Tradition -- Bah Humbug! What would be a really great "out there" Holiday dinner?

[Denninmi]

Any thoughts on what might be a really unique, exciting, "new" twist on a Holiday dinner?

I'm looking for thoughts and inspiration. I am SO SICK of the same old same old same old ham on Christmas, Turkey on New Years rut.

[yellerpup]

1. I'm doing Mexican for Christmas - All red, green & gold.

Making tamales today and extra picadillo for beef tacos. Chilorio with flour tortillas. Chicken Enchiladas w/Tomatillo Salsa. Pico de Gallo, lettuce, black olives, guacamole, fresh chips.

Here's the whole lineup...


Christmas 2010

Crudite and Tahini-Chickpea Dip
Tex-Mex Queso/w Tortilla Chips
Guacamole

Christmas Tamales
Chicken Enchiladas w/Tomatillo Salsa
Chilorio (Pork cubes for burritos)
Picadillo (beef, candied citron, raisins, toasted almonds, hot peppers)
Flour Tortillas/Corn Tortillas (homemade, because I'm a maniac)
Frijole Refritos
Arroz Amarillo
Salsa Cruda

Macaroni and Cheese (for gringos, vegetarians, and children)


Cookie Fiesta

Viennese Crescents
Chocolate Coma
Pistachio Cranberry
Pecan Shortbread Bars

Chocolate-Gingerbread Cake

[Lucinda]

2. Yum. I'll be there!

:)

[yellerpup]

5. Get on your pony, gal!

The tamales turned out wicked good! :hi:

[Lucinda]

12. I have a killer homemade tamale recipe too :)

They are way easier to make than most people think!

[yellerpup]

15. Okay, give!

I think I'll make a second batch. What's your favorite filling? Making tamales isn't difficult, but the process is labor intensive.

The ones I made yesterday with the picadillo filling are delicious--I love that hint of cinnamon that always makes beef taste beefier somehow, toasted almonds, green olives, raisins and candied citron all blend with the chile sauce so the balance is firey and spicy but mellowed by the sweet nuggets of other ingredients and the wholesome blandness of masa. I need to make corn tortillas for the enchiladas and flour tortillas for chilorio tacos. But first, I am making marmalade for gifts and also candied ginger.... while I polish the silver! LOL! I love to throw parties!

[GoCubsGo]

19. May I make a suggestion?

Add a chipotle chili with a bit of adobo sauce to that tahini-chickpea dip. Here's my favorite version, which might give you an idea of how much chipotle to use:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Smoky-Chipotle-Hummus-with-Garlic-Bagel-Chips-105661

Wishing for one of those tamales. They are difficult to come by in these parts.

[yellerpup]

31. Wish I'd read this BEFORE the party!

I did the hummus (and mac & Cheese) for the gringos and children. I did make that kicking recipe for Padma's chipotle and date sauce that was a perfect sauce for the tamales. The party was super, BTW. We ended up with 37 guests all squeezed into our 850 sq. ft. apartment but no one complained! Wall-to-wall fun (also butt-to-butt and belly-to-belly) and we rocked until 3AM. Love, love, love parties. When you're on the East coast, come see me and I'll make you a tamale! :hi: And, thanks for the tip!

[Lucinda]

3. I don't usually do much traditional cooking...

Depending on where you live you could BBQ - or do a sampler of dishes from different cultures...or have everyone cook personal favorite dishes...so many options! More information about the type of gathering you will be having might lead to better suggestions?

[Tesha]

4. Well....

I'm thinking of sushi for Christmas - it'll just be 2 of us for the 25th - and it would be fun to do.

The family holiday a couple of days later is always a long list of things my daughters ask me to to serve - part of the warm fuzzies, you know?
A table full of appetizers - everything from roasted peppers to chopped liver, fresh bread to pickles followed a squash soup then by a rib roast and roasted veggies. All topped off with a chocolate souffle roll and the cookie plate.


New Years is usually pea soup - and finishing the party leftovers from the night before.

[The empressof all]

6. One of my best Christmas meals was a Crown Roast of Pork

It's visually beautiful and you can stuff it with almost any fabulous stuffing...(Though I prefer one made with sausage and lots of apples)

You can start with some sort of shellfish appetizer. I'd lean to just some nice raw Oysters

I'd do a simple fennel/beet salad with an citrus vinaigrette or maybe just some lovely roasted Brussels sprouts with a hit of good Balsamic.

I'd dip mini Cream puffs into some dark chocolate fondue for dessert.


Another option is to to a feast of seven fishes on Christmas Eve and just have some lovely left over shrimp or lobster salad on croissants for Christmas Day. Or maybe just serve a beautiful pasta Carbonara with truffles and a light green salad with shrimp

You didn't mention a budget...so I went a little on the lush side--Because of course there would be Champagne

:rofl: :hide: :rofl:

[tigereye]

25. my MIL used to do 3 fishes on Christmas Eve - by the time I got together

with my husband - she was just doing smelts. Yum, who knew? ( me being Irish that is)

[mtnester]

7. I fixed rib roast 3 years ago

and although it was pricey, it was well received, especially by my older grandparents who did not really have the budget to buy that kind of stuff. I had ZERO leftovers.

Sadly, they are gone now...we took everyone out to dinner this year, and of the 9 people there, one third went for the prime rib. Another third went for the cider brined pork roast. One person each went for turkey and fish, and my wonderful son went for the roasted veggie ravioli in 4 cheess sauce (it was delicious). The one that went for the turkey was the 9 year old.

[grasswire]

8. we had a great meal one year from the Russian grocer

It wasn't sit-down Christmas dinner -- it might have been New Years. We went to the wonderful Russian grocery store that has all kinds of colorful imported goodies. I bought jars of this and that -- pickled things and preserves etc. Huge jars of pickled tomatoes. A big jar of something called "birch water" to taste -- directly from Kiev. Smoked fishes, various cheeses and sausages from Eastern Europe. Chocolates, and pastries....

Unloaded it all on the table in its paper wrappings. Sliced a big loaf of rye bread, found the unsalted butter, and brought plates for everyone. Sliced a bunch of cucumbers, radishes and fresh dill.

We hired an accordian player that year. It cost us $50. He played some gypsy music, and flirted with the women. It was hilarious fun, especially when his pal showed up with a gypsy violin.

And..............little cooking and cleanup.

I highly recommend going to an ethnic store and putting together a meal of this kind.

[tigereye]

26. what a cool idea! Loved that you hired an accordian player. That's excellent!

[Tesha]

9. How many people

do you plan to feed?

If its just a few - you could do a fondue or a shabu-shabu... nice for conversation.

If its a bunch - you could do a buffet with a theme like Tuscany or Scandinavia, or how about tapas?

Or theme meals like a popular movie or a board game.


Where did I recently see the menu from the Titanic? Might be a bit much - but it would fit your "new" twist....

[Warpy]

14. The Titanic menu should be reserved for more special occasions

Guy Fawkes day
The day before you hit divorce court
That 50th birthday party

[tigereye]

27. hehe! Good one.

[hedgehog]

10. Hard to replicate - but there was the year my husband's

boss gave him a slab of halibut from his fishing trip....

[japple]

11. I always make a traditional Southern (US) feast for New Year's

Day, partly because I grow some of the traditional foods--greens and peas, but mostly because it's supposed to bring good luck in the coming year. There's always pork, greens, field peas, rice, and usually sweet potatoes and cornbread. I never get tired of this, but then I never get tired of turkey, but that's because turkey carcass=good soup stock.

Maybe you could come up with some new ways with old things, such as a corn pudding in place of plain corn, sauteed whole green beans instead of green bean casserole, cranberry/orange relish instead of cranberry sauce, etc. If you want suggestions, give us an idea of the dishes that have gotten boring.

[Inchworm]

13. I had a NY bud that made lasagna every Christmas

A very pleasing tradition for me at the time was going to his house and scarfing up some good eats. :)

:hi:

[eleny]

16. We're making eggplant parmesan

My hubby's mom was Italian. So on Christmas we like to go back to something he remembers as a kid. The thing is that the eggplant parmesan goes well with a slice of ham on the side. So if you do make a ham, this would complement it.

[cbayer]

17. I found an interesting cookbook that is available for free download.

http://www.ceeok.com/Holiday-Cooking-Around-the-World-Easy-Menu-Ethnic-Cookbooks-_322146.html

[tigereye]

28. neat, thanks! Love thinking about what folks do in other countries...

[NMDemDist2]

18. we do prime rib

tamales @ Xmas
blackeyed peas for New years

[GoCubsGo]

20. I'm going German this year

Pork chop, spaetzle, red cabbage, some kind of green vegetable, probably some German wine and German Xmas cookies from Aldi. Might throw some Polish food in, as well. For some reason, German and Polish food scream "Christmas" to me, not that I need an excuse to eat either cuisine.

[Warpy]

21. New Year's should be salmon and peas, IMO,

especially if you had far too much fun the night before. It's a light feast for a jittery stomach.

The best Xmas dinner entree I ever did was Cornish hens stuffed with rice pilaf, very light pan gravy seasoned with wine.

[tigereye]

22. sushi?

:D

[Retrograde]

23. I do a traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner

Seven courses, one fish but all the rest vegetarian: baked mushrooms in sour cream, cheese pierogi, galumki, cabbage and apples, barszcz (also known as borscht), and dessert. With leftovers the next day.

[Monique1]

24. Depends how many people

How about beef and chicken fondue with the different sauces - maybe baked potatoes, a nice salad and some tasty bread? This is my plan for New Year Eve meal. I love fondue and the variety of dips or sauces with a few side dishes. This is also a great communication meal.

[tigereye]

29. for some reason, my mom always did lasagna for Christmas Eve

and since I've been doing Christmas Eve dinners for the past 6-7 years, that's what I do. Since that is the big holiday meal for our family, we've tend to eat lagagna on Christmas Day, too.


One year I made psari plaki and another year chicken mole for New Years. The mole was very good, but a lot of work.

[Dover]

30. Local wild game

I suppose any local game would make for a special twist...even wild turkey (as opposed to Butterball or equivalent). We've been invited to a friend's house for a New Year's meal that
involves a wild pig they caught in a live trap that will be roasted on a spit, outside.
Don't know about your state, but Texas is overrun with wild pigs and there is a steady supply of 'free' meat without legal limit, for those who know how to catch/hunt and process them.
They are prolific breeders. I know that this family has so many that they keep their whole neighborhood fed (and the local food bank).
One pig goes a long way. I've tasted it before and found it to be delicious with only
a little trace of "wild" - in other words, not unlike what you might get at the grocer, but better!
Same situation with deer, however that is, by law, managed hunting.
We used to attend another friend's annual cabrito party (roasted goat) every year which was soooooooo tasty. This friend has since moved, but they used to live nearby and raise goats. They loved their goats and it was always difficult to choose one to harvest, so there was a sense of connection to the food we were served (their animals and garden) gratitude and ritual.

[hippywife]

32. Personally, I like traditional foods

at the holidays even if I don't celebrate them any other way.

I mean, how often to do roast a whole turkey or bake a ham with all the trimmings?

I figure it doesn't kill anyone to sit down to a traditional meal once a year. :D

[eleny]

33. Chinese

I would love to have an assortment of Chinese food on Christmas. We rarely get it at the restaurant these days. But that would be my wish this year.

For grins...

[japple]

34. Far-ra-ra-ra-ra Ra ra ra ra!! eom

[eleny]

35. I would love some of that duck

<sigh>

[Rabrrrrrr]

36. A pail of finely ground Dos Equis bottles and a 2x4.