What do you have on your christmas day menu

elgar_2

Wow lots of fancy tings on the go here!

Funny I was just putting together my menu for Christmas so I can get my last minute bits and bobs.

Christmas Eve: party food, will look and see whats around as its just us 2 (as i said before for our first Christmas!) and plan to go to watchnight service!!

Christmas Day: again just us 2! awe romantic!!
Bacon rolls for breakie

Starter: potted trout with melba toast and salad
Glass of Mulled cider!!
Main: roasted pheasant (from ald! pre stuffed!!) with Roast tatties, brussels with bacon, carrots. with gravy
Pudding: iced lemon dessert

Not much else needed after that maybe mince pies and cuppa!

Boxing day:
Brunch breakfast: sausage, black pudding, bacon, egg and potato scone

Evening: gammon and pot and veggies, then perhaps christmas crumble

Tuesday:
Family coming:
HM soup
gammon pieces with salad and nibbles

Evening meal

Gammon with parsley sauce and potatoes!

Thats more than enough I think.....Im enjoying this Christmas!!

jackyann

Pheasant - most excellent, and kind of your friend to have plucked them ( the number of Xmas Eves I have spent in the garden with my rubber gloves & buckets!) Really MSE, low fat & usually cheap.
Think small chicken, bit tougher. I usually braise slowly.
Yesterday was a bit of olive oil in a roasting tin, parsley, thyme & orange peel tucked inside, some shallots & little bits of bacon in the tin, plenty of pepper on the pheasant & a slug of olive oil on top.
1 bird took an hour in a medium oven, then de-glazed with some stock & Dubonnet (left over from a party)
Usually a brace feeds 4, but for us 1 bird (£3.50) fed 3, and save the carcase for stock.

lostinrates

jackyann wrote: »

Pheasant - most excellent, and kind of your friend to have plucked them ( the number of Xmas Eves I have spent in the garden with my rubber gloves & buckets!) Really MSE, low fat & usually cheap..

if you get them unprepped and can stand the wastage.....you can just cut the skin and cut out the breast:o if you don't receive them prepped.

I'm not a tremendous fan of pheasant but we get given a fair few, and though its NOT OS I find its better for me just to cut the breast out of a fair few of them.

Spirit_2

maman wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:reminds me of my friend whose mum gets up early to put the sprouts on!



I'd love to pick your brains on this spirit. A friend of mine has given me a brace of pheasant (all ready prepared and now in freezer) from a shoot. I've never cooked or eaten them. I was wondering about how to cook and what accompaniments. Is the red wine & onions a separate dish or is that a way of cooking pheasant? I though of doing it for dinner when we have people round in the new year. How many will a brace feed? Sorry for all the questions:o

I haven't done my menus for Christmas yet. There's only the four of us on the day (only two for breakfast) so no big marathon of cooking. I've loved reading this thread for ideas. We always have a traditional lunch on the day and leftovers on Boxing Day. I'm thinking hard about Christmas Eve. It's only DH and myself but I like to do something nice. I'm fancying something with Dauphinoise potatoes, maybe duck (have tins of confit which is very easy) or perhaps gammon.

Keep them coming!:D

A pheasant usually feeds two .The pheasant dish is one of my own making:eek:. I also make it with sausages so that if we have anyone in a group who does not eat pheasant (children or others) and it keeps it easy in terms of ingredients.

Here goes with the recipe guesswork.

Halve the pheasants, brown them in a heavy casserole on top of the stove with a glug of olive oil - sometimes I add some chopped bacon or lardons (about a handful).

Remove the pheasant (and bacon) and add red onions to the casserole (I usually cook one onion per person and cut them into quarters so they stay juicy).

When onion is softened return the pheasant to the casserole, stir in a sprinkle of flour - blend it in a bit. Add red wine to cover - I sometimes use port if we have a surplus of it (not boasting OH gets given a few bottles of more dubious quality) . Add balck pepper and a sprig of thyme.

Cover the casserole with foil,then put the lid on and pop it in the oven. (probably temp of about 180) after 30 minutes move it to a cooler oven (have an aga type here) or reduce the heat.

Cook slowly for about a further 45 minutes take longer if you need to - depends on how many birds are in there. Test meat with skewer, will be tender onions soft. Take thyme out, place casserole on a trivet on the table and let people help themselves.

It is a very easy and forgiving meal and does not need precise timing. Just make sure it does not lose the gravy which is usually the best bit. You can reduce the gravy on the of the stove or add a nut of butter and flour mix and whisk it in if it needs thickening a bit . It is good with mash potatoes too.

I do not add salt to cooking but others may want to.

I think that is it. The quantity of wine is 'as much as you need' add a bit of stock if you need to top it up.

BargainMad_3

I do all the traditional main meal but do go for shop bought desserts including a sherry trifle in a glass bowl from Marks and Spencer. They are pricey at £10 but you get 5 good portions, a glass bowl to keep and I have a £5 off £35 voucher so it works out cheaper than that.

However this year I am starting to panic as I have not seen them in store only a plastic bowled sherry trifle which is £5.99 but not half as nice.


Think they are in short supply this year

http://christmasfood.marksandspencer.com/The-ultimate-raspberry-sherry-trifle.aspx



Anyone know a good shop bought alternative? Tesco used to do a lovely big bowl finest sherry trifle but I haven't seen that for ages only the small pots.

I am going to Aldi before Thursday and they are doing a large sherry one for £2.79. Anyone tried one of those? Also going to Waitrose but I imagine they are a tad more than £2.79 there !

Could always make one I suppose but my home made trifle always collapses after the first portion has been spooned out - no matter how long it stays in the fridge.:rotfl:

maman

Thank you so much for the pheasant recipes. Will give it a try in the new year. mamanxx

lostinrates

BargainMad wrote: »

Could always make one I suppose but my home made trifle always collapses after the first portion has been spooned out - no matter how long it stays in the fridge.:rotfl:

If you suffer from collapsing trifle have you tried using jelly with your sherry over the fruit and sponges/cake/landies fingers? It will certainly hold every thing together.

BargainMad_3

lostinrates wrote: »

If you suffer from collapsing trifle have you tried using jelly with your sherry over the fruit and sponges/cake/landies fingers? It will certainly hold every thing together.

It always looked nice uneaten but as soon as the spoon goes in the jelly is too firm and the custard and cream are too soft and it all goes in on itself :rotfl:


I am good at baking but for creamy deserts like trifle and tiramasu I like to get the shop bought versions just because they are more fortified.

However I am going to miss my M and S trifle this year. Going to Aldi later this afternoon so will report on their £2.79 trifle although it sounds too good to be true.


What other things do people do to "cheat" (if that is the correct word) with their Christmas dinner. What packet/Jar/Shop bought stuff do you use.


Over the festive season I will be using:

Shop bought Trifle, Cheesecake and Xmas Pudding (will never try and steam my own Xmas pud ever again!)

Ocean Spray WholeBerry cranberry sauce (£1 a jar at Iceland) - I could never make anything fresh that would be as nice as this.

Colmans Bramley Apple Sauce - again just so nice and a real time saver on making my own. Some of the family prefer this with their turkey to the cranberry.

Paxo Stuffing (I just cannot beat it!) and there is a cranberry and roast chestnut version that is lovely.

Bisto Best gravy granules - a real lifesaver - selling in glass jars for £2.50 for 2 at the moment. Just adds a delicious taste to the whole meal.

Aunt Bessie Yorkshire Puddings for those who insist on them with any roast meal :j

Deep fill mince pies from the local baker.

Will be trying the Delia/Mary Berry/Taste The Difference cake mixes in the next few days but my main cake has been maturing for the last couple of weeks.


There - that's my cheats list

BargainMad_3

Just thought of two more:

Veetee Microwave rice for the inevitable Turkey curry

Jus-Rol pasty squares for anything that needs pastry


I must sound a really lazy cook but I'm really not

keelyjrs

We'll be having
Xmas brekkie; toasted teacakes, croissants and hm crusty loaf with selection of preserves

xmas dinner; prawn cocktail to start
roast chicken and pork, roast potatoes, carrots cooked in butter and rosemary, brussels, swede mashed up with butter and black pepper, pigs in blankets, sausage meat stuffing and yorkshires. Good old Asti to drink
pudding will be christmas pudding for half of us and melt in the middle chocolate sponges for the fussy ones!

cheese and crackers and grapes
coffee and mints

xmas tea; selection of mini quiches and pizzas, cheese and crackers, selection of mini cakes ( all cheap and cheerful iceland stuff!)

Boxing day we're having roast beef and yorkshires, cabbage and peas
leftover pudding