Christmas Dinner Ideas: Five Mains That Carry a Whole Table
"One dish, one oven, four to fifteen plates. Sorted by how many people it feeds and how much of the work can happen before the day."
Notes From Behind the Steering Wheel
Christmas dinner is one decision, not twelve. Whatever goes in the middle of the table decides the shopping, the timing and how much of the evening you spend in the kitchen instead of at it, and everything else on the table is a side note to that choice.
So this list only holds main courses, and each one is here for a different table. There is the big one that feeds fifteen and keeps feeding people on the twenty-seventh. There is the showpiece where almost all the work happens the day before. There is one for a table that does not want a roast at all, one for the guest who does not eat meat and should not be handed an apology, and one that is better after a night in the fridge, which makes it the answer for Christmas Eve.
What this list will not do is pretend that any of them are quick. The fastest here is thirty minutes in the oven on top of an hour of preparation. That is what a table of six costs.
"Twelve to fifteen plates off one piece of meat, basted every half hour with reserved pineapple and cherry juice, brown sugar and lemon-lime soda. It is also the only main here that is worth as much on the twenty-seventh as on the day."
"Six plates, and the one on this list you cook to be watched. Almost all of it happens the day before - sear, duxelles, bacon, chill, chill again - so the twenty-fifth is pastry and forty-five minutes in the oven."
"Six plates for a table that has had enough roast for one winter. A proper roux, three cheeses and a pound of lobster, and the cheese goes in with the pan off the heat or the sauce turns grainy in front of you."
"The main for the person at the table who does not eat meat, written so it does not read as a consolation prize. Salted and fried bare with no breadcrumbs, layered with hand-crushed peeled tomatoes and fresh mozzarella."
"Two hours on the lowest simmer, and it is better after a night in the fridge - which makes it the answer for Christmas Eve, when nobody wants to be standing over a pan at seven. The sour cream goes on the plate, never into the pot."
Other Collections From the Truck
Same kitchen, different occasion. Every list here was written on its own, none of them from a template.
- Halloween Cookies Without a Single Cookie Cutter
- Halloween Treats and Snacks That Are Not Cookies
- Thanksgiving Appetizers That Never Fight the Turkey for the Oven
- Thanksgiving Sides: The Five That Earn Their Plate Space
- Thanksgiving Desserts for People Who Are Already Full
- Thanksgiving Leftovers: Five Recipes That Start With Cold Turkey
- Christmas Appetizers for a Two-Hour Arrival
- Game Day Food for an Ordinary Sunday
- Super Bowl Snacks You Finish Before Kickoff