Christmas 2025.

The Velvet Curtain said:
I do the duck thin sliced over a caesar salad with added roasted tomatoes and peppers, it works very well.
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Sounds good. I especially like the roasted tomatoes touch.
What sort of tomatoes do you roast? I guess for a salad it’s little ones.
M&S sell big plum tomatoes for cooking and I love roasting these for breakfast because they’re nice n fleshy.

I don’t have duck very often but last time I had it very thinly sliced and laid over a pea soup*
Looked pretty, tasted great.

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I‘ve got three ducks I brined and spatchcocked in freezer as back up incase bird flu turns nasty and the turkey doesn’t turn up. I plan on lightly smoking those.
Tbh there’s a bit of me that hopes the turkey doesn’t appear because I think being served a roasted smoked half duck will look pretty spectacular.

*for anyone who knows I dislike peas who might be thinking “You ate peas?!’ It is just the pea skins I’m not fond of. I make the soup myself with petite pois and after blitzing sieved it very well to remove any skin. More of a tasty pea puree than a traditional soup.
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Sounds good. I especially like the roasted tomatoes touch.
What sort of tomatoes do you roast? I guess for a salad it’s little ones.
M&S sell big plum tomatoes for cooking and I love roasting these for breakfast because they’re nice n fleshy.

I don’t have duck very often but last time I had it very thinly sliced and laid over a pea soup*
Looked pretty, tasted great.

View attachment 138120

I‘ve got three ducks I brined and spatchcocked in freezer as back up incase bird flu turns nasty and the turkey doesn’t turn up. I plan on lightly smoking those.
Tbh there’s a bit of me that hopes the turkey doesn’t appear because I think being served a roasted smoked half duck will look pretty spectacular.

*for anyone who knows I dislike peas who might be thinking “You ate peas?!’ It is just the pea skins I’m not fond of. I make the soup myself with petite pois and after blitzing sieved it very well to remove any skin. More of a tasty pea puree than a traditional soup.
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Yes the little ones: slice in half and push out the watery bit with your thumb. A thin slice of garlic on each one and a dust of sea salt. Roast them in a medium oven until they soften and dry out but not completely collapse. Cool and disgard the garlic. Yum.
I do them at the same time as roasting the peppers and making the croutons. The smell is amazing.
 
In my family they eat well for Christmas but we put little emphasis on material stuff. We have something small for the kids to open though.

The week before Christmas, I will start making Christmas cookies.
Christmas dinner potential menu, some of this I do every year, this year I will add something newish, but they are mostly vegetable dishes, only desserts will be done the day ahead, but everything else is cooked on Christmas day.

1) French onion soup
2) Charcuterie board
3) Fresh salad with some of my favorite varieties
4) basil/tomato crostini
5) Shrimps with cocktail sauce
6) Scallops with angel hair pasta and fresh tomato/basil sauce
7) Grilled quails on a bed of watercress
8) Roast Duck, maybe legs, maybe breast,
9) 2 roasted rack of lamb, we want some leftovers for the second day, will be served with Brussels Sprouts, and some type of potato, I'm still researching on the recipes
10) Pears stew in red wine, this year I will vary it a little bit
11) Pana cotta, recipe by Jamie Oliver
12) Christmas cake, British version my husband bought from an British/Indian grocery store
13) Christmas pudding with custard
14) Minced pies and ice cream
 
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SoCalZone10 said:
In my family they eat well for Christmas but we put little emphasis on material stuff. We have something small for the kids to open though.

The week before Christmas, I will start making Christmas cookies.
Christmas dinner potential menu, some of this I do every year, this year I will add something newish, but they are mostly vegetable dishes, only desserts will be done the day ahead, but everything else is cooked on Christmas day.

1) French onion soup
2) Charcuterie board
3) Fresh salad with some of my favorite varieties
4) basil/tomato crostini
5) Shrimps with cocktail sauce
6) Scallops with angel hair pasta and fresh tomato/basil sauce
7) Grilled quails on a bed of watercress
8) Roast Duck, maybe legs, maybe breast,
9) 2 roasted rack of lamb, we want some leftovers for the second day, will be served with Brussels Sprouts, and some type of potato, I'm still researching on the recipes
10) Pears stew in red wine, this year I will vary it a little bit
11) Pana cotta, recipe by Jamie Oliver
12) Christmas cake, British version my husband bought from an British/Indian grocery store
13) Christmas pudding with custard
14) Minced pies and ice cream
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Is this the order of service?
 
Morning Glory said:
Its a fantastic menu. Where do you get the quail from in your neck of the woods?
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I go to this very expensive supermarket in Newport Beach and they have almost everything. I used to get very fresh seafood from there but one year they sold me expensive sea bass for over $60 a pound, and it was not fresh, so no more wasting money. This is also a place I can get my charcuterie from Italy. Just a treat for my family once a year.
 
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