Christmas meal

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IanA2

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Following on from the various Christmas threads, how about a food one?

Bonus points for non traditional repasts :D:D

I'll start:

Grilled lobster with butter and dill.

Prawn risotto lightly flavoured with pastis and truffle.

Lemon syllabub with almond biscuits

Washed down with Bernard Darnault's Viognier, well mine actually :D
 
Homemade sausage rolls and a smoked salmon and beetroot purée on toast as nibbles

Crab salad mini pie starters.

Turkey with home made stuffing and roasted veg, shredded sprouts with chestnuts and pancetta, broccoli cheese for the kids....

Pistachio, mandarin and cherry frozen bombe with melted dark chocolate poured over for dessert.

Fairly traditional but with a bit of a twist here and there. Didn't make my own pie pastry this year - was cooking for 12 so had to abandon that plan. Was impressed by the premium ready made stuff to be honest. Will use in the future regularly.
 
Champagne and the obligatory smoked salmon.
Shot glasses filled with a selection of prawn cocktail, olives in herbs and lemon, bloody marys.
Sirloin of beef, chicken with the usual roasties, sprouts, parsnips etc. A nice bottle of mersault.
Cheese course. Port
Christmas pud. Baileys
 
Smoked salmon and dressed crab with a Trimbach Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile 1998

Roast chicken with all the trimmings with a Robert Chevillon Nuits St Georges 1er cru Les Pruliers 2000

I skipped pud which was anyway unaccompanied.
 
My kids and grandkids came over today. I asked what they wanted to eat so I could prepare?

Meat & Potato pie (made with corned beef as is tradition in our family) was the overwhelming vote!!!!!!

More time for family fun :bannana:
 
St Germain Club Cocktail
-oOo-
Campo di funghi ripieni di parmigiano
-oOo-
Limoncello con prosecco fizz
-oOo-
Petto di tacchino arrosto di avvolto in pancetta
-oOo-
Patate arrosto, germogli rossi e verdi, formaggio cavolfiore, lance brocolli e fagiolini
-oOo-
Fragola e champagne Bellini
-oOo-
Sbriciolato spugna cioccolato con salsa al caramello e lamponi
-oOo-
Capuccino​
 
St Germain Club Cocktail

-oOo-
Campo di funghi ripieni di parmigiano
-oOo-
Limoncello con prosecco fizz
-oOo-
Petto di tacchino arrosto di avvolto in pancetta
-oOo-
Patate arrosto, germogli rossi e verdi, formaggio cavolfiore, lance brocolli e fagiolini
-oOo-
Fragola e champagne Bellini
-oOo-
Sbriciolato spugna cioccolato con salsa al caramello e lamponi
-oOo-

Capuccino​


Italian takeaway then? :rolleyes:;)
 
We had, quite simply, mayhem at my in-laws.

Too many people, too small a kitchen. Food was good, company was better, alcohol was plentiful.

Had a great time though.

Next year will be at ours, work shifts permitting, as we have a bigger kitchen and a bigger dining room.. It will be more organised but should be as much fun, if not more.
 
I cooked enough for the army.,, Vegetarian in our house

Carrot & Leek soup with sour cream
Fresh Bruschetta with a creamy mushroom & ricotta sauce
Focaccia with a chilli tomato sauce & Mozzarella

Mixed Vegetable Risotto in Lettuce Wraps
Sweet Potato Fries
Roast Potatoes
Asparagus & Goats Cheese Puffs

Banana Loaf covered with Fresh Passion Fruit & Icing


Took me most of the day..
 
St Germain Club Cocktail
-oOo-
Campo di funghi ripieni di parmigiano
-oOo-
Limoncello con prosecco fizz
-oOo-
Petto di tacchino arrosto di avvolto in pancetta
-oOo-
Patate arrosto, germogli rossi e verdi, formaggio cavolfiore, lance brocolli e fagiolini
-oOo-
Fragola e champagne Bellini
-oOo-
Sbriciolato spugna cioccolato con salsa al caramello e lamponi
-oOo-
Capuccino​

Stuffed mushrooms and turkey with the trimmings. Doesn't it sound soooo much better in italiano :D:D:D:D
 
I cooked enough for the army.,, Vegetarian in our house

Carrot & Leek soup with sour cream
Fresh Bruschetta with a creamy mushroom & ricotta sauce
Focaccia with a chilli tomato sauce & Mozzarella

Mixed Vegetable Risotto in Lettuce Wraps
Sweet Potato Fries
Roast Potatoes
Asparagus & Goats Cheese Puffs

Banana Loaf covered with Fresh Passion Fruit & Icing


Took me most of the day..

So that's two with festive risotto...question is, did you use Arborio, Baldo, Carnaroli, Maratelli, Padano, Roma, Vialone Nano or Uncle Ben's :D:D:D
 
My kids and grandkids came over today. I asked what they wanted to eat so I could prepare?

Meat & Potato pie (made with corned beef as is tradition in our family) was the overwhelming vote!!!!!!

More time for family fun :bannana:

I have to say, that's pretty much the approach in this house. We eat what we fancy when we fancy it. Last night was Tapas and a superb, cheap as chips, white port. (Porto Quevedo).
 
Smoked salmon and dressed crab with a Trimbach Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile 1998

Trimbach I like, we tend to eat smoked salmon in the summer. If you've never tried them, have a go with the Severn and Wye Smokery offerings.
They supply F&M and others, but will supply sides to Joe Public. Prices are very reasonable, service is exceptional, and the salmon is truly fabulous.
A hundred times better than the salty chewy stuff sold by Lance F'man
 
Pistachio, mandarin and cherry frozen bombe with melted dark chocolate poured over for dessert.

Can I be nosey and ask a bit more about the bombe. Was it bought in or made, and if so, do you have a recipe. I must say at first reading it sounds like a culinary car crash, but then so do many other things that turn out to be stonkers :D:thumb:
 
Stuffed mushrooms and turkey with the trimmings. Doesn't it sound soooo much better in italiano :D:D:D:D

;) Tombola!!

I mean Bingo!! :D

Food almost always sounds better when described in another language, but Italian is possibly the best sounding of all.
 
Food almost always sounds better when described in another language, but Italian is possibly the best sounding of all.

Breakfast this morning, in Italian, sounds amazing too!!

Insalata di frutta fresca con fragole, mirtilli, ananas, kiwi e melone
-oOo-
Succo d'arancia
-oOo-
Uova in camicia, grandi funghi di campo e feesh pane tostato
-oOo-
Latticello frittelle con sciroppo d'acero
-oOo-
Cappuccino​
 
Try the beetroot risotto from the BBC good food website. Easy peasy and really yummy.
 
Arborio.... lovely it was...

A few observations on vari tipi di risi a la Torygraph:

Carnaroli is a great rice for vegetable or meat-based risotto, and the best for beginners. It’s the most forgiving type to cook with, and the one I use most often. It doesn’t matter too much if you leave it unstirred for a little while, or, once ready, you leave it in the pan while you assemble the family. Carnaroli is a relatively recent invention, emerging just after the Second World War when an Italian rice grower crossed arborio with a Japanese variety, making this wonderful new strain of rice.
Vialone nano, with its shorter, less starchy grains, is best for fish risotto. The slight lack of starch can make vialone nano risotto seem lighter.
Arborio is fine but tricky to work with. It overcooks easily and the grains are more likely to break, making a gruel-like risotto.


My favourite risotto is risi e bisi, a Veneto classic and festa dish of the Doges. For vegetarians leaving out the pancetta doesn't make a huge difference, just adjust the seasoning to compensate.
 
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