Conference turris::cooks

    Hi,
    
    Have you any idea as to what you are roasting?  Goose, turkey, ducks,
    roast beef?  Your veggies have to compliment the roast.  The size of
    the roast depends on the amount of guests.  With a small amount of
    guests you can have a roast beef or ducks.  If you are going to have
    12+ I would suggest a goose since most have just had turkey.
    
    Our family usually has a roast beef and a roast venison.  They are
    cooked at the same temperature and length of time.  This is to keep
    everyone happy.  They are served with the proper sauce for each.  I
    cook a pan of roast potatoes and a pot of wild rice.  String beans
    with almonds, creamed onions with sherry and nutmeg are also served,
    followed by a salad.  This dinner is preceded by crab on toast points
    and followed, after the salad, with cheese and fruit.  We take a rest
    at this point while I change over the table.  Then I set out the buffet
    of desserts and brandies.
    
    As you can see this meal takes a while.  At least three to four bottles
    of wine are served.
    
    Hope this helps....
    
    B.
    

Hi,


You didn't say how many people would be attending this dinner or what your 
budget is like, so some of these suggestions might be a little expensive...

Beverages:
Mulled Cranberry Punch
Hot Apple Cider
Wine 
Coffee or tea
Dessert Coffees - made with cordials

Appetizer Suggestions:

-variety of cheeses and crackers platter - can be made by deli and 
  stored in refrigerator...
-cold cut platter   - can be made by deli and stored in refrigerator
-fresh vegetables such as carrot sticks, brocoli, colloflower, 
mushrooms etc with several dips such as onion dip, clam dip, cottage 
cheese etc. (can be served with little mini breads and mini begals or 
begal chips too) 
-Shrimp cocktail
-Fresh Fruit salad or Fresh fruit tray 

Suggested Soups: (Can be made ahead of time and reheated)
   French onion 
   cream of carrot
   cream of brocoli/coliflower soup
   vegatable 
   cream of corn

Main Course:

Cornish hens stuffed/or unstuffed with "Near East" brand wild or pilif rice.
  (I always make double of the amount I need. You can either stuff 
  the hens with rice or use the rice as a bed and lay the hens on 
  top when serving then. When I make the pilif rice, I add diced carrots, 
  mushrooms, green peppers, onions, cooked left over meats such as chicken 
  or turkey too. This adds color and flavor to the basic rice recipe.
 
     or 
    Oven Stuffer roaster - Chicken with Pilif rice mention above...
    
Carrots 
Brocoli or any other vegetables your guests like...
Peas
Corn
Sweet Potatoes
Toss Salad  
Side dish of Stuffing 
Cranberry Orange Relish or Cranberry cocktail sauce
Pop-over rolls 

Desserts:
Apple Crisp
Carrot Cake
Chocolate cheesecake or any cheesecake 
Chocolate mouse pie
Rice Pudding
Super Chocolate chip cookies
Bananna Bread

    Ham is always another alternative.  There are some nice recipes
    for it in this file as well.
    
    Judy

    
    Roast pork is nice, too.  If you get a good cut of meat, and you
    have a meat thermometer, you don't need to be a "great cook" to 
    have this come out tasty, and it really doesn't even need a sauce,
    strictly speaking.  That can often be the trickiest part, if you
    want to do it from scratch, you know?  It also doesn't take up
    that much room in the oven and just about anything goes with it.
    It's a nice departure from poultry, IMO.
    Another idea is lamb shanks.  A friend of mine made an absolutely
    fantastic dinner of lamb shanks cooked in a skillet with a tomato/
    onion/pepper/etc. base.  With mashed potato and vegetables - it
    was very hearty, down-to-earth, and pretty foolproof, it seemed.
    Everybody raved.  If you're interested, I can get ahold of the
    recipe.
    
    Diane
    

    RE .2
    
    It is a dinner for 4 persons. And for a X-mas dinner I want something
    special so in this case the budget do not matter much.

Chestnut roast with a red wine, tomato and sage sauce if you want
a caring Christmas.


ian

There's hardly anything as pretty and impressive as a crown roast of pork.  
I wouldn't have the foggiest notion how to do one, but I'm sure someone 
around here could tell us...

Steve

    Yaaaaah! The Cornish Hen idea sounds great for christmas. I have done
    this for up to four people. Does anyone have an idea on how to cook 8
    to 10 cornish hens (stuffed) at one time. I have recipes, but have no
    idea on how long to cook such a large number for. I imagine that they
    will need to bee cooked for a long time and care will have to be taken
    not to dry out the legs, etc. 
    
    Does this soune like something I would be able to do??
    
    Lee

    Another idea for a small group would be beef fondue.
    
    We sometimes have this for our Christmas dinner since I'm usually worn
    out from the last minute Christmas present wrapping and such.  You
    don't have to cook anything until you sit down.
    
    You will need a metal fondue pot with a Sterno cup underneath. 
    I always use peanut oil to cook the tenderloin pieces cut up into
    1" squares.  I have the divided fondue plates which seperates the
    various sauces you can dip your cooked meat into after it is cooked
    in the hot oil.  Long forks special for fondue make it alot easier
    (maybe you could drop Santa a note and see if he could fit it in
    his sack and then you could try it out Cristmas Day).
    
    Diablo Sauce (Hot Tomato Based Sauce)
    
    Lemon-Chives Butter Sauce
    
    Sweet and Sour Sauce
    
    Sour Cream and Onion Sauce or
    
    a Worchestershire based Sauce
    
    A side platter of mixed crudites i.e. raw veggies broccoli,cauliflower,
                                          cherry tomatoes etc. which also
                                          can be dipped in the sauces if
                                          you like
    Or a very special salad there have
    been quite a few mentioned as in
    a three leaf salad with fresh 
    vinegarette herbed dressing or
    a Caesar Salad.
    
    Fresh Baked Popovers (the only thing you'll have to turn the oven on
    for.)
    
    For Dessert:  In the past, I usually serve lemon sorbet or sherbet
    lined alternately in a parfait glass with frozen raspberries (fresh
    are better but not available this time of year) and a large platter
    selection of the many Christmas cookies I make.
    
    Add a special bottle of wine to go with the dinner and maybe some
    cordials to go with dessert and you have a relaxing remedy for an
    overtired overworked Christmas person.  Take it from Doctor "Mom".
    
    Have a Merry One!
    

    
    
    i was wondering what everyone is serving before the christmas dinner
    for appetizers and such. my family will be coming over around 10:00
    ish and we will not be eating till about 3:00 so i wanted to put out
    some sort of little buffet.  besides cheese/crackers and
    chestnuts/mixed nuts what else could i do without spoiling the
    appetites of everyone?
    
    thanks in advance,
    
    cj

how about a plate of raw veggies and a plate of sliced fruits, or a bowl of 
grapes with yogurt for dip.

  For Thanksgiving, I made the Spinach Dip that's on the back of the Knorr's
Veg. Soup Mix - basically it's sour cream, mayo, green onions, water chestnutes,
the soup mix.... I made two loaves of homemade pumpernickel, scooped one out
so that it was a bowl, and put the dip in it.  Sliced up the other one. 

  My family went NUTS over it!!!!  (They're still getting used to having
a family member that bakes bread ;-)  The homemade pumpernickel really was
great!

--Sharon

	My mom will have celery sticks stuffed with cream cheese.  Yum!
	I like them best when olives and pimentos are mixed into the
	cream cheese.

    Celery sticks with peanut butter are good, too.
    
    ed

	Hi.  Well, I'm finally coming through with the lamb shank recipe.
	My friend was able to give me the ingredients and method, but
	he basically winged the quantities and that shouldn't be hard
	with this one if you have an imagination.  This is no culinary
	feat, but boy was it good.

			Stewed Lamb Shanks

	Cut off the fatty parts from the shanks, wipe them dry, 
	dredge them in a mixture of flour, oregano, salt, and pepper,
	and brown them in oil.  Set the shanks themselves aside.

	In the same pan, saute' some onions, then carrots, celery,
	and, optionally, mushrooms, all chopped into large chunks.	
	Add some garlic and thyme, canned crushed tomatoes with juice,
	a little beef bouillon, and if you like, some red wine.  There
	should be about 3 cups or so of this mixture for every 6
	shanks.  Bake the shanks covered with the tomato mixture
	in a big covered casserole or heavy pan at 350 for about
	1 and 1/2 hours.

	Serve the shanks with mashed potatoes, covering all with
	the sauce.

    Since the kids were born, my husband & I have forfeited the Xmas-Day
    -Run-to-All-the-Relatives'-Houses routine, and just stay home with
    our own family.  One of the things I like to do is replace Xmas break-
    fast & lunch with a brunch (we eat Xmas dinner in the eve).  The kids
    are too wired when they first get up, and the last thing they want to
    do is sit down for breakfast (what! Before presents?!).
    
    Anyways, I try to prepare as much as possible ahead of time, since
    Xmas morning is hectic enough as it is.  For the last couple of years,
    I served something like this:
    
    	Quiche (prepared ahead of time)
    	Homefries (prepared ahead, then cooked in 9x13" pan in oven)
	Fresh fruit/fruit juice
    	Banana bread or danish (made or bought ahead of time)
    
    I think that was it (that's enough!).  Anyways, I was looking for ideas
    for different brunch foods this year.  Preferably, it could be prepared
    ahead.
    
    Any ideas?
    
    Deb
    

    There are already many topics on brunch recipes.  
    
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    My Dad was always the chef on Xmas day - he used to make crepes with
    sausage and apple sauce rolled up with powdered sugar on top. I can
    just taste them now! You can cooke everything before hand (just put wax
    paper between the crepes) then heat them (micro or oven) that morning.
    Serve w/maple syrup, fruit, homefries, coffee, juice, and milk.
    
    One year my brother (who, at the time, worked in a restaurant) made
    eggs benedict. I don't have this recipe, tho. (I'm sure there's one in
    this file).
    
    Just a few ideas...
    
    beth

    My Mom always makes Sausage bread....all it is is store bought
    frozen bread dough...rolled out into a sheet stuffed with a mixture
    of sausage and cheese.  It's delicious.  She always makes it
    ahead of time and just pops it in the oven just before everyone
    wakes up.