Christmas DInner | GTAMotorcycle.com

Christmas DInner

nobbie48

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More specific than the other dinner thread, does anyone have any special dinner menus for Christmas.

I like the idea of different stuff. Personally, if it was up to me I'd throw a dart at a world map and follow the tradition of the country that got pinned. I would also have the option of a second dart. Apparently some South American countries like roast guinea pigs. I'll pass due to the cute factor.

The rest of the family wants something more traditional with a few oddities thrown in.

So, anything interesting?
 
duck instead of a turkey
sweet potatoes
curry stuffing
some haggis if the duck is too small
 
Lamb is a popular xmas tradition in my family. Personally, I am not a fan, but majority rules.
 
stop in to Sanagan's (176 baldwin) or Whitehouse on front st and pick up some wild boar, make a nice ragu and serve with mashed potato , make a dressing/stuffing semi traditional , torn up bread, onion, seasoning and cook it in the slow cooker. Brussel sprouts, coat with olive oil and coarse salt/pepper and roast on a cookie sheet till they are looking crispy.

You could also do an elk roast, from the same shops, I like it with cranberries served hot, heat in a crock pot with a can of whole berry, 1/2 cup brandy and throw in five cloves (fish the cloves out before serving) , roast carrots and stir with maple syrop for the last 20 mins of cook, no sooner of the sugar burns.
 
I think I should do a wild meat feast
 
Food talk is interesting talk. So much good food out there. I love variety and change as well and I now make much more of an effort on that front. So much so that as a result I have been about 6 months in between returning to some of my best and long-term favourite meals. This includes the traditional NA Christmas meals, so I'm in no rush to them change up; I hardly ever cook the traditional Christmas meals (turkey or ham) and frankly look for more opportunities to have them.

Most of my cooking day to day is now all-about variety, with lots of cultural variation. Lots of great options in the what's for dinner thread that can always be used as a holiday meal. I can't wait for my next Asian or spicy Caribbean/South-Asian cook :).



It helps that in my experience I cook super tasty traditional Christmas meals. I've been refining and improving all aspects of cooks and meals for years now, which includes getting a world class grill. A high quality grill/bbq is worth it; it takes cooks to the next level itself. My weber summit grill on gas gives great control and cooking opportunities, from unlimited fuel to ceramic burner cooking to the smoker box. It's even more important than my personal contribution. A great grill is very much worth it.

As mentioned, my go-to christmas meals are fresh turkey and picnic ham. Here are a few details on the cook and menu for each.

From many turkey cooks I now go for a fresh butter injected turkey, something like the PC butter turkey using Normandy style butter.
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I use the Weber summit grill and rotisserie the turkey, which cooks better than any other method I've tasted or tried; perfect skin and super tender tender juicy white meat. Best. Turkey. Ever.

Add to that scratch home-made stuffing, scratch-made gravy from the drippings, garden mashed potatoes (made with cream cheese), garden carrots (can be so many ways... fresh, butter fried, candied, pickled, sweet pickled, creme fraiche), garden cold pickled pickles, fresh grilled asparagus in olive oil and sea salt, a light salad option and blueberry pie dessert and it's all more than enough great food. Consider candied yams if you want more carb awesomeness and an even more extravagant spread. From much experience, I now do the stuffing outside the bird with a 13.5 inch cast iron skillet, finishing the cook with the weber summit grill; it makes for the best stuffing as well as a better cooked bird. I have turkey pictures from previous cooks earlier in the dinner thread if interested. Basic dishes but lots of attention to the details/cook. What a great meal.

My other special meal cook is a picnic ham. Something like this.
Smoked-Picnic.jpg

I use the Weber Summit grill and a great foodie bbq guide/cook. It includes a quality (smoked) picnic ham, an excellent scratch home-made spicy apricot glaze, and smoking the ham again a second time myself with apple wood, cherry wood and hickory. The result is amazing ham that the family devours.

Add to that scratch home-made garden scalloped potatoes, fresh salad, fresh bread/buns, garden carrots, cold pickled pickles and a quality dessert and it's all a big hit with everyone. Many of the turkey sides also work well with this cook for tailoring side dishes to taste/wants. Again, I have some pictures of these cooks earlier in the dinner thread. Amazing meal.

I don't get around to having turkey and ham meals very often, so I have been making an effort to cook them a couple times a year.



Other holiday meals I'd consider or suggest; they all lean on main-stream popular offerings as well as grill cooks since I've got the most experience there and can give feedback.

Instead of turkey, consider a turducken. Great alternative. There are two versions; the smaller turducken which is an awesome meal but ' somewhat compromised' offering :)rolleyes: :) who doesn't love turkey, duck and chicken cooked with a ceramic burner rotisserie), though the full version (which by its very size typically feeds 25-30 people) is even better if you have the crowd for it. I'd pick whichever version I have the crowd for and have used the smaller version for as little as 4 people. The variety from a turducken gives everyone an opportunity to enjoy a lot of awesomeness. I

Rotisserie duck. On the weber summit ceramic burner rotisserie. Awesome. Rich and different.

Beef rib roast cook. Amazing on the weber summit grill. Get a big multi-bone beef rib roast for a big family event and make perfect prime rib for everyone!

Steak and lobster/king crab legs. Steak may be the best cook I do, using the weber summit grill with a steak sear burner and searing at 600+ F. I posted a few pictures recently. I also have the name of some east coast suppliers for fresh east coast seafood, as well as some premium king crab legs suppliers. Not cheap, but what a meal....

Beef back ribs, pork back ribs and pulled pork meals on the weber summit also are also amazing, and draw crowds. Pick one for a holiday meal and run with it (adding a very good grill if you need it).

So many great meals. These examples are also fairly simple in my experience and excellent with small and large groups.

Getting back to the OP's original post that framed his request within a cross cultural food perspective, I'm always interested in variety and cultural meals; I've got 50+ different food suggestions in the what's for dinner thread (worth checking out) and I'm always looking to add/expand from what others post here. Cheers!
 
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For those that are going down the road of a traditional meal, if you like those butterball or PC injected birds, buy an injector kit from Kitchen Stop or Bass Pro ect and put your own liquid in the bird.
A 'butterball' is not made using much real butter and the PC normandy butter has a drop of normandy butter, salted water and mostly a different oil.

Its tasty, but you can do better and healthier on your own.
 
For those that are going down the road of a traditional meal, if you like those butterball or PC injected birds, buy an injector kit from Kitchen Stop or Bass Pro ect and put your own liquid in the bird.
A 'butterball' is not made using much real butter and the PC normandy butter has a drop of normandy butter, salted water and mostly a different oil.

Its tasty, but you can do better and healthier on your own.

Good point. IIRC they don't use butter due to shelf life.
 
AFAIK, the PC product I linked uses real butter. Lots of it too, which becomes evident in a perfectly cooked rotisserie bird. The product information pop up window and ingredients listed for it literally say "Turkey basted with butter". https://www.presidentschoice.ca/en_...oung_turkey_basted_with_real_butter19732.html
I'll see what the product ingredients say on the label next time I'm in store and report back.

I've had both the Butter Ball and the PC butter basted offerings and they are great. I found the PC had more butter and preferred it, but would still be very happy with a Butter Ball offering. Fresh is better than frozen too. Though in my experience butter basted frozen is better than regular fresh turkeys (not butter-basted). One loses a little in texture when frozen, but butter basted (injected) keeps the meat very moist when cooked nicely. YMMV.




Good suggestion on doing it yourself. I've invariably found that for food recipes, the more scratch-made the better.
 
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I'm doing 2 dinners this year - one for the family and the other for friends. The family one is a gonna be more a traditional dinner. The one with friends is gonna be themed and the theme is "Nightmare after Xmas". All the food must be traditional xmas foods but made to look gruesome or disturbing. So far, I have the entree, 2 appetizers, bread and one desert. The apps will be bloody Octopus and can't decide between coffin shaped or intestine shaped onion tart.
 
was at a party the other night, pot luck, but everything had to be served, presented on a stick. Its amazing how much different shyt can be put on a stick.
 
I got dessert today at Sittlers Bakery in Conestogo_Over the years i have introduced quite a few gtam'rs to this place.Best baked goods on the planet!
PC200018_zpsiqwmvs5t.jpg
 
if thats all for you and the missus you'll be fixing suspension on your trials bike.....
 
as for the turkeys
gonna look for one of the butterball pre-stuffed birds
tried one of them at thanksgiving, expectations were not high

but it turned out to be the best oven roasted bird I've had
expected the stuffing to be....meh, it was very good
bird was extremely moist

but it may be, because I was at a rental vacation property
convection oven was fooked, would not go above 250
took 9 hours to cook, but damn it was good
 
as for the turkeys
gonna look for one of the butterball pre-stuffed birds
tried one of them at thanksgiving, expectations were not high

but it turned out to be the best oven roasted bird I've had
expected the stuffing to be....meh, it was very good
bird was extremely moist

but it may be, because I was at a rental vacation property
convection oven was fooked, would not go above 250
took 9 hours to cook, but damn it was good

Great bird. If you want even more moist meat go with stuffing outside the bird. I found a great cook and it's even better than in the bird. Plus the bird meat ends up even better. And I really like stuffing :). I clung to in-the bird stuffing forever until the last 3 or so years when I finally made the effort to try some other options and found a better one for me. My company has agreed.

Long cooking times are not that big a deal on bird in my experience. FWIW, I've found by far that the single most important aspect to cooking any bird is to perfectly hit the cooked temp, and a slower cook helps make that easier. Turkey is 160F (at the deepest spots); its weight means it will continue to cook when off the grill to the 165F cooked temp standard... (and the finish temp of smaller birds). Do that well with a rotisserie butter injected turkey and the moistness is crazy. Literally puddling below the turkey carcass where the entire cook had already separated the drippings.

Either way, sounds like a great meal. I'll miss having turkey this Christmas. Ham for me for a change. Turkey for Easter, and I'll see if I can pick up another turkey in a great post-Christmas sale ;).
 
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I'll see what the product ingredients say on the label next time I'm in store and report back.

I'll miss having turkey this Christmas. Ham for me for a change. Turkey for Easter, and I'll see if I can pick up another turkey in a great post-Christmas sale ;).
Got to the grocery and looked at the PC butter injected young turkeys. The listed ingredients on the packaging are literally "Turkey basted with butter (milk)" and nothing else. I'm confident that based on this, as well as my own experience cooking/eating it, the turkey uses real natural butter.

And I found these frozen PC butter injected young turkeys on sale for 77 cents a pound!
I picked up an $8 turkey :p. Crazy. No turkey this christmas but I'll serve it up in an month or two :agave:. I'd have bought two if I had the room in the freezer.


Cheers!
 
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Pre Christmas eve dinner:
Wife-made rice balls, Pizza Nova Bruschetta pizza, SIL brought prosciutto wrapped breadsticks. There were a few other finger foods that didn't make it into the photo.
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Nice! Lunch? I love grazing meals. The holiday cooks are beginning....

Started prepping to make another stir fry today for lunch. Will snack lightly in the afternoon if at all and then visiting family later for a large ukranian christmas style home meal. There will be 30 or so people and a huge spread, including fish, cabbage rolls and perogie dishes.

Grazing food available at home for me and the family over the holidays will include oven cooked brie with toasted pumpkin seeds for cheese and crackers (plus a few other cheeses too), spicy tapenade, herring rollmops, medjool mediterranean dates, salad, breakfast sandwiches (egg, butcher back bacon and cheese), pomelo, Christmas oranges, and french onion soup, Christmas nuts (in shell), potatoe chips, ice cream and lots of sweets/treats.

My family ham holiday meal is scheduled closer to New Years this holiday. The Christmas meal tomorrow will be pork back ribs for something different (;) like the OP mentioned in the first post of this thread). Been a while and it's a family favourite. Doing a 4 hour low and slow cook on the Weber summit grill and it will be one rack of Char Siu style and another rack of smoky adobe chipotle :agave: :agave:, lovely. Sides will be harissa and honey braised eggplant with chickpeas, plus cast iron skillet potatoes (dill and/or curry, haven't decided which one yet) with sour cream and/or cottage cheese toppings. I'll post pics that I remember to get. I have a few more other related holiday cooks planned and will post in the what's for dinner as it goes.

Cheers
 
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