Christmas Food?

[cheebacheeba]

Hey guys,

So around my way we have no real "traditional" food going on at my place, nothing we eat every year or anything like that but on Christmas, even though we're not particularly inclined to celebrate it, my lady and I tend to spend most of the day just vaping up, cooking and eating.

It's the day where even though we're not religiously inclined (and actually might be borderline anti-Christmas) we'll decide to put in effort and make some nice food.
So I was just wondering, tradition or not, what's planned for your Christmas day food this year?

Breakfast:
Bacon and Eggs on freshly baked bread rolls, and some perculated french vanilla/espresso coffee. Simple, but yeah we don't usually even eat breakfast.

Lunch:
Tiger prawns with a little lemon juice and cracked pepper. Cold.
Mussels...er...not gonna explain the whole recipe but basically done in garlic, onion, tomato, red chilli, a little butter, white wine and parsley. kind've popular dish, and I've always wanted to give it a crack at home.

Dinner:
Pork roast (the round trussed type) which will be kept simple, rubbed with a little salt and pepper. Roasted potatoes with a bit of sage and oregano. I feel like cooking some carrots too...maybe honey soy...the girl is making an apple vanilla sauce for the pork too.

Dessert:
We bought a big chocolate cake. That with more coffee.

How about you guys?

[Tangleduponblue]

I'll be hitting White Castle tommorow, as is our Christmas Eve tradition.

Then just standard fair for Christmas. We usually just do the exact same menu from Thanksgiving again on Christmas- Turkey, stuffing, etc.

Now that I'm typing this and thinking about the awesome day of food you have planned, I feel inadequate lol.

[cheebacheeba]

Now that I'm typing this and thinking about the awesome day of food you have planned, I feel inadequate lol.

No need to man, nothing wrong with keeping it simple/traditional.
We don't have a white castle here, but I thought the little burgers looked interesting.

[TheWickerFan]

I'll be taking the same route as Tangled. Turkey (covered in bacon and sausage to keep it from drying out), stuffing, roast potatoes and a huge batch of Christmas cookies.

Now that the children are grown, I've decided not to bother with a tree or any house decorating (nothing but a relief, honestly), but we still give presents and have a big dinner, complete with Christmas crackers.

Wow Cheeba, you are an ambitious cook!

[hammerfan]

My nephew's wife is cooking Christmas dinner. She's making a ham....I can't remember all the side dishes she told me she's making. I'm bringing an apple pie and pumpkin roll for dessert.

Wicker, cheeba is an amazing cook. He sent me one of his recipes years ago, and it was incredible. BTW, cheebs, I lost the recipe, can you send it again? LOL

[Ferox13]

for dinner:

Roast Baby potatoes with bay leaves
Roast potatoes with Rosemary+Garlic
Mash
Honey Roasted Parsnips
Spouts
Veggie Roast with Comrade Ilsa's Cranberry Sauce

Desert:

Triffle and cream

After Dinner entertainment:

Full Contact, No Holds Barred Trivial Pursuits (1988 edition).

[TheWickerFan]

I've heard stories about Cheeba's cooking skills. In particular, chili:

http://www.horror.com/forum/showpost.php?p=812171&postcount=7

[Fearonsarms]

As a veggie like ferox and elvis-I'm often asked what I will have to "replace" turkey-but I don't feel I have anything at all to replace I'm more than happy with a ton of veg. However people seem to object to it so I'm forced to ask for Quorn fillets just so they don't give me something silly like a Linda Mccartneys Pie-I would rather they saved their money and let me bring a load of veg. My preferred dinner would be (all veg fresh not frozen and steamed)
Roast Potatoes
Yorkshire Pudding
Mushy Peas
Brocoli
Cauliflower
Carrots and Turnip mixed together
Brussel Sprouts
Roasted Parsnips and Caramelised Onion
Veggie Stock Gravy

[Ferox13]

I made these the other night (as a dry run for Xmas Day):

http://www.thedailyspud.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Roasted-baby-potatoes.jpg

Roast Potatoes With Bay Leaves

You’ll need:

* 800g baby potatoes (or any small, evenly-sized potatoes)
* salt, for parboiling the potatoes
* 2 tblsp olive oil (or substitute rapeseed oil)
* bay leaves, one for each potato
* coarse salt

You’ll also need:

* A roasting tin large enough to fit the potatoes in a single layer


The Steps:

* Preheat your oven to 200C
* Scrub the potatoes and leave them unpeeled.
* Bring a pot of about 1.5l water to the boil, add 2 tsp salt and the potatoes. Bring back to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently, covered, for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow them to dry off and cool slightly.
* Add your oil to the roasting tin and place in the oven to heat.
* Cut a slit in each potato and insert a bay leaf.
* Remove your tin from the oven and toss the potatoes with the hot oil. Sprinkle with coarse salt and return to the oven. Roast for 35-45 minutes, until tender and browned. These are lovely on their own with some salt and butter or serve alongside any kind of roast meat.



The Results:

* This serves 3-4 as a side-dish

[Tangleduponblue]

Yeah, White Castle is good every once in awhile, but there's a reason they call them sliders haha. I'd tell everybody to try them at least once. A burger you can down in a bite (if you're a big fatty llike me) is always worth a look.

Maybe next year I'll plan a little and get more creative.

I love Wicker's idea about wrapping the turkey in bacon. Somewhere, Homer Simpson is drooling. Hell, I'm drooling a little.

[cheebacheeba]

Wow Cheeba, you are an ambitious cook!
Oh yknow, I've been known to dabble I suppose ;)
I will say this, I'm lucky to live where I do, our access to different types of fresh produce is brilliant, that's half the work done for me.

Wicker, cheeba is an amazing cook. He sent me one of his recipes years ago, and it was incredible. BTW, cheebs, I lost the recipe, can you send it again? LOL
Thanks miss, can't recall the recipe specifically but I still have everything on file if you're so inclined.

Just got done bearding and cleaning 2kgs of Greenlip mussels, smelling them cook in the sauce now...so awesome, I'll put the recipe up if it turns out well, it's very simple.
Hows this though, came across something I didn't know about.
Little crabs (too easy :D ), called pea-crabs actually live semi symbiotically semi parasitically inside the mussels. Found three of them, of course I took them out, and have since read that they're perfectly harmless and in fact edible.
Ah well, lessons learned.

[hammerfan]

It was a white fish cooked in aluminum foil....can't remember what spices were in it, hence the reason I'm asking for it again.

[cheebacheeba]

All good. I know the one.
PM me the email addy again and I'll send it off when next I can.

[hammerfan]

Thanks, cheebs! Just sent it.