Christmas Dinner

[grimsbylander]

What’s on the menu for Christmas dinner? I talk to people and it seems more people are moving away from the traditional turkey dinner. At my house, this year I’ll be making prime rib roast, maple salmon, lemon and rosemary potatoes, green beans and cauliflower with cheddar sauce. Gobble gobble! Lol

Lets hear the menus! 
 

Did I mention I LOVE food??!

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Turkey wasn't the main dish when I was a kid. As we grew older Turkey worked it's way onto the table. I remember a suckling pig being brought to my Nani's Christmas table for the 25 plus of us when I was very young. I remember like yesterday it had an apple in it's mouth. That is one of my earliest memories as a child. There was a Goose on the table too come to think of it. If I'm right a massive Lasagna was on the table as well but never a turkey back then. I would say it was the 70's before we had turkey. I do remember my Father running the salt Cod under water for a few days before Christmas Eve. That all stopped in the 80's when water meters came into play. No more Bacala in tomato sauce and potatoes of which I couldn't stomach until I was an adult and now cant get any.  

Grimsby that sounds like a magnificent Christmas dinner. What time should we be there for? 

Edited December 25, 2019 by Old Ironmaker

[captpierre]

Tried the Prime rib thing. Spent over $100 for the whole rib for our Easter gathering.  From Metro on sale.  I’m a butcher’s son and know how to cook meat. 

Was so looking forward to it. 

Then after the first bite of a medium rare piece, it was obvious the rib was tough. 

Ruined everything. 

Did it again last year and cut it up into rib steaks. My favourite. Same thing. 

Took us 7 months to grind through tough steaks. Not to serve to company. 

In future, I’ll ask the butcher to cut me off one steak, take it home and cook it up before I buy the whole rib. Lesson learned  

I’ve been making more pork.  Back ribs and tenderloin.  Reliably good and way cheaper  

Trying to eat less meat.   Looks like even non red meat isn’t so good  for you.  Especially cured meat. 

Have a great Christmas meal however you go. 

[Fisherman]

Doing the Tourtiere a la Lac St Jean tomorrow,  1/2 beef, pork and cubed potatoes, onion, garlic and pepper wrapped in pastry dough in the big blue roaster.  Mini ground pork pies and salad.  Only thing missing is a chunk of deer,  can't have everything. 

[dave524]

Ham , scalloped potatoes and asparagus, just the wife and I. Apple pie for dessert.

[woodenboater]

tomorrow will be turkey and lamb. have done prime rib, but changing up this time. brussels sprouts, sweet peas, corn, mashed taters. appies will be variety cheeses, prosciutto, salami, avocado and bean dip.

Edited December 25, 2019 by woodenboater

[bigugli]

We have 2 days of feasting combining faves from both the new and old world. Finns want cured ham, wife wants turkey. There will be candied salmon, shrimp, turnip casserole, squash casserole, potatoes, various pickles, pulla, piparkakku, salads, pies, cakes, etc.... .  And this would be considered a very modest spread compared to any smorgasbord my dear Gramma would turn out just for Christmas Eve.

 

[grimsbylander]

4 hours ago, captpierre said:

Tried the Prime rib thing. Spent over $100 for the whole rib for our Easter gathering.  From Metro on sale.  I’m a butcher’s son and know how to cook meat. 

Was so looking forward to it. 

Then after the first bite of a medium rare piece, it was obvious the rib was tough. 

Ruined everything. 

Did it again last year and cut it up into rib steaks. My favourite. Same thing. 

Took us 7 months to grind through tough steaks. Not to serve to company. 

In future, I’ll ask the butcher to cut me off one steak, take it home and cook it up before I buy the whole rib. Lesson learned  

I’ve been making more pork.  Back ribs and tenderloin.  Reliably good and way cheaper  

Trying to eat less meat.   Looks like even non red meat isn’t so good  for you.  Especially cured meat. 

Have a great Christmas meal however you go. 

I make prime rib fairly frequently and it’s super tender! That’s too bad you had a bad experience. 

3 hours ago, Fisherman said:

Doing the Tourtiere a la Lac St Jean tomorrow,  1/2 beef, pork and cubed potatoes, onion, garlic and pepper wrapped in pastry dough in the big blue roaster.  Mini ground pork pies and salad.  Only thing missing is a chunk of deer,  can't have everything. 

Fisherman that sounds really good. I’ve already been googling a recipe!

35 minutes ago, woodenboater said:

tomorrow will be turkey and lamb. have done prime rib, but changing up this time. brussels sprouts, sweet peas, corn, mashed taters. appies will be variety cheeses, prosciutto, salami, avocado and bean dip.

Now lamb is something new for me! We never ate it growing up so I never think about it. It’s on my list now to make! I’ll do some homework and give it a try. Thanks for the tip. 

[Old Ironmaker]

Man all those dinners sound wonderful to me.  Even the overcooked prime rib can be salvaged, Home made Tourtiere, are you kidding me? To die for. 

[pics]

Tonight at work we had a potluck.. porchetta, meatballs, cannelloni, fruit and veggie trays and piles of desserts... and since I'm going to be a bit of a zombie tomorrow we're having the traditional turkey dinner on boxing day.. 

[OhioFisherman]

I can no longer stand long enough to cook or handle the heat from a hot stove - oven - kitchen, so my son and his step brother handle the cooking. We do turkey for thanksgiving and ham for christmas, just a family tradition that dates back to my grandparents.

Christmas is a lot lower key for us than thanksgiving, especially on years like this with a shorter amount of time in between, less time in the kitchen cooking and more time with the  family. A spiral sliced ham, potato salad and such, different types of bread, a cheese and vegetable tray, pies, and serve yourself at your own pace.

[Fisherman]

10 hours ago, grimsbylander said:

Fisherman that sounds really good. I’ve already been googling a recipe!

 

Just to help you out, a lot of the recipes for tourtiere use ground beef/pork, not the same.   L St Jean recipe uses cubed meat with wild mixed in if you have it.   An old friend gave me one of the best cooking tips ever,  go buy this and your pastry dough headaches are gone forever.  I can only find it at Food Basics but some other places list it.  You can roll this stuff out paper thin, it's flaky and re freeze unused portions.  I can make 4 pie shells and lids from a 1kg loaf. https://www.metro.ca/en/online-grocery/aisles/bread-bakery-products/desserts-pastries/pie-shells-crusts/pie-dough/p/056326710307

Edited December 25, 2019 by Fisherman

[Moosebunk]

Brenda made cherry, blueberry and apple/pecan pies so whatever I'm having before that is really just a bunch of filler so the rest of my family can get a slice of dessert too.

Turkey traditionalists here, and thankful for that! Cause otherwise, Bren would take over with goose. Yuck!

[misfish]

30 minutes ago, Moosebunk said:

Bren would take over with goose.

[misfish]

30 minutes ago, Moosebunk said:

apple/pecan pie

[G.mech]

The kids said they wanted a cat for Christmas so I got them one.  It didn't taste as good as turkey though and it was kind of dry....😀

[woodenboater]

17 minutes ago, G.mech said:

The kids said they wanted a cat for Christmas so I got them one.  It didn't taste as good as turkey though and it was kind of dry....😀

shoulda braised it in some Merlot 😅

[Fisherman]

What's for supper this week? Mustgos.  Everything that must go before it turns green. Won't have to cook for at least 3-4 days.

[Headhunter]

On 12/24/2019 at 6:48 PM, captpierre said:

Tried the Prime rib thing. Spent over $100 for the whole rib for our Easter gathering.  From Metro on sale.  I’m a butcher’s son and know how to cook meat. 

Was so looking forward to it. 

Then after the first bite of a medium rare piece, it was obvious the rib was tough. 

Ruined everything. 

Did it again last year and cut it up into rib steaks. My favourite. Same thing. 

Took us 7 months to grind through tough steaks. Not to serve to company. 

In future, I’ll ask the butcher to cut me off one steak, take it home and cook it up before I buy the whole rib. Lesson learned  

I’ve been making more pork.  Back ribs and tenderloin.  Reliably good and way cheaper  

Trying to eat less meat.   Looks like even non red meat isn’t so good  for you.  Especially cured meat. 

Have a great Christmas meal however you go. 

Here's a couple of tips for buying Prime Rib at Metro...

Buy your roast during the first three days of their sale. Those roasts are fully aged and I have never had a tough one. If you buy after the first three days, that meat is usually not as aged as they are strapped trying to find meat, to meet the sales demand. Metro butcher told me so...

Also, always "marinate" the roast. To do this properly, you need to add the spices you would normally use on the roast, plus, add an onion, two carrots and two celery stalks, place them in a food quality bag, with the roast and leave it in the fridge for two days prior to cooking.

Cook the roast low and slow...

HH

[Fisherman]

Metro is the store for Prime Rib, usually some pretty good sales, 3 in the freezer already.

[crappieperchhunter]

On 12/24/2019 at 6:48 PM, captpierre said:

Tried the Prime rib thing. Spent over $100 for the whole rib for our Easter gathering.  From Metro on sale.  I’m a butcher’s son and know how to cook meat. 

Was so looking forward to it. 

Then after the first bite of a medium rare piece, it was obvious the rib was tough. 

Ruined everything. 

Did it again last year and cut it up into rib steaks. My favourite. Same thing. 

Took us 7 months to grind through tough steaks. Not to serve to company. 

In future, I’ll ask the butcher to cut me off one steak, take it home and cook it up before I buy the whole rib. Lesson learned  

I’ve been making more pork.  Back ribs and tenderloin.  Reliably good and way cheaper  

Trying to eat less meat.   Looks like even non red meat isn’t so good  for you.  Especially cured meat. 

Have a great Christmas meal however you go. 

I only buy prime rib when it is on sale. And here in Oshawa the Real Canadian Superstore  on Tauton Rd. consistently has the best meat for this and I have never got a tough prime rib from them as long as it is AAA rated beef. If it's only AA rated you are taking your chances. Last week it was $4.99/LB and I stocked up. 

[grimsbylander]

What a great dinner that was! The prime rib roasts turned out really good too. Medium rare and the outside had a nice crispy layer of seasoned fat. 

It was nice to have everyone together and honestly, that was the best part. Could have eaten hamburgers and been just as happy.

Time for a relaxing evening and a scotch on the rocks. 😉

[misfish]

34 minutes ago, grimsbylander said:

Could have eaten hamburgers and been just as happy.

And so much cheaper. LOL

I would have chillie dogs.

[grimsbylander]

1 minute ago, misfish said:

And so much cheaper. LOL

I would have chillie dogs.

Way to go...now I want a chili dog. 😁

[woodenboater]

2 hours ago, grimsbylander said:

What a great dinner that was! The prime rib roasts turned out really good too. Medium rare and the outside had a nice crispy layer of seasoned fat. 

It was nice to have everyone together and honestly, that was the best part. Could have eaten hamburgers and been just as happy.

Time for a relaxing evening and a scotch on the rocks. 😉

I wouldn't be upset if there was a huuuuuge bucket of fried chicken from Popeyes. and lots of biscuits...