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Christmas Dinner- I'd really appreciate your thoughts
Virgil_Leads_You
Proud FatherHouse GardenerRegistered User regular
Proud FatherHouse GardenerRegistered User regular
I have a small problem. I have gradually started, this past year, cooking meals for my family.
I'm still an amateur, however, I've become very confident in making delicious roasts with pork, beef, chicken, and turkey. I was planning on attempting a roast of a crown of lamb for the reunion, until I learned today, that my father will not "eat cute adolescent animals".
I really desire to cook a great, memorable meal when my entire family drives in on Christmas. It's silly, but it's really has become a big wish for me.
I currently reside in a modern populated city along the Ohio River in Kentucky, & I was wondering what I should attempt to cook instead.
The appeal of the lamb, was that it was a meat that I had never worked with before, while having a great reputation as a roast. Are there any other meats that roasts well - that a schmuck in Kentucky could acquire?
I'm still an amateur, however, I've become very confident in making delicious roasts with pork, beef, chicken, and turkey. I was planning on attempting a roast of a crown of lamb for the reunion, until I learned today, that my father will not "eat cute adolescent animals".
I really desire to cook a great, memorable meal when my entire family drives in on Christmas. It's silly, but it's really has become a big wish for me.
I currently reside in a modern populated city along the Ohio River in Kentucky, & I was wondering what I should attempt to cook instead.
The appeal of the lamb, was that it was a meat that I had never worked with before, while having a great reputation as a roast. Are there any other meats that roasts well - that a schmuck in Kentucky could acquire?
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I figure that once I establish the main dish, I can then plan all the appetizers, side dishes, and beverages. Any ideas?
Serve with a nice bernaise or au jus.
Or you could get honey baked ham and serve some nice sides and dessert. Although, I haven't managed to source a decent ham in years.
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What about a gammon? Buy it the day before, peel the skin off leaving a small layer of fat, soak it overnight in cold water to remove the excess salt, pat it dry, cut a diamond pattern in the surface, stud it with cloves, then coat in a layer of marmalade/brown sugar/honey and the roast, basting often. Mmmmm
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Geese are a pain to cook but it's not impossible. The cook time is VERY long compared to a turkey, but it's also straightforward. Basically you poke holes all over the skin and then cook it over relatively low heat for like a week while the fat liquidizes. You end up with a delicious bird and skin that's like bacon, with no worries about the bird drying out. But the big worry is undercooking and having a bunch of rubbery goose fat you have to deal with because everyone's sick of waiting.
I've cooked a duck and it's similar to a goose but easier, and it definitely takes a while. Ducks only feed 4 people tops, though.
You mention pork in your OP and personally that's the route I would go for fancy. You could do a Kalua Pig, which is easy, although to do it right you really need Hawaiian salt (which is red in color, due to the rust). What I'm doing is pulled pork BBQ, which is a similar recipe. However, fancy hams are very common xmas meals and you could easily go all out and please a lot of people.
What your dad said reminds me a lot of what my dad said this past thanksgiving. We were all vacationing together so we didn't cook a turkey, and while the meal we had was very good he said "You know, this is very tasty, but it doesn't feel like thanksgiving." You might want to consider that for your dishes -- are there traditional meats that your family has for xmas? I mention it because doing something "different" that's delicious is sometimes the easy way to cook for people. However, often a more challenging approach is to cook a traditional meal really well. For example the last turkey I cooked was really good, and I did two key things differently -- one, I cooked it upside down for the first half of the time (so the dark meat would cook and drip fat down into the breast) and I also cooked the stuffing prior to actually putting it in the bird (so it wouldn't delay the cook time and/or breed salmonella). It was done right on time and everyone told me it was a great bird, despite being the "common" meat for the holiday.
STUFFING IS EVIL!
We've been hosting Christmas for a few years now, and kind off going off the correct thing Eggy said, we make a very simple ham dinner, but spend a lot of time making sure everything is perfect.
I get a big city ham and use AB's brown sugar glaze. We do a couple of simple sides and it's turned out great so far.
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A beef tenderloin, especially a stuffed one, is a huge crowd pleaser and easy to make for a group. Whatever you're stuffing it with can be prepared days beforehand, and carving just involves slicing it crosswise into serving portions. However, you're talking about an $80 piece of meat, so if you screw it up it really sucks. Also, preparing the meat itself is a little confusing for a novice--knowing what needs to be trimmed, butterflying it, rolling it, and tying it can be a little daunting if you've never done it before.
I'm going to second cornish game hens, they're delicious and happen to look extremely pretty presentation wise. And some markets (depending on your area) will also carry wild game, like pheasant or grouse, which are also very tasty when prepared properly. Or you could go in a completely different direction and do something of a seafood smorgasbord, with clams and mussels and scallops, etc., all steamed or pan fried and delicious.
Rack of Lamb or Leg of Lamb are not the only way to roast lamb. You can get a variety of lamb roast cuts, though you might have to ask in a butchers or at the meat counter in your super market. lamb cuts
For side dishes, I tend to have the same sort of things with most roasts. If you're doing poultry of some variety, stuffing/dressing is a must IMO. If you do a beef roast, you can do Yorkshire puddings, and for any roast you're usually going to have some sort of potato/yam/sweet potato dish. Options are endless there, roast, baked, mashed, etc.
Veggies, depends on what your family likes. I discovered grilling asparagus this year and its a much nicer alternative to steamed asparagus IMO. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, roast in the oven until tender.
If you have a greasier or gamier meat like lamb, you may want to pair it with something with some sweetness to cleanse the tastebuds a little. Or its just a good excuse for dessert.
Or a New England Clam Boil.
That's an awesome idea, but is incredibly messy and normally done outdoors, which really may not be possible for a Christmas party.
I have heard of someone being flooded with fat when cooking their first goose.
Thank you Eggytoast for that perspective. That definitely makes cooking common meat more appealing.
But yes cute animals in general are out, so no hare or deer.
Also, I'm of the persuasion that the chef sets the menu and anyone who doesn't like what I've prepared is free to have a sandwich while the rest of us enjoy the meal I've prepared. Be they picky children or adults.
You could also go medieval and serve a boiled meat mostarda.
Oh, this sounds delicious. As does this. Somewhat risky. You know what, just visit the site.
To be honext I'm with VoC here.
I would suggest to have two meats (Ham as a second option) just to add a little variety.
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I also think braised brisket is a good idea. It's a little less in the holiday tradition, but can also be very good.
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Or you could google "passover brisket" to get a traditional holiday recipe.
They are relatively inexpensive (depends on how big) and I think they are pretty darn easy to cook.
I like me some lamb though. Never had goose, and duck (to me) is a real hit or miss proposition.
It's just... I know that everyone in my family has had turkey hundreds of times before this meal. It's going to have to be dang good turkey to be memorable.
I'm sure a good cook focuses more on what the diners would enjoy, but the idea of being (positively) remembered is just so darn appealing.
Do you know any turkey meals that would really wow anyone over? I'd seriously look into it if you do, but I can't think of anything conceptually that really excites me.
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EDIT: Maybe a beef wellington? They aren't too hard, are quite tasty, and look impressive as hell.
PM me if you want either recepie.
One 5 pound duck will feed about 2-3 people. They have less meat on them than you'd think.
You can get around the fat smoking in the oven during a roast by braising/steaming the duck first and then doing a quick finish roast in the oven to crisp up the skin. This also has the advantage of being able to most of the cooking time on the duck the night before and then taking only 30 minutes to finish them up.