What's on your Christmas menu?


 

timothy

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I'm doing a 30# smoked ham (Bridgford) from Bert's on Green street in the Fulton market area. ( They make the best ham we ever had in this area)
Polish & Kraut
Kugela
Mac & Cheese
Green Bean Casserole.


Tim
 
Wow Tim, what a feast! I'm doing a ham too but it pales in comparison to your 30#er.

Yea, LOL. The thing with Bert's is if you don't get there early, all that's left is some serious porkers.
Good thing I just got a new vac sealer today.:cool:

Tim
 
Lunch, about noon, with my mom, her husband and Pammi Sue of course will be...
Half a turkey, mashed taters, 2 kinds of dressing, green bean casserole, sweet taters, cranberry sauce, gravy, rolls and pecan and pumpkin pies for dessert.
Dinner will be at 5ish, with friends, their daughter, SIL and 5 grandkids! Minus my mom and her husband. They'll probably leave between 3 and 4 so they can get home before dark.
Serving the other half of a turkey, ham, potato casserole, green bean casserole, sweet tater casserole, cranberry sauce, gravy, rolls and the same 2 kinds of pie!
 
10# turkey on the Performer with a little pecan for flavor. Mashed potatoes, gravy, salad and cornbread.
 
OK menu is all set and the guest of honor has been bought. First course fresh homemade fettuccine with marinara, second I was at Sam's yesterday. They were running a special on Prime Rib (sadly boneless only) for $13.98 lb (only $3 more per lb than Choice so I sprung for prime). I needed a 10-11lb roast and the cutter made one special for me. It is resting comfortably on the lower shelf of my basement fridge. Cool thing is I paid less for a boneless Prime roast than a bone in Choice from Costco.
On Christmas day it will meet it's fate on my Genesis rotisserie low and slow with some cherry smoke and my special "paste type" rub. It will be brought to 120 deg and brought in to rest under a tent for about an hour while first course is served. Grill will be brought back up to about 400 to 450 using outside burners at full (near full speed) for a nice crust then devoured by my 13 hungry guests. To guard against heat transfer through the rod and over cooking the center I will wrap the exposed ends of the rod with foil to dissipate heat so the meat heats only from the outside in. It avoids the brownish grey "bullet hole" effect from the spit rod on those longer cooks.
The big challenge is making and storing homemade pasta for 14 people so I am not rolling/cutting on day of
 
Looks like mine is pretty basic,
Spiral ham (my wife loves them!)
Brunoise potatoes AuGratin
Sweet potato casserole, southern style no marshmallows
Broccoli, rice sheet bake (tested it at Thanksgiving, BIG hit!)
Creamed pearl onions
Peas
Brioche rolls
Bûche de Noël (from the Dutch bakery down the hill)
And pecan pie
Cocktails and champagne
Fire in the fireplace
Balvenie after the thundering herd departs!
 
A Christmas meal change of pace for us. I'm making gumbo with sausage, crab, shrimp and chicken (no okra!) and blackened fish.
 
Just Barb and myself this year along with the pups.
Costco spiral ham
sweet potato casserole
turkey breast
stuffing
gravy
green beans
rolls
Costco pumpkin pie
And my recliner after desert:)
 
Only 4 of us, so a nice 2-bone, bone-in, Prime cut Prime Rib. Local butcher.

Going on the WSM around 10AM with some hickory. Low heat to around 125 internal, then back in to rest until my oven gets to 550F. Dump it in the oven for 5 to 8 minutes to crisp that crust and then it's chow time!

Otherwise just potatoes, probably some broccoli or asperagus. My bro brings this great local pie that is half dutch apple and half salt caramel apple...ummm.
 
I'm jealous of the menus you all are serving. We are hosting DW's family, 13 people total, for Christmas. Unfortunately, there are some in the bunch who object to beef and pork. We were going to serve chicken cordon bleu, but the test run last night was bad. So what to do with 7lbs of flavorless, boneless, skinless chicken breasts? Skillet Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce. Much of it can be made ahead and we have made it before. The recipe is from the Costco magazine.

http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/201811?pg=78#pg78

Seems like a regular Wednesday night dinner to me rather than a holiday feast, but c'est la vie.

As bad as the cordon bleu was last night, the homemade latkes for the first night of Hanukkah were fantastic. They always make a mess of the kitchen, so this time I cooked them outside on a camp stove in a No. 12 CI skillet.

And the family's loss is our friends' gain. We're doing a 3 bone rib roast on a rotisserie later in the week.
 
My wife's family (about 12 adults plus a few small children) is coming to our house for Christmas Eve. I'm doing two racks of loin back ribs on the 26" kettle, vortex wings on the 22" kettle, more wings on the 18" WSM (no pan), and a pot roast in the Instant Pot. They are bringing a ham and sides. I'm making a grape salad for dessert, and mother in law will bring a couple of cakes or pies. We always have a good time together. I'm looking forward to it.
 
I have been up since well before day break. Just now taking a break (well besides the little coffee and lunch break I took about 2 hours ago). I finally just got done making approximately 4lbs of pasta dough, rolling it to sheets then sending it through the fettuccine cutter flouring it well, than made "nests" well floured on 2 layers of cookie sheets and they are now in the freezer. Once well frozen I will take the nests and pack them into Tupperware boxes stored in the freezer until XMas day. Also finished up a huge pot of marinara sauce which will go in the fridge, prepped about 6 lbs of calamari to be ready for the fryer tomorrow night.
Finally I will be prepping the prime rib roast. Scoring the fat cap and giving it all a good rub down of kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper and letting it rest in the fridge until Wed AM when it will go on the rotisserie slow and low (about 250) until I get it to about 120. Rest it for an hour and blast it just before serving.
I need a break :D
 
Wife’s son and I have a serious itch for “BIG Beef” but, since we will be about 10, he and I will binge on a standing rib roast on New Year’s Day instead of having one more thing to try to fine carving space for! I have about twelve square feet of kitchen counter much of which isn’t much more than eight inches wide! If I had more room, I’d just fill that up with more “stuff” so, one protein, ham, will have to suffice for Christmas!

New Year’s Day will be another feast day,
Standing roast beast,
Hoppin’ Johns,
Some sort of potato which is yet to be determined,
Gratin de cavolini de Bruxelles
Maybe creamed spinach?
The rest of the holiday sweets for dessert!
 
Sounds like you've been one busy guy Larry, it also sounds like that's going to be one great holiday special meal. I make my own marinara sauce to control the sodium, but I'm sure it's not as authentic as yours.
 
We will go up to my dads for a while on Christmas eve. Got a Honey Baked Ham this year. Best ham that we have had in years,
Christmas day will be a quiet day for us.
 
I'm going with a chicken andouille gumbo this year, which I've done several Christmas's in the past. I've done seafood gumbos too but it's so much more expensive. I cooked prime rib a few years back and as our family is mostly women and children, it just wasn't appreciated as much as I though it should be. I nailed the cook but the kids won't touch anything under well done. My wife, mother and mother in law all eat like birds. It's mainly me and my mother's husband who actually enjoy it. So I won't be wasting that money again. I may take advantage of these cheap rib roast sales to cut into steaks for later meals.
 

 

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