Christmas Dinner Menu suggestions please

Smoked sweet potatos or squash with brown sugar, garlic and chipotle would add nice color.
Roasted potatoes with herbs, red peppers would also look festive

Do what we do every year...order chinese!

Yakfishingfool said:

Do what we do every year...order chinese!

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Yep - Same here; tradition, Chinese and a movie.

Did do a couple of traditonal Christmas Eve's with a friend's family for the traditional feast of the seven fishes.

And can't we get past Thanksgiving before we start talking about Christmas

bbqjoe said:

The entree will be ZBQ's Italian stuffed pork loin, with hot French bread.
I need some suggestion for 2 side dishes. Something not too difficult but something with great presentation that won't detract from the pork.

Thanks.

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LOOKS GREAT.

I vote fresh green beans lightly prepared and roasted red potatoes. Both will complement that awesome dish. Perhaps garnished with a grated hard cheese.

Spaghetti squash, baked then split. Fork out the insides to a baking pan. Add Italian tomatoes, mozzarella and Parisian cheese. Bake until bubbling great side dish.

COPPER PENNIES - CARROTS
2 lb. carrots
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. salad oil
3/4 c. vinegar
Green pepper, diced, optional
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp. prepared mustard
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 can tomato soup
Cut the carrots in 1/4 inch slices (these look like copper pennies). Cook until barely tender in salt water. Drain. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over carrots. Marinate overnight in refrigerator. This will keep a week refrigerated. This is not necessarily better, but is easier. Drain canned carrots, slice and cover with marinade.

Markbb said:

Hey Grumpy you got a camera in my house, thats exactly what making for dinner tonite:mrgreen:

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It's great stuff man. Ill never never tell about the camera. :wink:

That is a good looking stuffed loin! May seem silly, but I gotta suggest the green bean cassarol with the onions on top!

Dressing (not stuffing) looks to go with that fine piece of pork

Keep it simple and pretty, don't let anything detract from that roast.
Blanched fresh carrots sauteed in butter, lemon rosemary, steamed fingerling (or some funky looking) potato.
Need a rich, mild flavor sauce for the pork, a roasted garlic demi.

I did that pork loin for a group about a month ago... it is killer.

As for sides I like the green beans with red potatoes and garlic. I would also consider doing an eggplant casserole. Easy to do in large amounts and oh so good.

Basic recipe is:

3 large eggplant
1 medium sweet onion
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
1 stick butter
2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese
sleeve of crackers (I use Ritz but saltines are fine)

Slice onion and place in boiling water
Peel and slice eggplant - place in with onions after the onions have boiled about 5 minutes
Cook eggplant just until it is softening... you don't want mush
Remove eggplant from heat and drain well
In a bowl mix eggplant, 1/2 of the butter (melted), about 2/3 of the cheese, the eggs and about 2/3 of the sleeve of crushed crackers and mix well. Here you need to give it what I call the plop test. Get a large spoonful of the mixture. Turn the spoon to the side. You don't want the mixture so runny that it runs off the spoon. You want it to just kind of plop off. If you need to firm it up a bit add some more crackers.
Put the mixture in a casserole dish.
Top with remaining butter, then remaining cheese, then the remaining crackers.
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until topping is golden brown.

The chit is good!!!

Markbb said:

Roasted garlic goes in my Mashed potatoes, with cream cheese.....maybe potato au graten:idea:

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Ditto, but ....


I prefer to bake the potatoes for mashed potatoes.

They come out drier than boiling, but then you add the mositure back in with rich flavor using butter, sour cream, and cream cheese. The roasted garlic puts the finishing touches on it.