream as desired; - sweet: sweet cheese, blueberry served with maple syrup
Christmas morning breakfast: cinnamon-raisin-walnut babka, slices of fried kielbasa, scrambled eggs, fruit salad or grapefruit
posted by carrioncomfort at 6:12 AM on December 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
Christmas morning breakfast: cinnamon-raisin-walnut babka, slices of fried kielbasa, scrambled eggs, fruit salad or grapefruit
posted by carrioncomfort at 6:12 AM on December 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread. Especially delicious the next morning with a good cup of coffee.
posted by 2soxy4mypuppet at 6:42 AM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by 2soxy4mypuppet at 6:42 AM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Bread sauce and pigs in blankets!
posted by ellieBOA at 6:48 AM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by ellieBOA at 6:48 AM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
My Grandmothers stuffing and her mince pies. But since she's been with the angels for 30+ years, I'll be doing the prep as usual. I love making the stuffing and the pies. I really look forward to it.
posted by james33 at 6:57 AM on December 18, 2019
posted by james33 at 6:57 AM on December 18, 2019
Butter beans. Yes, they take ages and they make the house smell of fart while they're cooking but …
posted by scruss at 7:03 AM on December 18, 2019
posted by scruss at 7:03 AM on December 18, 2019
Roast potatoes; and a thing I don't have a name for, with cocktail sausages and rolled-up rashers of streaky bacon alternating on a cocktail stick (half of the sticks are sausage-bacon-sausage, the other half are bacon-sausage-bacon).
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 7:13 AM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 7:13 AM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Sausage souffle - can't find an exact recipe online, but bread topped with an egg, milk and cheese mixture and set overnight, then topped with mushroom soup and baked. Christmas morning food for as long as i can remember.
posted by domino at 7:28 AM on December 18, 2019
posted by domino at 7:28 AM on December 18, 2019
domino, try searching for strata recipes, sounds like what that is.
posted by wellred at 7:29 AM on December 18, 2019
posted by wellred at 7:29 AM on December 18, 2019
Eve- Fondue (Cheese or Oil or both depending on the year). Cheese (bread, apple, grapes, ham) Oil (meatballs, sausage, mushroom, green peppers, ham, potato). Egg Bacon pie. Shrimp. Salad.
Morn- Full English.
Dinner- depending on where we are. This year will probably NOT be turkey as we are leaving Boxing day for a few days, and I don't want the leftovers. I may do a prime rib instead. Or just do appetizer buffet. Its just the 4 of us this year.
posted by Ftsqg at 7:40 AM on December 18, 2019
Morn- Full English.
Dinner- depending on where we are. This year will probably NOT be turkey as we are leaving Boxing day for a few days, and I don't want the leftovers. I may do a prime rib instead. Or just do appetizer buffet. Its just the 4 of us this year.
posted by Ftsqg at 7:40 AM on December 18, 2019
Stuffing with lots of butter and apples in it!
posted by nouvelle-personne at 7:55 AM on December 18, 2019
posted by nouvelle-personne at 7:55 AM on December 18, 2019
Tourtiere (meat pie) on Christmas Eve. I'd love to have ragoût de boulettes (meatball stew) but only I would eat it. When I was a kid I loved Mille Feuille for breakfast. Cretons (a French Canadian paté like rillettes) on Christmas morning, these buns specifically (oddly on the Oprah site but they are from the Joe Beef cook book and are identical to the ones we used to get from Steinbergs) and maybe a hunk of cheese. I usually make Pain d’épices on December 6th and its usually done by Christmas but I stash one in the freezer for December 26th. If we're home I usually make a French Canadian variation on Bubble and Squeak for lunch on Christmas day or Boxing Day. Oh and if you're going to eat potatoes they always have to be British style roasted potatoes. Ideally roasted in duck fat.
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:07 AM on December 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:07 AM on December 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
I mentioned in another thread that we have strict rules for our Christmas. But there are little spaces for improvisation.
We start with smoked salmon on rye bread with caraway seeds. This is not the typical Scandinavian dark rye bread, but more like Jewish/East European rye bread like you get it in the US. The salmon is the best we can get. And we have champagne with it.
For mains, we have a goose or a duck, stuffed with apples, oranges and dried plums and a porchetta, this is cooked on a spit over coals. With them we have pickled red cabbage, potatoes, caramelized potatoes, a kale salad and several liters of gravy. Here you can drink whatever you want, most go with red wine and water, but white wine and Coca Cola are on the table.
For dessert, we have a horrible rice pudding. I don't recommend. My brother drinks sweet beer with it.
My favorites are the salmon and the goose. It's funny, because in some ways goose can be a little dry, like turkey. But I think it's the superiority of goose gravy that makes it infinitely more delicious than turkey. Just thinking about it now, I can almost taste it. This year we are having duck because we will only be five, and duck is also delicious. I love duck. But goose is more festive, and the gravy...
posted by mumimor at 8:36 AM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
We start with smoked salmon on rye bread with caraway seeds. This is not the typical Scandinavian dark rye bread, but more like Jewish/East European rye bread like you get it in the US. The salmon is the best we can get. And we have champagne with it.
For mains, we have a goose or a duck, stuffed with apples, oranges and dried plums and a porchetta, this is cooked on a spit over coals. With them we have pickled red cabbage, potatoes, caramelized potatoes, a kale salad and several liters of gravy. Here you can drink whatever you want, most go with red wine and water, but white wine and Coca Cola are on the table.
For dessert, we have a horrible rice pudding. I don't recommend. My brother drinks sweet beer with it.
My favorites are the salmon and the goose. It's funny, because in some ways goose can be a little dry, like turkey. But I think it's the superiority of goose gravy that makes it infinitely more delicious than turkey. Just thinking about it now, I can almost taste it. This year we are having duck because we will only be five, and duck is also delicious. I love duck. But goose is more festive, and the gravy...
posted by mumimor at 8:36 AM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Brine the turkey. It makes the meat SO moist and succulent and gives you so much more liquid for amazing turkey gravy. Put herbs and butter under the turkey skin before roasting, and shove some herbs in the cavity... BAM... the best Xmas turkey you have ever had!
posted by JenThePro at 8:57 AM on December 18, 2019
posted by JenThePro at 8:57 AM on December 18, 2019
Pig in blankets (sausages wrapped in bacon not sausage rolls)
because I usually do sausagemeat-based stuffing, I do prunes wrapped in bacon as an alternative to pigs in blankets. I like the contrast between the sweet squishy prune and the crispy salty bacon.
If it was left up to me, we would have trifle every year (although in fact we’ll be having Christmas pudding); cake, booze, fruit, cream, custard, what more could anyone want?
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 10:04 AM on December 18, 2019
because I usually do sausagemeat-based stuffing, I do prunes wrapped in bacon as an alternative to pigs in blankets. I like the contrast between the sweet squishy prune and the crispy salty bacon.
If it was left up to me, we would have trifle every year (although in fact we’ll be having Christmas pudding); cake, booze, fruit, cream, custard, what more could anyone want?
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 10:04 AM on December 18, 2019
We do a minestrone soup and a veggie, cheese and crackers tray for Christmas Eve, plus assorted cookies. The big meal is also delicious but the light Christmas Eve meal is more what my memory sticks too because it's basically designed around snacking, games and hanging out.
posted by typecloud at 11:09 AM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by typecloud at 11:09 AM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm in the UK. Yesterday I made our Christmas cake and I'm very excited to eat it. Costs a bomb and takes half a day to make, pain to decorate but it lasts forever and it's glorious. Dark and sticky and tastes of rum and sweet indulgence in the darkest days of winter.
I'm vegetarian these days so I've made a traditional nut roast to go with all the trimmings - roast parsnips and potatoes, mashed carrot/parsnip/swede, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, stuffing balls (thyme and breadcrumbs) and onion gravy. Followed by an enormous fruit salad, which will be eaten for breakfast the next day too.
posted by kadia_a at 12:03 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm vegetarian these days so I've made a traditional nut roast to go with all the trimmings - roast parsnips and potatoes, mashed carrot/parsnip/swede, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, stuffing balls (thyme and breadcrumbs) and onion gravy. Followed by an enormous fruit salad, which will be eaten for breakfast the next day too.
posted by kadia_a at 12:03 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Our tradition includes a pie filled with chopped mushrooms cooked in butter and garlic - I think we'll be doing individual size this year, normally it's cooked in a long loaf pan.
posted by Cheese Monster at 12:04 PM on December 18, 2019
posted by Cheese Monster at 12:04 PM on December 18, 2019
New Potatoes in Brown Butter Yum.
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2019/02/french-style-brown-butter-new-potatoes.html
posted by grateful at 1:54 PM on December 18, 2019
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2019/02/french-style-brown-butter-new-potatoes.html
posted by grateful at 1:54 PM on December 18, 2019
Seconding the tourtiere above (I was just recently gifted with my great-aunt Adelle's recipe and have been guarding that like Smaug).
I'm actually going to be solo this Christmas, partly by happenstance and partly by choice. And I have decided I am going to be spending pretty much THE ENTIRE DAY eating, and have made myself a very detailed plan:
* For breakfast, I'll be making a fruit compote that's been simmered in tea, and will have that with yogurt, alongside a fantastic-sounding thing that sounds like a combination of baked eggs and crepes. Will report back if anyone wants details. And bacon on the side.
* At about noon, I'll set out the "grazing stuff" - a cheese and charcouterie board, which will include the cheese left over from TWO holiday parties we have had in this apartment now, some mini tourtieres that will also be getting made for a holiday party, maybe some cornichons and olives and sausages, a French shredded carrot salad, a French salad with frisee lettuce and bacon and egg...along with the fudge, cookies, and other nibbles leftover from those parties.
* Dinner is going to be a duck breast with roast potatoes and either a fresh carrot soup or roasted carrots, and something involving a squash. (I have lots of squash from the CSA. I will use one. Not sure how.)
* And I am going to have an entire dessert tray, consisting of a mini apple pie, a homemade fruit-juice gelatin dessert made with the "Christmas juice" from the wegman's up the street, a creme brulee, and some other nibbly things.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:45 PM on December 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
I'm actually going to be solo this Christmas, partly by happenstance and partly by choice. And I have decided I am going to be spending pretty much THE ENTIRE DAY eating, and have made myself a very detailed plan:
* For breakfast, I'll be making a fruit compote that's been simmered in tea, and will have that with yogurt, alongside a fantastic-sounding thing that sounds like a combination of baked eggs and crepes. Will report back if anyone wants details. And bacon on the side.
* At about noon, I'll set out the "grazing stuff" - a cheese and charcouterie board, which will include the cheese left over from TWO holiday parties we have had in this apartment now, some mini tourtieres that will also be getting made for a holiday party, maybe some cornichons and olives and sausages, a French shredded carrot salad, a French salad with frisee lettuce and bacon and egg...along with the fudge, cookies, and other nibbles leftover from those parties.
* Dinner is going to be a duck breast with roast potatoes and either a fresh carrot soup or roasted carrots, and something involving a squash. (I have lots of squash from the CSA. I will use one. Not sure how.)
* And I am going to have an entire dessert tray, consisting of a mini apple pie, a homemade fruit-juice gelatin dessert made with the "Christmas juice" from the wegman's up the street, a creme brulee, and some other nibbly things.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:45 PM on December 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
Christmas morning is homemade sticky buns with walnuts, orange rolls and kolaches. Eat and open presents and listen to carols.
Christmas eve we always do Chinese food while we watch Die Hard.
posted by SyraCarol at 8:51 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Christmas eve we always do Chinese food while we watch Die Hard.
posted by SyraCarol at 8:51 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
For a fairly simple dessert I use an easy recipe for mocha mousse, which uses semisweet chocolate chips or baking chunks, butter, a little coffee and a couple of eggs melted together over medium heat until thoroughly mixed. Pour into small dishes or ramekins and chill in the fridge for pots de creme, or fold in whipped cream for mousse. A great final touch is heavy cream whipped with some confectioner’s sugar and your flavoring of choice — vanilla or maple extract, or a teaspoon of rum or Grand Marnier. Adding instant espresso grounds creates a wonderful coffee flavored whipped creme.
And yes, Die Hard!
posted by cartoonella at 11:15 PM on December 18, 2019
And yes, Die Hard!
posted by cartoonella at 11:15 PM on December 18, 2019
Oh hey! I had an idea that may be fun if you think you have time for some research.
One of the many Christmas cookbooks i have is a thing I picked up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art once; it features recipes for "Christmas dinners" from five different time periods. (I've just found it is online here in its entirety.) There's some funky stuff in there - alongside more traditional fare, you also have a Roman Saturnalia banquet.
That cheese-and-chacuterie-and-stuff grazing I'm doing in the afternoon was inspired by the recipe for a salad called a Salmagundy from the 18th Century, in fact. And I remember I liked these currant cookies as well.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:58 AM on December 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
One of the many Christmas cookbooks i have is a thing I picked up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art once; it features recipes for "Christmas dinners" from five different time periods. (I've just found it is online here in its entirety.) There's some funky stuff in there - alongside more traditional fare, you also have a Roman Saturnalia banquet.
That cheese-and-chacuterie-and-stuff grazing I'm doing in the afternoon was inspired by the recipe for a salad called a Salmagundy from the 18th Century, in fact. And I remember I liked these currant cookies as well.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:58 AM on December 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 4:52 AM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]