Christmas Party - Inspiration Needed


 
S

Steve C - Jax

New member
Long time lurker coming out of the shadows here...

I'm throwing a decent sized Christmas party coming up soon, and I'm trying to plot out an impressive menu (I.e., try to show off a bit ;) ). Most everyone coming is used to my "traditional" items that I make (shoulder, ribs, brisket), so I want to try not only something new, but also something that screams "Christmas," something not often pulled out in other parts of the year. There are about 40 adults and 20 kids, so might try more than one meat as well.

My current thought is ham and turkey - I've found a few Lechon Asado recipes for the ham, and my Thanksgiving turkey rocked (thanks largely to this site), so that might work. But I wanted to reach out to the experts here and see if there were any other suggestions.

So have at it - what sort of goodness have you made on your smokers that particularly screams Christmas to you? What might you throw at your friends for a shinning like this.

I greatly appreciate any input y'all can't provide.
 
You can always make ABT with red AND green japs. Maybe a bit of food colouring in the cheese component as well.
 
seafood is special and very big on Christmas Eve......how bout a smoked scallop and shrimp appetizer with a nice horseradish dipping sauce? you can serve it cold and the smoke will really come out.
 
Beef. I always like it at a Christmas party when they have carving stations. The one with beef usually sports a tenderloin with various mustards and pre-sliced rolls to make a nice little sandwich. You could also have a turkey breast and some ham to carve. The ham goes real well because it's basically the same thing (mustards and bread).

If it's presentation your after, it's hard to beat the prime rib roast. See the home page of this site for some links.
 
Christmas to me "screams" my wifes Lasagna and a rib or strip loin roast all done on the WSM.:wsm:

Tim
 
What screams Christmas is what you said. Lechon asado-my husband does one every year with my brother in law with a la caja china(they are Cuban)you can do it on the wsm, the only drawback is that you won't get tha crisp skin. I would pick the boston butt and not the picnic for this recipe. You can make that with arroz Moro which is black rice and yucca (the cassava vegetable) with mojo.

A great source for these recipes are www.icuban.com they are true to cuban cooking.

For appetizer did go with the abt's. They are so festive

*this is based on if you want to use your webers lol.
 
I did a bunch of salmon and cod on cedar planks over the summer, I used both racks of my 18.5, just put the bigger ones on the bottom. No water in the pan:





Worked out really well! Also, you can find some good leg-o-lambs this time of year too and they smoke up good.

Good luck!
 
Two words: Filet Mignon. Crusted with olive oil, coarse sea salt and coarsely ground pepper (I use a 5 pepper blend whole pepper kernels). Do a reverse sear. Turns out perfect on the WSM every time and very festive. You can serve warm or cold. I prefer warm.
 
patrick sullivan said:
Two words: Filet Mignon. Crusted with olive oil, coarse sea salt and coarsely ground pepper (I use a 5 pepper blend whole pepper kernels). Do a reverse sear. Turns out perfect on the WSM every time and very festive. You can serve warm or cold. I prefer warm.
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And prime rib.
 
Another vote for prime rib, cooked on the bone. Shrimp, a pork loin, and a corned beef on the grill.
 
Jerry N. said:
Beef. I always like it at a Christmas party when they have carving stations. The one with beef usually sports a tenderloin with various mustards and pre-sliced rolls to make a nice little sandwich. You could also have a turkey breast and some ham to carve. The ham goes real well because it's basically the same thing (mustards and bread).

If it's presentation your after, it's hard to beat the prime rib roast. See the home page of this site for some links.
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I'm with Jerry ^^^^ Beef, especially Prime Rib!!! :p
 
Matt Gard said:
Id say the prime rib. See if you can find a nice standing rib roast and you will wow your guests.
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Sounds good to me too! I'd say with lobster tails too, but with as many people that you'll have its a bit pricey. Maybe you should charge them 5 bucks or so a plate. Help pay for the food.
 
that's a lotta mouths to feed - spiral sliced hams would be easy, and the smoke really adds a lot. Throw on some glaze and you have a winner for the crowd... I'd do like three of these plus a few birds too (someone will help w/ your math, I'm sure)
 
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I would not overlook the appetizers. Smoked cheeses are awesome but you are a bit short on time for that, it likes to age a couple of weeks. Smoked pate, moinks, salmon. Grilled shrimp kabobs. I do up a mixture of shredded brisket, green onion and cream cheese with chipotle that works for a cheese ball or on crackers as a spread. That sort of thing is unusual and pretty neat to serve as well.
Hope you have time to take some pics of what you are doing. Sounds like fun.
 
A smoked well crusted standing rib or a prime rib done on a rotisserie would be my number one pick if I wanted to really do something special, with a seafood based appetizer such as a kebab shrimp would get the nod from me.
There really is nothing in my mind that says holiday joy and this is something special more to me than that cut of meat. JMHO
 
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