christmas lunch - how was it?

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christmas lunch - how was it?
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Mrs Fiddlesticks

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460

Posted: Sun Dec 25, 05 6:51 pm Post subject: christmas lunch - how was it?
So based on the answers you gave to Jonnyboys poll on what you were having for Christmas dinner, was it good? Was the provence of the thing ( or not) reflected in the taste/value for money etc.

jema
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28237
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Sun Dec 25, 05 7:14 pm Post subject:
No question about it, the Turkey from Alison was the best we have ever had. Her sausages were very nice to Our most ethical xmas dinner (aside from the waste factor ) and probably the best tasting ever, and i'm pleased to say probably most well executed from a cooking point of view. Always nice to get 11 dishes to the table pretty much all ready at the same time.

sean
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sun Dec 25, 05 7:23 pm Post subject:

It was very large, I am now more bloated than a very bloated thing which has been inflated using a high-pressure air-line. I think I cooked my goose for slightly too long, actually I know I did. Dunno whether modern geese are different from the old days or whether recipe books assume that your oven is less efficient than ours is.

Generally it was good though, and brought the revelation that my MIL has a new fancy-man.

Bernie66

Joined: 14 Jan 2005
Posts: 13967
Location: Eastoft

Posted: Sun Dec 25, 05 9:26 pm Post subject:

sean wrote:

Generally it was good though, and brought the revelation that my MIL has a new fancy-man.

?/ Is that a good thing?

Ours was great, too much deliberately so we can just heat it up again and have the same tomorrow with little effort-hopefully no waste

sean
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sun Dec 25, 05 9:57 pm Post subject:
Damn right it's a good thing, FIL died a couple of years ago and anything which keeps her out of my house is a bonus as far as I'm concerned. Sorry if that sounds mean and nasty, but that's how I am.

pink bouncy

Joined: 14 May 2005
Posts: 174

Posted: Mon Dec 26, 05 12:27 am Post subject:

Christmas dinner was the best ever this year.

I have a tendancy to flap a bit while cooking christmas dinner but this year everything went like clockwork. The turkey was deliciouly moist, the chestnut stuffing was sublime and the homemade sausage and bacon rolls went down a treat. There was hardly anything to give to the chooks when we had finished and to top it all, my first homemade christmas pudding was amazing. I'll never buy another as long as I live!

jema
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28237
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Mon Dec 26, 05 5:35 am Post subject:

sean wrote:

Damn right it's a good thing, FIL died a couple of years ago and anything which keeps her out of my house is a bonus as far as I'm concerned. Sorry if that sounds mean and nasty, but that's how I am.

I know the feeling, we had the BIL round to sour the occasion

He is very alone and we feel duty bound, he seems to hate being here, despite pretty much inviting himself

We have nothing to talk about, the kids tried very hard and onyl got grunted at.
I am quite seriously tempted to get us away for xmas next year to avoid the farce.

trigfa

Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 189
Location: Llangernyw, North Wales

Posted: Mon Dec 26, 05 9:43 am Post subject:
Best...christmas.....dinner....ever. We had Goose for the first time and it was woderful. Bit more expensive than the turkey from the same farm shop last year, but worth every penny

ele

Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 814
Location: Derby

Posted: Mon Dec 26, 05 9:48 am Post subject:
I had a lovely Christmas Dinner round my Mum's and her husband's place, nothing fancy just the normal roast turkey with trimmings. I think a lot of it was bought from T***o's but the turkey was local and free range and I think that's the most important bit to buy close to home. It all tasted extra nice cos I wasn't the one who had cooked it

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Mon Dec 26, 05 10:43 am Post subject:
Definately agree that Alison's turkey was the best ever!! Unfortunately ate too much so pudding was going to be eaten for supper - never got round to that either, we'll have to have it today!!

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Mon Dec 26, 05 10:44 am Post subject:

Had goose, rasied by a guy I know. Very tasty it was too. With that were lots of home grown veg (roast spuds, Jerusalem artichokes, shallots and parsnips, steamed carrots and red cabbage, the only bought vegetable, from the farmers market in town). All very good.

Starter was celery and stilton soup, with the ham stock. A little bit of ham, glazed with cloves, orange, dark sugar and honey after boiling first. Our traditional Christmas glaze.

Very pleasant too. Christmas pudding will be eaten today or tomorrow, we were far too full yesterday. Did manage a mince pie at teatime, along with a ham and mustard sandwich.

Goose has been stripped, lots of meat in the fridge, and a confit of the legs is in the oven now. Goose carcass is now safely pressure ccoked for stock (and last bits of goose fat). That'll become a goose and roast vegetable soup when we inevitably get guests tomorrow, with plenty of stock left for a goose and ham pie. And the first batch of fat (clean, unused rendered fat) is about to go into the oven in a jar, with the confit, to get it sterile for storing.

Went for a walk yesterday morning and found the lovliest stand of oyster mushrooms you could imagine. Some of those are todays lunch, along with the ribs cut out of the pork belly we minced up for sausage meat, apricot and amaretto stuffing. From the same sausage session we also had some pork bangers for yesterdays breakfast. Very pleasant too.

Only downer is that lots of people have bought us chocolates. We have all the extra home made ones that we end up with after the Christmas chocolate making session, and a whole boxload of others too now

wishus

Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Posts: 777
Location: Northampton, East Midlands

Posted: Mon Dec 26, 05 1:45 pm Post subject:
I made one of Delia's caramelised red onion an got's cheese tarts. Yum! I'll be having that today as well (trouble with veggie leftovers - you can't always easily turn them into a curry afterwards!)

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28237
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Mon Dec 26, 05 1:50 pm Post subject:

Bernie66 wrote:

Ours was great, too much deliberately so we can just heat it up again and have the same tomorrow with little effort-hopefully no waste

Your comment struck home. We have never done this before. I'll admit to having a big bias against pre-preparing things and reheating things.

But looking at the potential waste, I thought lets try, I did have to make some more bread sauce and gravy, and we did not reheat the meat. But we have just eaten another very very good christmas dinner, almost a clone of yesterdays.

I think I have learnt an important lession there

Leonie

Joined: 13 Sep 2005
Posts: 731
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Mon Dec 26, 05 5:02 pm Post subject:
Best christmas dinner in a long time, we ditched the turkey this year and had roast loin of pork cooked Delia way with cloves, honey and ginger.

Mrs Fiddlesticks

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460

Posted: Mon Dec 26, 05 5:38 pm Post subject:

we thoroughly enjoyed our turkey dinner, plenty but not too much waste. Comments were that it was the best turkey they'd tasted - so worth the money then. I could do with a bigger dining table though, enough room for 6 to eat but not space for all the dishes without lots of juggling. We did have room for pud, a homemade one from last year which was still as nice, possibly cos I kept it fed with sherry.

Not too much left over, but a nice traditional Fiddlesticks boxing day lunch of cold turkey and cold stuffing (its a chestnut and sausage meat one that is just as good cold) chips and salad. That way the poor cook gets almost a day off. I reckon a round of sarnies and a pasta type dish tomorrow will see the rest of the turkey off.

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