Unusual Christmas Dinners

[perry]

OK; Turkey and Ham are standards, with all kinds of side dishes.

So what else is being served as the main course for Xmas Dinner - that may be a bit unusual.

Now I have food alergy issues and while I can technically eat turkey and ham - I can''t handle the modern additives to either (and plain - uninjected turky and old fashion cured ham is rare in these parts). For those who follow the OT rules on food - ham is out as well.

In the past I have done a good beef roast - but I though I''d do something different today (and the local supermarket no longer carries lean roast beef - focusing instead on the more "prime" (fatty) roast for the holidays.

So; Xmas dinner will be homemade corned beef (start with really lean cuts of good beef - sirloin; and corn it myself); cooked as a pot roast with turnips, carrots, oinons, celery, etc. Squash on the side. Oh, and this corned beef is much better - and a different flavor - than the commercial stuff you buy at the store.

Now I can''t be the only one doing something different...

Anyone doing rack of lamb, goat, or other middle east traditional meals.

Venison Anyone?

Anyone doing something different?

Perry

 

[Joolskie]

Our family tradition for Christmas dinner is cheese fondue! I am making it today using a traditional Swiss recipe. The fondue is served with stale baguette cubes, ham cubes and pineapple. As a side, I serve a light salad of mixed greens.

Dessert is always chocolate icebox cake. The kind made with Nabisco chocolate wafers. I use homemade whipped cream with the wafers. YUMMY. It just wouldn''t be Christmas for me without fondue and icebox cake. So, I am continuing the tradition with my kids.

Fortunately, DH''s tradition on Christmas is Pillsbury cinnamon rolls for breakfast. So our traditions can coexist. DH is the youngest of six. So on Christmas morning, my mother-in-law took time off from cooking. She would pop open the cylinder of rolls, stick ''em in the oven and kick back with the craziness that was six kids opening up gifts. LOL!

 

[Dee*Jay]

We're not traditional holidy meal people so we always have something other than turkey or ham. This year the HH is making coq au vin with zucchini grautin as a side. No complaints from me--whatever he makes is always delicious!

And for dessert he got a yule log from Whole Foods but he's making homemade chocolate sauce to go over it. YUM!

 

[diamondfan]

I love fondue, so sounds good to me!

I made meat sauce and it is simmering on the stove. We are going to take the kids to see National Treasure this afternoon, and then come home, and I will make a salad and some garlic bread. This morning we had lox, bagels and whipped cream cheese for breakfast!

Often on Christmas we have Chinese food, but I was not in the mood today!

 

[Jypsie]

Christmas eve we do a seafood linguini (clams, muscles, scallops, shrimp, lobster). Christmas day - we seem to change this up every few years. I don''t know what makes us do one thing for a few years then another thing for a few years. Currently, our pick for Christmas dinner is prime rib with mom''s cheesey mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, cornbread stuffing, steamed veggies and salad.

I honestly can''t remember what the last thing was, the thing that prime rib replaced... hmm... it may have been chicken parmesean and lasagna - actually I think that was it, or maybe it was baked ziti. It was definitely my little sisters choice, she''s the baked italian casserole lover!!

 

[qtiekiki]

We are having a potluck, so it''s a mix of different foods and nothing is confirmed. We were going to have turkey, but DH''s cousin said he might be too busy to do the turkey. So it''s still up in the air if he will bring one or not. For sure, MIL will be making Korean BBQ beef short rib and spaghetti with meat sauce. Everything else is up in the air.

Perry - your corned beef sounds really good.

 

[strmrdr]

Pizza :}

 

[Catmom]

Our big Traditional meal is on Christmas Eve and last night we had Salmon, Ribs and Polish Sausage.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Last night we made individual pizzas of mozz, pancetta, and basil with some roasted chicken tortellini.

Tonight I roasted my first duck, and it was soooooo good!

 

[ljmorgan]

Well we didn''t have a Christmas traditional meal, but it was good! I cooked for 5 people so it was easy.

Filet mignon topped with herb butter, served with bearnaise sauce (bearnaise is the devil to make, but it turned out perfect tonight)
Smashed garlic & rosemary potatoes
Sauteed asparagus in garlic with a lemon glaze
Fresh bread
Molten chocolate cakes (these are delicious, as the name hints, the center of these small personal cakes are still hot liquid chocolate)

 

[Aloros]

We did duck, and it was delicious, but yeesh! That bird had sooo little meat on its bones. I think I''ll go back to the more traditional turkey next year. We had a whole turkey for Thanksgiving and were eating tasty tasty leftovers for daaaays. I think that''s one of the best parts about a big holiday meal.

 

[monarch64]

my mother always made oyster stew for Christmas Eve dinner. This year DH has been sick with a bad cold and I stayed home with him, so we didn''t go to my parents and didn''t even make it over to his family''s for Christmas, so I made a quick dinner of scrambled eggs and hash browns for him last night...how''s that for non-traditional, LOL!

 

[DiamanteBlu]

I fed 6 for Christmas Eve dinner:
Duck a l''Orange [Emeril recipe]
garlc mashed potatoes
glazed carrots with orange liqueur
string beans

Apps were assorted cheeses and dessert was apple tart.

We drank a nice cabernet with dinner.

 

[poshpepper]

Like Lindsey our family had Fillet Mignon for Christmas (eve) dinner and we had Prime Rib for Christmas day dinner.
Both were super yummo!!!!!! (Thanks Mom!!!)

 

[FrekeChild]

We (bf and I) had to "suffer" through 2 meals.

First was at his sister''s house: Totally traditional. Turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes (with added gravy drama), sweet potatoes, collard greens (not so traditional-at least in the Southwest), homemade macaroni and cheese, rolls, with a Baskin Robbins cake and pumpkin pie for dessert.

Dinner was at my cousin''s house: Not so traditional. Pork Crown Roast with stuffing, Beef Wellington with blue cheese, gravy, peas, fresh fruit, scalloped potatoes, rolls, with a side of roasted New Mexican green chile. There was bread pudding for dessert but my mom wasn''t feeling well and we took off early.

I have to admit, doing the two holiday dinner thing has got to stop. I don''t think I can handle it anymore. Even if we don''t eat much at either one, we''re both too stuffed to move at the end of the day.

 

[Jypsie]

Aloros - if you are looking for an alternative to Turkey but want to stay in the bird category, give Capon a try. It''s very tender and tasty. I actually like it a lot more then turkey. It doesn''t have quite as much meat as a turkey, but it is close and in all honesty, each Thanksgiving I make 1 turkey (for everyone), and 1 capon (for me and grandpa) - we freeze a lot of the capon in pot pie filling because the two of us would be eating capon 24/7 for probably 2 weeks if we wanted to finish it ourselves. My hubby loves capon too, but he sticks with the turkey for thanksgiving, he eats Capon when I make it at Easter (that''s the one holiday I don''t give a choice... you eat capon or ham, I refuse to do 2 birds for each of these dinners... I spend enough time in the kitchen as it is. LOL)

 

[partyjewels]

I''m a bit late, but on Christmas Day we have Alaskan King Crab. I have a relative who lives out there so every year since he''s not able to be with us, he ships out pounds and pounds of them for us as a Christmas present (every couple of years he''ll bring it himself and his family will come for a visit). Unfortunately, no matter how many times I try it, I just don''t care for crab meat, so I usually have ham or polish sausage (along with anyone else who doesn''t care for the crab meat) and then just a nice salad to go along with it.