So, how WAS your main Christmas meat? :)

parthy · 27/12/10 - 01:08

Inspired by the "How much did yours cost?" thread.

My parents were let down by the people who were supposed to give them a turkey, but found another supplier the same night (a more trustworthy one at the last minute) and got a 12lbs free-range turkey. And he was lovely and moist!

No complaints about the gammon here either.

cnbcwatcher · 27/12/10 - 01:35

We had duck and it was lovely

AppleJuice:) · 27/12/10 - 04:55

My tin of luncheon meat was delicious!!!:)

timboy · 27/12/10 - 06:03

Overcooked as usual.

AppleJuice:) · 27/12/10 - 06:23

timboy wrote: »

Overcooked as usual.

Why is it usually overcooked? Was it beef?

kate36 · 27/12/10 - 06:26

We had a turkey crown roast from morrisons and it was lovely:D
we still have loads left, i plan a full scale assault later today...:D

[Deleted User] · 27/12/10 - 07:53

Honestly?

Bloody awful!

My Mum and Dad called around earlier in the week saying, "As you 2 cook Christmas dinner each year for the family, we wanted to contribute something, so we bought the turkey!"

They handed me a very cold, frozen monstrosity labeled up as a "self basting Bernard Matthews turkey".

I've never had a frozen turkey before (nor a Bernard Matthews one), and I will never have one again.

Despite the fact that it was meant to be self basting, I still dressed it with nutmeg butter and stuffed it (although using Jamie Oliver's techinique for the first time this year instead of good old Delia's).

The result was what I would call a dry turkey. Yuck.

And while I'm on the subject, Jamie's butternut squash was lack lustre; his broccoli in anchovy butter tasted foul, his roast potatoes tasted nice if you could get past the fact they were white, his roasted parsnips needed viagra and his sprouts tasted very sprouty. Gravy was nice I suppose.

The saving grace was the duck we did with cherry sauce, but that came from Delia's book rather than Jamie's DVD.

Next year, I'll be going back to Delia's Christmas book. It's never let me down and we always get 10/10 when we use it. This year though, Bernard Matthews and Jamie Oliver really let me down.

kate36 · 27/12/10 - 07:58

Bernard Matthews??? I'd rather eat my own liver!!!:eek:

Can't stand Jamie Oliver

Delia has always been good to us too:D

Morrison's turkey crown really was very good:)

Caramel Crunch · 27/12/10 - 09:13

The turkey, gammon & beef were all delicious.

Charcole911 · 27/12/10 - 10:05

The meat was firm, moist and tasty. Finger licking good

molliepops · 27/12/10 - 10:33

Tesco's £9.99 turkey crown, ready stuffed and in it's own cooking dish.

Meat was apparently lovely and moist (veggie so I didn't try it) but no one could eat the stuffing it was horrible. I had a taste to see why and it tasted so sweet it could have had custard poured over and the only recognisable flavour appeared to be cheap orange squash

Would I buy it again - tbh no I don't think so.

[Deleted User] · 27/12/10 - 10:52

We had turkey and beef and they were both done perfectly. The turkey was perfectly moist and the beef was rare, which is just how I like it and they both made for great leftovers on Boxing Day.

kate36 · 27/12/10 - 11:01

SN-22 wrote: »

We had turkey and beef and they were both done perfectly. The turkey was perfectly moist and the beef was rare, which is just how I like it and they both made for great leftovers on Boxing Day.

we've still got turkey left! going to have turkey, stuffing and apple sauce baps tonight with lentil and bacon soup:D

then chocolate gateau for afters

gym tomorrow!!:p

lorry · 27/12/10 - 11:07

As I mentioned in my other thread, my £9.99 Aldi 3-bird roast was delicious!

kate36 · 27/12/10 - 11:11

lorry wrote: »

As I mentioned in my other thread, my £9.99 Aldi 3-bird roast was delicious!

thats good:D

[Deleted User] · 27/12/10 - 11:14

Turkey crown at the in-laws, not good. Dry and by the time everyone was served it was all cold too.

Gravy, stuffing and some of veg was all sweet. I don't usually go down south for Christmas, usually up in Scotland, is it common to sweeten savoury things there? My mother in law seems to sweeten everything, with sugar and honey and she pours sweet chutney in everything. That is not my cup of tea at all and i had to force it all down

whackyracer · 27/12/10 - 11:30

Both the lamb and chicken were delightful, as was the home made stuffing, roasties, glazed parsnips and carrots and sprouts cooked with bacon, chestnuts and a little cream...but then I did a lot of prep in advance so as to avoid any catastrophes!

molliepops · 27/12/10 - 11:38

littleRB wrote: »

Turkey crown at the in-laws, not good. Dry and by the time everyone was served it was all cold too.

Gravy, stuffing and some of veg was all sweet. I don't usually go down south for Christmas, usually up in Scotland, is it common to sweeten savoury things there? My mother in law seems to sweeten everything, with sugar and honey and she pours sweet chutney in everything. That is not my cup of tea at all and i had to force it all down

I thought it was the modern thing rather than a southern thing ? Certainly not traditionally southern but all the TV cooks seem to do it.

lorry · 27/12/10 - 11:56

Personally I hate carrots cooked with honey although I know it's the "thing" to do these days. I think carrots are sweet enough myself. I do like fruit with meat though, like cranberry or apple sauce. For me the sweetness has to have a tart edge to it, unlike honey which is pure sugar.

whackyracer · 27/12/10 - 12:40

lorry wrote: »

Personally I hate carrots cooked with honey although I know it's the "thing" to do these days. I think carrots are sweet enough myself. I do like fruit with meat though, like cranberry or apple sauce. For me the sweetness has to have a tart edge to it, unlike honey which is pure sugar.

It brings out the natural sweetness of the carrots but I tend to add chilli flakes to it to give a contrast.

molliepops · 27/12/10 - 13:05

Have to agree with lorry I can never taste the carrot if sweetness is added and chilli is used far too much these days for my personal palate. What's wrong with a good fresh carrot on it's own ...

[Deleted User] · 27/12/10 - 14:59

Our turkey crown was good; ended up eating 45 minutes later than planned as the pop-up timer wouldn't pop up and my mother was convinced it was undercooked. Just as she gave in and took it out to start on the other stuff... it popped up. Bloody useless.
However it was very moist and nice, leading us to believe maybe if we hadn't cooked for 3:15hrs instead of the 2:30hrs recommended it would've been all slimey and nasty. Either way it worked out well!

whackyracer · 27/12/10 - 15:04

molliepops wrote: »

Have to agree with lorry I can never taste the carrot if sweetness is added and chilli is used far too much these days for my personal palate. What's wrong with a good fresh carrot on it's own ...

Because most veg we get in this country doesn't taste as good as it used to and sometimes requires a little help. You don't like chilli for your palate, great, don't use it, but you can't expect everyone else to enjoy plain boiled carrots, I must say I find them a little lack lustre. Same for boiled sprouts, peas etc.
Also, I love cooking and part of that includes trying variations on various types of food. If we all ate plain meat and veg there wouldn't be a need for michellin star chefs or the numerous cooking shows we have. How boring that would be.

degsyhufc · 27/12/10 - 15:10

Got a cheapish turkey crown. It was very nice and moist. Still think it tastes like chicken though

degsyhufc · 27/12/10 - 15:12

whackyracer wrote: »

Because most veg we get in this country doesn't taste as good as it used to and sometimes requires a little help. You don't like chilli for your palate, great, don't use it, but you can't expect everyone else to enjoy plain boiled carrots, I must say I find them a little lack lustre. Same for boiled sprouts, peas etc.
Also, I love cooking and part of that includes trying variations on various types of food. If we all ate plain meat and veg there wouldn't be a need for michellin star chefs or the numerous cooking shows we have. How boring that would be.

My dad tried to make honey glazed parsnips which turned out to be candied parsnips

My addition was sauteed sprouts with red onion, smoked bacon and balsamic vinegar.
Best part of the meal in my opinion

Demizdeeroolz · 27/12/10 - 15:12

We had a Turkey butterfly joint from the local butcher, was lovely and most, accompanied by roast potatoes, carrots brussels, Delia's red cabbage made in advance, bread sauce cranberry also made in advance. I made some stuffing balls with pork, breadcrumbs, cranberries and chestnuts on xmas eve. Gravy was made from giblet stock and turkey juices.

It was a great success according to my in laws. We had turkey dinner again last night and will tonight, my two youngest children never get bored with roast dinner and we're happy to eat it more than once at xmas

Hey there!

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So, how WAS your main Christmas meat? :)

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