Christmas Dinner 2008

Santa welcomes you.

[ts]
This dinner almost didn't happen.

Well, it almost didn't happen in this scale. We had planned to have a get-together at our house but we were getting semi-cancellations about 2 days beforehand because of the snow here in Vancouver. So, we were set to have a dinner at home ourselves, especially when there was new snow falling on the 24th! However, that snow turned "rainy" and by Christmas morning, the semi-cancellations were themselves cancelled and the party was on!

Menu


Dry-Brined Roast Turkey
w/ Turkey Gravy
w/ Cranberry Sauce

Ham with Sweet Glaze

Moroccan Chicken Tagine

Garlic Bread
Mashed Potatoes
Mesclun Greens w/ Dried Cranberries & Balsamic Vinaigrette
Cabbage with Corned Beef
Gailan (Chinese Broccoli) w/ Oyster Sauce
Pesto Pasta with Shrimp
Philippine Chicken Macaroni Salad

The Proteins


Dry-Brined Roast Turkey
Served with homemade gravy and cranberry sauce. This is our first-ever turkey and we do have a lot to say on the topic! Read all about it here.


Ham with Sweet Glaze
We didn't make this ourselves... it was {muffled}. It was store-bought! (Gasp!). Still tasty, though.

[js]
Well, the ham did take 3 hours in the oven -- so every minute that it was using up our gas, it's kind of like we were "cooking" it. ;)


Moroccan Chicken Tagine
I'm sorry, but I can't seem to make this dish look good in pictures! But, like before, it was mighty tasty. This is pure flavor in a pot. See our post with recipe.

The Sides

Garlic Bread and Mashed Potatoes


Mesclun Greens with Dried Cranberries and Balsamic Vinaigrette
This is our "house" salad and it's always popular (seen here before).


Cabbage with Corned Beef
This is a Philippine or Filipino-Chinese home-style dish. Simply sauté some onions and corned beef in a pan and add your cabbage. Cook until the cabbage is soft.

Oh, by the way, by corned beef, we mean canned corned beef. We from the Philippines do love our Spam and corned beef.


Gailan (Chinese Broccoli) with Oyster Sauce
A 3-ingredient wonder of a dish. See our gailan post.

And finally, these 2 dishes were brought over by the B -- of the B's Hong Ba (Red-Braised Pork Hock) fame -- and his wife.


Pesto Pasta with Shrimp
Simple and delicious. Thanks, the B's wife!


Philippine Chicken Macaroni Salad
This had minced carrots, chopped pineapples, macaroni and shredded chicken all combined with mayonnaise. A classic Philippine dish, one we haven't had in a very long time! This is especially good eaten with the ham. Thanks, the B!


The Buffet


We consider these 2 items great early Christmas gifts, having received them early in December.

Thanks to Ben of What's Cooking for the book on tapas

and to

Jen of The Leftover Queen and the Royal Food Joust for the apron!



Christmas Dinner 2008 on a plate
clockwise from top: mesclun greens, Moroccan chicken, cranberry sauce, roast turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, gailan (Chinese broccoli), cabbage w/ corned beef, ham, garlic bread, chicken macaroni salad, and finally, below the greens, pesto pasta w/ shrimp.

Now, we just have to worry about our New Year's Eve feast!