# What are you serving for the holidays?



## JohnT (Dec 13, 2013)

No to take away from the "what's for dinner" thread, I decided that this thread might help those of us that are stumped on what to serve over the holidays. 

I am having house guests for all three. Here is my plan for meals .. 

Christmas eve - Roast whole beef tenderloin, brussel sprouts, grantanee potatos, 

Christmas - 20 lb turkey and all of the trimmings. 

New years eve - Roast prime rib of beef, Yorkshire pudding, and all the trimmings.


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## jamesngalveston (Dec 13, 2013)

Im doing a whole prime rib for christmas dinner with all the trimmings that go with it...
New years, its a big old fashioned ham, then in the pot with blackeyed peas, then with cabbage, cornbread, left over ham.


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## Elmer (Dec 13, 2013)

Everyone comes over this year on X-mas ever and then the next day my inlaws come over.
The plan is

Full turkey dinner on the eve (turkey, corn soufle, mash potatoes, etc...etc)
left overs the next day.
Mother law usually bring lasanga, which I dont eat because of the icky cheese.

Beverages will be 
Jamesons.
irish coffee, 
beer
Homemade Cab Franc, Dragon blood, skeeter Pee.

Everyone gets a bottle of thier choice to take home as a gift


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## jamesngalveston (Dec 13, 2013)

elmer, dont tell me you dont like cheese....


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## sour_grapes (Dec 13, 2013)

On Christmas Eve, I will serve rack of lamb from our half-lamb share, prepared in a sous-vide cooker, so it will be _very_ tender and succulent. I plan to serve 7 Deadly Zins with that one.

I'll be traveling to visit family after that. I know we will have a prime rib, just not sure of the day yet. I am trying to think of something that *I* can cook at a relative's house; was thinking of hanger steak if I can get it, but that does not "scale" well to 20+ people, so still thinking about that one. I may steal JohnT's idea and serve a couple of roast whole beef tenderloins.

After we get back, I will order some live lobsters and have a lobster feast to celebrate the New Year. I use this decadent recipe for butter-poached sous-vide lobster. It is to die for. Best served with a nice, dry sparkling wine. Here is a shot from last year's version. The black stuff is caviar, and the "ball" on the left is the tail. I think the Champagne may have interfered with the plating a little.


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## jamesngalveston (Dec 13, 2013)

well paul...you just became my best cook on winemakingtalk.
i have a pro version of the sous-vide cooker, and love it...
not many even know what they are, refreshing.
man if i get that house, we are going to have some feast..for dam sure.

i will supply the seafood...of course.lol


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## tonyt (Dec 13, 2013)

Christmas Eve after church will be catered TexMex. Christmas Day will be Traditional Sicilian/American Holiday fare, Italian Sausage (made by Uncle Joe) in Red Gravy (aka spaghetti sauce to the rest of y'all), VealSpiedini, Fettuccine and assorted vegetables. My wine, Illy Espresso and for dessert, Cucidati (traditional Italian fig cookies), Sweet Potato Pie and Pecan Pie.


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## sour_grapes (Dec 13, 2013)

jamesngalveston said:


> well paul...you just became my best cook on winemakingtalk.
> i have a pro version of the sous-vide cooker, and love it...
> not many even know what they are, refreshing.
> man if i get that house, we are going to have some feast..for dam sure.



Well, thanks! I have to demur, however -- I think there are better cooks on here than me!

I built a PID controller for a crock pot to do my sous vide. I have shortribs cooking right now, in fact, destined for dinner on Saturday. 

Yes, if you wind up here, I would envision a seafood feast, indeed.


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## JohnT (Dec 16, 2013)

tonyt said:


> Christmas Eve after church will be catered TexMex. Christmas Day will be Traditional Sicilian/American Holiday fare, Italian Sausage (made by Uncle Joe) in Red Gravy (aka spaghetti sauce to the rest of y'all), VealSpiedini, Fettuccine and assorted vegetables. My wine, Illy Espresso and for dessert, Cucidati (traditional Italian fig cookies), Sweet Potato Pie and Pecan Pie.


 
Tony, 

I remember hearing about the "feast of the 7 fishes" as an Italian tradition. Have you ever done this?


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## cmason1957 (Dec 16, 2013)

I think we are serving a smoked ham injected with rum, brown sugar and butter, Shrimp pasta in a white sauce, green beans and death by chocolate.


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## Fabiola (Dec 18, 2013)

Home made tamales, romeritos and bacalao, 3 typical Mexican dishes people eat in Christmas... for drinking, champurrado and Mexican ponche, and of course, wine...


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## seth8530 (Dec 19, 2013)

sour_grapes said:


> On Christmas Eve, I will serve rack of lamb from our half-lamb share, prepared in a sous-vide cooker, so it will be _very_ tender and succulent. I plan to serve 7 Deadly Zins with that one.
> 
> I'll be traveling to visit family after that. I know we will have a prime rib, just not sure of the day yet. I am trying to think of something that *I* can cook at a relative's house; was thinking of hanger steak if I can get it, but that does not "scale" well to 20+ people, so still thinking about that one. I may steal JohnT's idea and serve a couple of roast whole beef tenderloins.
> 
> After we get back, I will order some live lobsters and have a lobster feast to celebrate the New Year. I use this decadent recipe for butter-poached sous-vide lobster. It is to die for. Best served with a nice, dry sparkling wine. Here is a shot from last year's version. The black stuff is caviar, and the "ball" on the left is the tail. I think the Champagne may have interfered with the plating a little.



Sour, I do not mean to take away from your post, but I saw "7 Deadly Zins" at my local package store. I have not tried it, but how would you describe it?

BTW, might still your lobster idea!


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## sour_grapes (Dec 19, 2013)

Hey, Seth,

It does not take away from my post at all! 7 Deadly Zins is my everyday quaff. It is fruit-forward, and very jammy/plummy, with a hint of cedar/leather/tobacco. Very round and soft with good mouthfeel. (I like "plummy/jammy" a lot.) When I first encountered it, it was $17 or $18 a bottle where I live (which has low booze taxes). It seems like they continually reduce the price. I now routinely see it "on sale" for $12.

I have also experimented with aging it. I have cases from 2005 and 2006 vintages. It worked well: the fruit receded a bit, and the remainder is a bit more complex, more like a claret than a zin.

As for the lobster -- have you played with sous vide yet? As mentioned upthread, I put together a PID controller to control my crockpot. I know you could throw one together, or you may already have done so to control a brew belt. Then all you need is a vacuum sealer. (You can also use a rice cooker rather than a crockpot.)
OTOH, I am sure you can do that lobster recipe without a proper sous-vide setup. You could do it nicely with just ziploc bags and a simmering pot on your stovetop. Just monitor the temp of the pot to be about 140 +/- 5 or 10 F, and you will be fine.


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## seth8530 (Dec 19, 2013)

Thanks for the review, I might pick myself up a bottle since I have never actually tried Zinfandel before. I just recently tried Syrah, and I thought it was good but I think my bottle which just a little bit overboard on the oak.. However, I found the style to be interesting. I am a fan of wine with a bit of spicy and earthy.

I do not have a crockpot anymore.. But I do have a thermoprobe which I could rig up to regulate temperature with... Might be worth experimenting with. The link you posted looked completely stunning, I really enjoy reading about people cooking things in their own kitchens which are just a tad bit fancy.


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## sour_grapes (Dec 19, 2013)

Where was your Syrah from? To my palate, at least, an Aussie or Cali Syrah/Shiraz is similar to a zin, while a French one is a different wine. (This impression also could be owing to my not being willing to pay for a decent French one, or from the blending grapes used there. I don't know.)


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## seth8530 (Dec 19, 2013)

I am pretty sure my Syrah was from cali, but I can not say so for a fact since I no longer have the bottle ( I knew I should not of thrown it out). Like I said, it was the first one I had so I guess that still makes me a Syrah noob. However, it did change quite a bit and mellow out quite a lot after we let it breathe for an hour. After that, more of the fruit flavours started to come out more instead of the bbq flavours.


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## cmason1957 (Dec 19, 2013)

Zin is one of my favorites. I like ones with a bit of pepper taste. If you can find one from Mendecino county they are generally less jammy and I think better.

We have been tasting on Apothic Dark. From the same guys who do Apothic Red. The red is Zin, Cab Sauv, Merlot, and Sryah. Dark is the same, except no Cab. Very tasty.


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## the_rayway (Dec 23, 2013)

We make seared duck breasts (rare) with l'orange sauce, roasted root vegetables, orange almond salad, french bread with herbed butter, roasted lobster tails, brussels sprouts with bacon and balsamic, and broccoli with fresh garlic & parmesan.

My Dad's duck breasts kill - they are just like eating a perfectly rare steak. So. Good.

Wines usually include: something sweet & fizzy for Mom & sister; cabernet and malbec for Dad, Brother in law, and myself; and rye for the rest of the clan (chocolate milk for the kids - the never get that the rest of the year!). We like to experiment and get different brands of wine each time, depending on what we have tasted throughout the rest of the year.


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## JohnT (Dec 27, 2013)

Well, It will be leftovers until new years eve. 

For 12/31, we are having...

Salad: Hearts of romain lettuce, candied walnuts, pickled beets, in a balsamic vinegrette, topped with a panko encrusted disk of warm goat cheese. 

Soup: Potato-leek soup topped with chives. 

Main: Prime rib, baked potatoes, broccoli, Mushroom compote, and Yorkshire pudding.

Nut roll for desert.

TUMS before bed.


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