what is the recipe for Xmas eve?

[babeinthewood]

Hi there, lots of friends would come over to my house for dinner at Xmas eve. I am not much of a good cook. could you kindly offer me some smart recipe ideas? Thanks.:santa2:

[MinnesotaMike]

The recipe is "go to someone else's house and eat their food".

[Elvira1986]

I would say make it easy on yourself. Do a lot of things you can prepare in advance, so you don't have to stay in the kitchen half of the night. Do you have an idea what sort of food you would like to cook?

[Nikita]

Ladies!
December 1st makes a lot of us think of the holidays))))) It's hard not to think about snow even if your climate doesn't bring it.
this recipe was taken from here\\\ , also you can find there a perfect sauce for Christmas meat! Good Luck and Merry Christmas!

Roast Duck.
Ingredients:
1 Duck, about 5 pounds
Six 1 by 3-inch strips orange zest
1 small onion, halved
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds, lightly crushed
8 whole black peppercorns, lightly crushed
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 large garlic cloves, crushed and peeled

A day before roasting, remove the giblets and neck from the cavity of the bird and discard. If necessary pluck any stray pinfeathers off the duck with tweezers. Trim the neck flap and excess fat from around the cavity. Rinse and dry the bird well. Set the duck on a rack on a baking sheet, and refrigerate, uncovered, for 24 hours.
Heat the oven to 300 degrees F. Pierce the duck's skin all over (including the back), every 1/2-inch, with a skewer or small knife. Season the cavity with salt and pepper and stuff with 3 strips of the orange zest and the onion. Set the duck on a rack in a roasting pan, and pour a cup of water in the pan. Roast the bird for 3 hours, removing the duck from the oven every hour to prick the skin again.
Meanwhile, make the glaze: Combine the remaining orange zest, molasses, honey, coriander, pepper, orange juice, vinegar, and garlic in a small saucepan. Heat, stirring, over medium-high heat until warm. Remove glaze from the heat and set it aside at room temperature while the duck cooks.
Remove the duck from the oven and carefully, pour off the excess fat from the pan. (If desired reserve this fat for frying potatoes or wilting greens.) Raise the oven temperature to 450 degree F. Return the duck to the oven and roast until crisp and brown, about 30 minutes more.
Let the duck rest at room temperature for 10 minutes before carving. Brush the duck's skin with glaze 4 to 5 five times during the resting period. Carve the duck and transfer pieces to warm serving platter. Serve the remaining glaze at the table to drizzle over the duck, if desired.
Made this for last Christmas Day and now it is my favorite dish. Recipe is simple, the duck was moist and the glaze is delicious. One note, for the next time I would double the amount of glaze.

[cujiine]

I would probably suggest keeping it casual. Take something traditional, like a christmas ham, and rework it into something else. I've never been big on ham and my family knows that so as the kids got older we would stop making such a huge deal about the holidays. Eventually it came down to, a huge batch of mac and cheese (homemade is better) with little chunks of meat inside. Sometimes it was hame sometimes chicken or turkey! Just make it something that they don't have to worry about eating the wrong way or question what's in it.