Sick of turkey at Christmas. What would be good?

Question

One vegetarian, one pensioner, one japanese man, one child with egg allergy, one who won't eat vegetables and a two year old who eats everything.
What should we have for Christmas dinner? I'm fed up with turkey.

Answer 1

My choice would be Poached Salmon, here is an easy recipe for you to try, you can also, at Tesco's when you buy the salmon from them they usually give you a loan of the Salmon kettle free of charge.
I do this quite regularly, and everyone remarks how different it is and such a nice change too:
I also cut the cucumber into thin rings, lay this all over the salmon to look like the scales of a fish. I wish I had a picture of mine to show you how nice it looks.

http://www.waitrose.com/recipe/poached_salmon.aspx

and for any left overs I usually make Salmon-en-croute, you can always freeze it and keep it for New Year, only don't cook
it, just go as far as the pastry stage, and freeze, to make it different I also cut the pastry out as a simple shaped fish,(Top and bottom) lay the stuffing on, then put the top on, and cut out little rings and place on the shaped pastry to look like scales. This is very filling and enjoyable too.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4371/Salmon-en-croute.jsp

Answer 2

Turkey is so bland and tasteless, I have never found a way to jazz it up. Horrible. Venison, duck, goose ... My best mate is a vegetarian, and I think they get a rough deal. Take them to a restaurant for a treat and hey! you might find one veggie option. So now, when he comes round, we cook him an extravagant veggie meal that is also half-macrobiotic.
Not sure how to totally answer your dilemma. The pensioner ... standard Xmas food, I think. My gran used to say to me that she sometimes just wanted 'a really good stuff' so I cooked her the whole works. A Japanese man? Don't know. But Japanese people are so polite they will accept almost anything, although I suppose I would try to stay safe with fish. Egg allergy? That's quite easy to deal with. Won't eat vegetables? Plate of meat? Chips? But they have to learn to like vegetables, five times a day. Much easier said than done. Two year old who eats everything? Perfect. My own children were like that. They were always wanting to experiment with different cuisines as they got older (sounds very middle class) but it's true, so feeding them was a doddle. I used to cook them dishes from Larousse. Mind you, THEY had the good food, my wife and I would just have a bowl of potatoes between us.

Answer 3

At my families dinners we always have ham, stuffing, bread, mashed potato, sweet potato, butternut squash soup (which could be a wonderful option for the vegetarian, there are several occasions were I have skipped the meat and only had the soup). One person would be in charge of the main dish/es then everyone else brings whatever side they like. stuffed mushrooms is a favorite of mine.

Our christmas eve dinner though is a simple one, and one worth considering; Sausage, cheese and crackers and the such. You would be suprised at how filling those actually are! There are plenty of veggie dips, very little worry of egg allergy. Serve with the soup I mentioned before and you could not have a simpler dinner!

Answer 4

Awkward but as the advert goes - Iceland does it best. A duck or goose, with nut roast instead of stuffing so the vegetarian will not be missed out.
When I was a child our family had a turkeyless dinner. My mother would roast a Large chicken, a ham, a beef joint.
We generally started with poached salmon and hollandaise sauce. the main course was the roasted meats and she made a nut roast instead of stuffing as two of my aunts wouldn't eat meat. Roast potatoes and duchess potatoes, carrots and sweetcorn (Tinned sweetcorn was as exotic as you got then) gravy.
The pudding was always held back until tea-time as we were generally stuffed by then. Mum had Christmas pud, mince pies, (Both home-made - even the mincemeat) sponge cake, jelly, cream, ice-cream, peppermint creams and rum truffles the last three made by her and me. And of course, Christmas Cake.
Don't worry about wastage, the meats were eaten cold the next day with chips, then made into a sort of casserole for the next day. The puds were kept chilled and lasted several days
Nowadays I don't think Turkey (which has only been traditional for about 150 years) is all that important, especially as it is available all year round now.
My cousin has never had a "traditional" Christmas dinner. Her family have made their own tradition and have an all day buffet so anyone who calls can join them (mind you she is the youngest of eight and has six kids) so everyone is catered for. Like I said - Iceland - they seem to have enough ideas for party food and celebrations to cover everyone.

Answer 5

Try surf and turf? Anything that breaks the cycle. I'm going with smoked ham and trimmings. Maybe just roast cornish hens? Completly different flavor than turkey but still the normal side dishes. There are nop set rules on what you have to eat for the holidays. Hit the recipe sites and look around. Many good ones on the internet these days.

Answer 6

We always have a ham. My mother always has Prime Rib. My brother's wife likes to make Mexican food.

I didn't give you any ideas that help so here goes. Will the vegetarian allow meats and dairy at the table (my step-daughter who's a vegan won't)? If that person allows it, then make a meat dish (like ham or prime rib), a stir-fry with vegetables only, a nice bowl of fruit, and maybe a rice dish on the side. That should cover everyone.

Answer 7

That sounds challenging, I gave up on huge turkey years ago.
For a change there's duck, guinea fowl and Poussin (small and enough for one, but often sold in pairs). Don't forget ham, makes a nice change from turkey sandwiches later.

For the vegetarian, have a look at the BBC food website http://www.bbc.co.uk/food for some ideas suitable for Christmas, I've just been looking at that one for inspiration for my vegetarian guest.

Separate dishes of a variety of vegetables for everyone to help themselves will save arguments and leave the uneaten clean to use next day. Suggestions - carrots, peas, broccoli, shredded cabbage, sprouts.

Answer 8

I gave up on the "whole turkey thing" too, about 3 yrs ago.....so now for EVERY holiday, I have the same thing.....Prime Rib and King Crab Legs, with oven roasted potatoes and other root veggies.....I don't have to "fuss" with the 87 side dishes associated with the damn turkey.......I called it quits when we "had to have" 2 types of stuffing/dressing and 3 types of cranberry sauce......I mean, holidays should be festive, not a pain in the rear, I don't know if the vegetarian eats King Crab, but with the variety of veggies that I had, perhaps something that the vegetarian likes on the side for their tastes.......Enjoy!!! Happy Holidays!!

Christopher

Answer 9

I go to my daughters at Christmas, and like you everybody is fed up with tasteless turkey, and she has had a nice ham, or roast beef, a bit difficult for you when you have a vegetarian at your table, and have to make two meals or will it be more, what ever you do I hope every body appreciates you time in the kitchen good luck

Answer 10

Fish or Duck are good. Fish for the vegetarian if they will eat fish. Duck for everyone else. Neither have to involve eggs, and perhaps the vegetable problem can be sorted with lots of tomatoes and other vegetables pureed to make a sauce. Hope this helps. Sorry, short of time.