Alternative to Christmas turkey

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di reston

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My OH has announced that he doesn't really want a large bird for Christmas as we'd be eating the leftovers right the way through to Easter! So I'm thinking QUAIL.
I'm serious! We love quail. I do it in a truffle, porcini mushroom and Champagne reduction sauce, and serve each bird on a large crouton. OH likes that. Should do the trick nicely. Christmas Pudding, mince pies, Christmas cake will be done as usual. OH's favourite vegetables, except I'll do croquette potatoes, which he really adores. And no leftovers. That should do the trick. What do you think? Should I do duck instead? I'd welcome your views.:yum:


di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde
 
We do prime rib generally for Christmas, with a mixed mushroom savory bread pudding. Sides can vary, though Craig usually likes to have his brussel sprouts with bacon, onion and balsamic glaze.

Cornish hens are more readily available where we are, though we could get quail (I've never had them). Your prep does sound really good. Duck is good too.

Guess I'm not much help, as all sound good. ;)

We did pretty good with leftovers from Thanksgiving this year. One leftover meal and a couple of quart bags of shredded turkey that will go in pot pies or some kind of soup or ....
 
The quail sounds great, as does the prime rib. Duck is nice but a lot of work and worry, imo.

We usually do a ham, but right now I think we will have 15 people over, so 2 hams? 1 really large ham might suffice, but I want leftovers and bones for pea soup, and beet or collard greens, or chard.

DW informed me that if the number of guests goes any higher, we will be catering from an Italian joint nearby since I will be working Christmas eve and morning.

This is going to take some work.
 
My OH has announced that he doesn't really want a large bird for Christmas as we'd be eating the leftovers right the way through to Easter! So I'm thinking QUAIL.
I'm serious! We love quail. I do it in a truffle, porcini mushroom and Champagne reduction sauce, and serve each bird on a large crouton. OH likes that. Should do the trick nicely. Christmas Pudding, mince pies, Christmas cake will be done as usual. OH's favourite vegetables, except I'll do croquette potatoes, which he really adores. And no leftovers. That should do the trick. What do you think? Should I do duck instead? I'd welcome your views.:yum:


di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde
We used to have pheasant when my parents were alive (courtesy of a cousin who used to beat for a local shoot - he was paid in kind for his services). Duck would be good as you may get some meat left over for another meal.
 
In the US, people generally don't have turkey for Christmas since it's so soon after Thanksgiving. We don't really have a tradition, but I've been doing a small prime rib for the last few years. I think quail sounds great. So does duck, actually :LOL:

I've been thinking about making a German dinner for Christmas, since DH and I both have German ancestry. My thought was a pork roast. At the last master gardener meeting, I mentioned this idea, of making a German Christmas dinner, to two women who immigrated here from Germany. One immediately asked, "Goose?" and the other said, "Duck?" :LOL:

So I guess I have to decide which region of Germany I want to represent ??
 
I've been doing a beef roast for Christmas dinner since I started doing all my own cooking.

I started out with tenderloin roasts but switched to rib roasts as I like the flavor better. I'll probably reverse sear a boneless ribeye roast this year.
 
Cornish hens make a nice presentation. Half bird on the plate looks nice. You can probably use the same sauce you described but the hen would be to big for a crouton. If they are small you can stuff them. My mom would do that. I was thrilled as a child to see a whole little stuffed bird all for me. A nice stuffing on the side is also nice.

I have also been making eye round roast for Christmas for a few years now.
 
If you did duck, just think of all that wonderful duck fat you would find in the bottom of the pan. Pan fried potatoes in duck fat. Serve with any meal.
 
We usually have Mexican food. In Mexico. A restaurant owner friend there also serves a lovely Christmas dinner at her restaurant and invites us to eat with her employees at no charge.

This year, we won't be heading to Mexico due to various family events, so I have no idea what we'll have.

Your quail sounds delicious, di. Never have been a big fan of duck, maybe because my dad would bring home mallards he shot during hunting season.
 
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Change of programme, for which I shall call a Board Meeting with the Chairman and ask him whether he wants a groaning boardful of Christmas delights, or whether he'd rather have one, or two, of these dishes every day for the Twelve Days of Christmas. I owe dinner parties to several friends, vegetarian, vegan, carnivores, on diets, the lot, and your recipes will enable me to return hospitality - very useful. They certainly will keep me away from groaning cook syndrome! Many thanks. Still looking forward to viewing other Xmas recipes, though! Christmas Day on our own, and friends on other days. What you've sent will enable to return the hospitality I've owed for quite a while, for which, again, many thanks!

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde
 
The quail sounds great, as does the prime rib. Duck is nice but a lot of work and worry, imo.

We usually do a ham, but right now I think we will have 15 people over, so 2 hams? 1 really large ham might suffice, but I want leftovers and bones for pea soup, and beet or collard greens, or chard.

DW informed me that if the number of guests goes any higher, we will be catering from an Italian joint nearby since I will be working Christmas eve and morning.

This is going to take some work.
I am leaning toward a bone-in ham as well for split pea soup. I have a turkey breast in the freezer...as well as venison roasts. I might do venison roast on Christmas Eve with gjetost gravy, Jansen's Temptation, a fruit salad/something, and green beans with walnuts and bleu cheese. I have to keep my Mom's limited appetite in mind, my Dad's unwillingness to try new things, and that there will just be the three of us. The ham would be Christmas Day. I have to make up my mind by Friday. My Dad and I are going to the AF Base to grocery shop for Christmas and January (I will be back in Ontario for January--what a great time to go to Ontario--NOT).

Quail--I usually allow two/person, spatchcock it and make a cranberry glaze to baste on it as it cooks. I do the same with partridge breasts but prefer to use raspberry for the partridge.
 
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Christmas dinner must be turkey has cracked me up for awhile. In North America come Christmas 100 years ago a bird that you may still be able to find was a turkey and it was large enough to feed a crowd now it's a standard.

History and geography make traditional meals I think. If you are a coastal resident I'm sure fish is a popular favourite, if your grandparents were raised on a beef or pig farm and that's what they slaughtered to feed the family you had prime rib or Christmas ham. Sometimes there would be trades between farms to help make it a different special dinner. I have friends that trap so a roast rabbit or Christmas goose dinner it is. Before the mass ease options from the 2 grocery stores in any town what your family provides and labours over with love is what Christmas dinner is about. For years with my grandma it was known fresh lasagna was going to be on the table at there house.

If you make it because it's a special favourite that makes it more of a Christmas dinner than just because it's turkey in my books. A bit long but I hope everyone has an enjoyable Christmas dinner
 
Bought 2 rib roasts yesterday. I decided that two 4-5 pounders made more sense than one 10-12 pounder, since I have guests coming with varied preferences in doneness. I can roast one medium rare and one medium and make everyone happy (although I admit that it disturbs me to deliberately overcook one of them).
 
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