Christmas 2018 menu plans

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Not enough time to write all I would like to write right now, so will write more later.

Was telling my oldest about some of the posts on this thread. Question: What is a ribeye roast? He'd heard of ribeye steak, but not ribeye roast. Said that didn't make sense. I was unable to answer his question.

Another question: What does reverse sear mean?

That's it for now!

Gillian

Reverse sear is a technique where the meat is brought to with in 10F-15F of the desired finished temperature under low heat 250F for me. It is removed from that temp once the target temp is reached, allowed to rest while the temperature is raised to searing temperature, usually 500F (I use a BGE so I usually go to 650F). It is then seared on both sides until the desired finished, internal temperature is reached, it gets rested until ready to serve. For me at 650F for a 3" thick rib-eye steak it is a minute on each side, with a 1/4" turn in between.
 
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Not enough time to write all I would like to write right now, so will write more later.

Was telling my oldest about some of the posts on this thread. Question: What is a ribeye roast? He'd heard of ribeye steak, but not ribeye roast. Said that didn't make sense. I was unable to answer his question.

A ribeye roast is also known as a standing rib roast. It's a primal cut from the rib of the cow. A rib roast can be cut into steaks or roasted whole. Here's an illustration.
Steak-Chart.jpeg
 
Not enough time to write all I would like to write right now, so will write more later.

Was telling my oldest about some of the posts on this thread. Question: What is a ribeye roast? He'd heard of ribeye steak, but not ribeye roast. Said that didn't make sense. I was unable to answer his question.

Another question: What does reverse sear mean?

That's it for now!

Gillian
This link will answer both questions:
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/12/perfect-prime-rib-beef-recipe.html
Ross :)
 
Thanks for the helpful replies to my questions - I shall pass those on to my son. I was tempted to have ribeye steak at a restaurant dh and I were at today lunch time, but couldn't be sure they'd be cooked right.

Di, what an awful thing to happen to your turkey. You seem to have coped bravely. It reminds me of what happened to a family here several years ago. My youngest was friendly with 2 brothers and after the Christmas holidays one year they told me that their mum had left the Christmas turkey on the kitchen table and the dog got it and ate some, if not all, of it. Their dad raged so much about it that their mum took them and their siblings to her sister's house, telling him he wasn't going to ruin another Christmas on them as she was leaving him. I felt so sorry for the poor kids, but I think it was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Last instalment tomorrow!
 
Our Christmas Dinner was nowhere near as fancy or complicated as many of yours. We don't have a lot of space to prepare or cook, so we tend to keep it simple and just had turkey, stuffing balls, Brussel sprouts, carrots, parsnips, red onions and peas. Sprouts and peas were boiled, the rest roasted. Ds#1 organized the cooking, with ds#3 and me doing our bit. Ds#2 helped to set the table. Unfortunately it took most of the day to get the meal prepared, cooked and served. That was partly due to the fact that we didn't have the dining room properly prepared and took some time sorting out a space for our heat tray we'd bought some time ago. Ds#2 doesn't like turkey unless it's coated in bread crumbs and had bought himself a pig-in-blanket, which he cooked and shared with anyone else who fancied a slice.

Dessert - Christmas pudding/ ice cream - was deferred until after our gifts were distributed from round the Christmas tree

I was so glad to see Just Joel and co had just finished eating at 11pm - made me feel not so bad about only eating at 6 pm. Besides, what does it matter if you're not all sitting down to a lovely table of food at 1 pm on the dot?

Happy New Year!

Gillian
 
Our Christmas Dinner was nowhere near as fancy or complicated as many of yours. We don't have a lot of space to prepare or cook, so we tend to keep it simple and just had turkey, stuffing balls, Brussel sprouts, carrots, parsnips, red onions and peas. Sprouts and peas were boiled, the rest roasted. Ds#1 organized the cooking, with ds#3 and me doing our bit. Ds#2 helped to set the table. Unfortunately it took most of the day to get the meal prepared, cooked and served. That was partly due to the fact that we didn't have the dining room properly prepared and took some time sorting out a space for our heat tray we'd bought some time ago. Ds#2 doesn't like turkey unless it's coated in bread crumbs and had bought himself a pig-in-blanket, which he cooked and shared with anyone else who fancied a slice.

Dessert - Christmas pudding/ ice cream - was deferred until after our gifts were distributed from round the Christmas tree

I was so glad to see Just Joel and co had just finished eating at 11pm - made me feel not so bad about only eating at 6 pm. Besides, what does it matter if you're not all sitting down to a lovely table of food at 1 pm on the dot?

Happy New Year!

Gillian
I've always thought it was weird to eat holiday dinners in the middle of the day - too much stress! [emoji38] We eat it when it's ready, usually in the early evening.

Look! Validation! :ROFLMAO:

https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/thanksgiving-dinner-2-pm-is-crazy-article
https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/thanksgiving-dinner-2-pm-is-crazy-article
 
It makes sense to eat later in the day however there's other things to consider when you have guests.

My late husbands family always had the holiday dinner at 2pm. When I took over from them, I did the same. My parents would also come to our house and both sets of parents needed to drive back home before dark. Now I'm in the same position needing to drive home from my son's house before dark. Most older people no longer see well in the dark so eating at 2pm makes sense if you include older guests.


Your dinner sounds brilliant Gilli !
 
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P.S. to my post above.

Last year I scared my son when I told him if I didn't have time to drive home before dark, we would be staying with them overnight. :LOL:
That worked and we were home at twilight. ;)
 
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I think it's done for both cultural and practical reasons.

My Italian friends and relatives have their realtives over for a meal that begins early, then runs several courses so it only makes sense to start soon after church, like on many regular Sundays. Plus, many relatives stay late for a second small meal later.

Conversely, another reason to eat early is to allow friends and relatives that have a long car trip across a city like NY to get on the road before the really bad traffic starts, especially for the elderly folk who can use the extra daylight to see.

We've always eaten our holiday meals around 4 PM, which allows ample time for lots of desserts and good company afterwards, but not too late.
 
The meal time depends on how many dishes and how many dishes are prepared ahead of time.

We usually have our meal whenever everything is ready.
 

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