Cooking first ever Christmas dinner! Starter ideas please...

full-time-mum

Turtle wrote:

Hi All,

This year I will be cooking my first ever Christmas dinner. I'm not great at cooking to be honest but would like some ideas for starters. We always have prawn cocktail at my mums, which I love, but it would be nice to see what you all have and perhaps choose a non-complicated alternative. Thanks in advance for your ideas. :rudolf:

We often have Delia's Stilton Soup with Parmesan Croutons which seems suitably xmasy. It can be made in advance and reheated.

Turtle

Thanks everyone that's replied, I really appreciate it. I too have never even cooked a roast before but am planning on having dry runs with various things (like roast spuds, mine have never been right yet) and will be trying out some of these lovely ideas! :xmassmile

bethom

We like to have baked brie in breadcrumbs with a cranberry and port sauce, served on a bed of lettuce.

rebl43

bethom wrote:

We like to have baked brie in breadcrumbs with a cranberry and port sauce, served on a bed of lettuce.

yum- have you got a recipie?

ashli_2

bethom wrote:

We like to have baked brie in breadcrumbs with a cranberry and port sauce, served on a bed of lettuce.

That sounds delicious, I would like a recipe too please!

full-time-mum

Turtle wrote:

(like roast spuds, mine have never been right yet) :xmassmile

I find that King Edwards are the best sort for roasting.

Par boil them until they are soft on the outside but still firm in the middle (keep a watch on them - boil for too long and they just disintegrate)

drain into a colandar, gently tip back into the saucepan and then back into the colandar (to rough the edges for a crispy (hopefully) result.)

Put into the oven into a preheat roasting tin containing the already hot fat

Baste (its worth getting on of those squeezy syringy things - a couple of pounds from tesco) Even better if your roasting pan will sit on the hob as you can keep the fat warm whilst you baste.

Baste a couple of times during your cooking time - you need the oven to be as hot as possible.

We like our Xmas potatoes basted with fat from the turkey but this can be a bit of a faf!

We cheat and use frozen roast parsnips.

Don't know if this has been said before but I think it is worth cooking the turkey earlier and then re-heating.
I did this by accident last year -I was supposed to set my oven to come on automatically at 8am so that I didn't have to worry about remembering with all the stockings and kids to distract me.
To cut a long story short, I set it to finish at 8am so came down to a fully cooked turkey! It worked in my favour and made everything far easier later. The fat solidified on top of the stock so I could use it for the pots and the stock for gravy - which I used to reheat the meat - no dried out breast meat!

greenface

1 welsh goats cheese wrapped in pancetta on a bed of fresh salad with a few walnuts and button mushrooms.

2 chicken liver and chorizo salad with mushrooms, croutons fresh salad and balsamic vinegar.

3 warm spicy parsnip soup, roasted lardons & warm honey toasted bruschetta bread.

help me choose one 1 2 3
9 for dinner no veggies 1 kid

goose fat is best for a good crispy roastie

Queenriderbrekke

Not a starter, but I always parboil my spuds and parsnips, drain and then add some seasoned flour(plain flour mixed with some salt and pepper ground in to taste) to the saucepan put the lid back on and shake them about in the saucepan, then tip them into the hot fat oil you are using and take them out every so often to tip the oil/fat over. They come out really crunchy, nice!:D

notadamsmith_3

Because it's not filling I usually do steamed asparagus dropped in dressing, drained, then a slice of smoked salmon wrapped around each spear. Asparagus is out of season, don't tell me.

motherhen2234

Now that I'm a bit more confident in the kitchen on xmas day we have home made soup for our starter. I make it on the 23rd. Have some for my dinner that day and chill the rest to reheat on xmas day. I serve it was some warm bread (par baked bread rolls that need a few minutes in the oven).

Previously I did a melon fan with summer berry coolie. Sounds posh but its basicly thinly slice honeydew melon on a side plate nicely arranged and the coolie is take out a bowls worht of frozen summer berries (sainsburies basics will be fine). Add a couple of tablespoons of sugar and stick the fridge overnight to defrost. Come xmas morning the fruit will have defrosted and the water / juice will have mixed with the sugar to make a syrup. It happened completely by accident the first year I did it and it was a recipe for years!

My only other tip for the day is dont be afraid to cheat I know it can be a little more expenses but om my first year pre made mash, roasties, yorkshires etc just made my life easier!