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[jdmessner]

Normally my wife and I have done a Christmas appreciation dinner for those we have worked with over the last year. The past couple years have not been normal, so we are doing things a bit differently this time around. This will be the first dinner we have done since we have moved, so those who attend will not have any preconceived expectations. We usually try and go big, but they will not know if we are slacking off or not!!

Since my wife had foot surgery at the end of October, we had a bright idea, you might call it an epiphany. We decided to do the dinner on the Twelfth day of Christmas, January 6. The actual 12 days of Christmas are not a countdown to Christmas, but the 12 days after; leading up to the Day of Epiphany. This is when we celebrate the Wisemen showing up to visit Jesus. During Advent I am reading a book on the hymns of Charles Wesley. He wrote over 9,000 of them. Some are very well known (i.e. Hark the Harold Angels Sing) and some not so well known. So in honor of Chuck and his brother John, I thought it would be fun to do a traditional English themed dinner.

Roasted beef, turkey, Yorkshire pudding are a given. Wassail and king cake should also be in the mix. I am trying to figure out sides that might work. My first thought is root vegetables would be good, such as potatoes, carrots, and parsnips. From what I've read, Brussel sprouts might also be appropriate. Normally the kids do appetizers, but I am not sure if they will be around this year, so I may need ideas. My wife will do desserts and decorations, so I will stay out of the way and be supportive!

At this point the plan is to get a whole New York Strip top round, smoke it and thinly slice it to serve. I have done this in the past and it has worked well. After reading just4fun's posting on dry aging, that may be worth a try. Doing the math, if I get it soon, it should be able to age it for 30-35 days. I have wet aged the meat in the past and had good results, dry aging might help me step up my game.

Any ideas, suggestions, and recipes are appreciated. Thanks!!

[Brushpopper]

I would send Chris_M a PM since he's in sunny Lincolnshire and ask him for suggestions for sides.

[jdmessner]

I would send Chris_M a PM since he's in sunny Lincolnshire and ask him for suggestions for sides.

Great idea, message sent!

[Bentley]

So we are not looking for the feast the Magi might have had, but are looking to replicate an English Dinner during 12th night basically circa 1740-1750?

[Kristin Meredith]

My Mom did a Renaissance Dinner for many years at our church in Fresno (she was Minister of Music). The timeframe was England in 1475.  Many of the same traditions you are talking were observed for food -- wassail, prime rib roast, flaming pudding instead of King Cake. She started the food courses with homemade French Onion soup.  I have no idea if that is practical for you or not.  If not enough bowls, a soup can always be served in mugs.

[1MoreFord]

I would think some popovers or Yorkshire pudding would make for good sides.

[pmillen]

I'm fascinated by what I'm learning from this thread (and the site in general).

I can't offer anything worthwhile but will be paying close attention.

[Chris__M]

Traditional sides. Roast potatoes definitely. Yorkshire isn't so "traditional", but always appeared on the Christmas tables of my youth.

Also you are serving beef, so the Yorkshire is definitely allowed!

Nothing wrong with the other veg you listed. I often roast carrots and parsnips together, sometimes glazed with a 50/50 mix of honey and oil. Sprinkle some rosemary over the top.

A common Christmas way of doing brussels is mixed with chestnuts. This BBC page adds bacon to the mix!

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/brussels-sprouts-bacon-chestnuts

Another common Christmas accompaniment is pigs in blankets - small chipolata sausages, about the size of your little finger, wrapped in bacon.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/classic-pigs-blankets

I would normally serve turkey with cranberry sauce and some kind of stuffing, beef with horseradish, of course. I'm partial to a bit of sweetness in my stuffing, so I quite like this pork and apricot, although anything will go.

https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/apricot-stuffing

I usually cook my stuffing separate from the turkey, to ensure everything cooks properly - either  in a dish, or I quite like making stuffing balls, which gives more surface for crispiness and makes it easy to serve.

Hope this helps, and have an excellent time!

[Kristin Meredith]

Ohhh, forgot about the horseradish!  Do you make a sauce Chris or just straight?  When I say sauce, we mix ours with some sour cream for a combo.

[Chris__M]

Horseradish: a sauce, but straight out of jar. 

[jdmessner]

So we are not looking for the feast the Magi might have had, but are looking to replicate an English Dinner during 12th night basically circa 1740-1750?

Bentley, that is correct! It doesn't need to be 100% authentic, but that is my starting point. There will be a lot of leeway, because I don't think most people will be too hung up on the details or checking for accuracy. Hopefully it will just be a time to hang out and enjoy a good meal and good fellowship.

Kristin, I have been fascinated by the some of the stories you have shared about the dinners your mother put on. Someday I would like to help with a Madrigal Dinner, but as you well know that is such a huge undertaking. The French onion soup is a great idea. From what I can tell there are a lot of variations on the King Cake. It looks like the English version goes back to the Tudor's and is very close to the plumb or figgy pudding. I plan on using your mothers molds to make a cake/pudding, with some sort of surprise inside.  Here is something I found on the history of English Christmas dinners:

Mince pies were made with 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and His disciples, including fruits, spices and mutton, to represent the shepherds. Twelfth Night cake was a type of fruit cake, baked with a coin or dried bean hidden in the mixture, and whoever found it became the King or Queen to host the evening's entertainment!
   
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/christmas/christmas-dinners-through-history/

Chris, thank you so much for all the information. I appreciate the help and plan on using several of the recipes. I have always thought of Pigs in the Blanket as more of a Dutch thing and wrapped in pastry, but I don't think you can miss with sausage in bacon. The English may be on to something! I really like the Brussels Sprout recipe. I had a friend that I used to be able to count on for chestnuts each year. They were fun to roast on the pellet grill. However, I just found out he moved, so it looks like I will need to find another source. The apricot stuffing also sounds good. I hadn't planned on stuffing since I am doing the Yorkshire pudding, but may need to rethink that.

I went to get the meat last night, there is a really nice market about 30 miles from here. It was my first venture out after 14 days in quarantine. It felt kind of strange being out and about in the real world again. It was a great place to shop. However, they were sold out of the cut I was looking for. They advertised, choice top round NY strip for $7.99, which isn't bad for this neck of the woods. So it looks like I will loose a few days of aging. There is another store advertising them for a similar price a little closer to home. It was not a total loss, I did get a top round roast for the Italian beef I am doing next weekend and a bone in prime rib for a family Christmas meal. 

Thanks for all the help!

[Chris__M]

Pigs in blankets, I have also come across the name being used for sausage in pastry, although here in the UK (or the parts I have lived in; we are a small country, but customs change from region to region) it's in bacon; sausage in pastry is simply called a "sausage roll".

However, I recently came across this, which amused me greatly, and I would love to see used for pastry and sausage.

 [ Invalid Attachment ]

Note that all my descriptions are for food traditions from the 1960's onwards, that being my childhood.

Mince pies disappoint me these days. I remember when they were made from a mixture of vine fruits, zest and candied peel, brown sugar and - importantly - suet. Over the years, I got used to checking the ingredients to make sure suet was being used and not "vegetable suet" (usually incorporating palm oil), but for the past 10 years, the suet recipe has disappeared from the shops completely, both in pies and in the canned mincemeat. I hate the palm oil version, as it seems to coat my mouth with an aftertaste.

I guess the answer is to try and make my own. I've planned to do it for the last 3 years, and still haven't gotten around to it.

[Chris__M]

I live on my own, but I always do a proper Christmas dinner. Some of the sides I buy in - one of the butchers I use sell trays of par-boiled potatoes in goose or duck fat, ready for the oven, and also the pigs in blankets.

I usually buy for a table of 3 or 4, as I often discover that some friend or other is going to spend the day on their own. I actually like my own company, but I am also happy to invite friends and lay a place for them at the table. If that doesn't happen, and I eat alone, then I have lots of cold meat for the days following - I also plan for what prepared/part-cooked veg can go in the freezer if it is not needed. Nothing goes wasted.

This year I am not planning on guests, but that hasn't altered my shopping. Often I will buy a turkey crown (Do you have them in the States? The top half of the carcass, with just the breasts, but no wings or legs.), the last couple of years I have bought either a stuffed turkey leg (which is huge) or a 3 bird roast. This year I have got a goose coming, the first I have tried. I figure that a solo Christmas is a good time to experiment with one for the first time, and leftovers can easily be used or frozen.

I hate my kitchen's oven, and plan to get rid of it soon, for more storage. So the goose will go in the pellet grill on a racked roasting tin.

[Bentley]

Yeah, Pigs in a Blanket is third of a hot dog rolled up in a Pillsbury Crescent Roll! Or a similar sized sausage/dog/hot link of your choosing!

[Bentley]

Tried to make them and was not real successful either time!

...sausage in pastry is simply called a "sausage roll".