Stuff the turkey this year: Perfect Christimas Dinners - Breeze Bites

If I say “Christmas dinner”, you probably get an image of a table furnished with a huge bird, the turkey, surrounded by all the trimmings. 

When slowly roasted and timed to perfection, turkey is delicious, and most of us probably have great memories eating it for our Christmas dinners. Turkeys have the advantage of being affordable, extremely tasty and big enough to feed a large family. 

If you go free range, the bird will have had ample space to roam around, meaning you will enjoy a succulent and flavoursome feast come yuletide. And then of course are the leftovers.  There are so many options, including pies and the obligatory turkey curry. Delicious.

There are however many alternatives if you would like to do something a little different this year.

Turkey has only been traditionally eaten at Christmas for the last few hundred years, and before that boar and even swan were commonplace at the festive table.  

I am not suggesting you visit your local lake to try and snag one of these elegant birds. After all, a swan can break a man’s arm, so it wouldn’t be worth the risk.

Instead, here a few tasty options that you can consider when it comes to planning your Christmas menu.

Choose a goose?

If you know any Dickens, then you will realise that a tasty goose is what the Crachits were planning to eat until Scrooge decided to send them a turkey.

Many aficionados will tell you that a goose is more flavourful, looks great and you have the added benefit of using its fat to make scrummy roast potatoes.

Fancy a game?

Game isn’t something Australians eat every day, so serving it up is a good choice if you want a meal that feels different and special.

Partridge feels Christmassy for obvious reasons, venison has a rich flavour which might appeal, or you could opt for pheasant.

Go the whole hog?

Channel your Henry VIII and treat your guests to a whole suckling big.  This has the wow factor and also doesn’t need much preparation.  You will need a pretty big oven, or you could do the spit roast if you have the right apparatus.  

A nice tasty ham is also really popular, which can be a show-stopper with a decent glaze to get your guests’ mouths watering.

Seafood diet

Sometimes Christmas is too hot to be in the kitchen, so you can step outside (where it might be even hotter but let’s forget about that for a moment) fire up the bbq and prepare a feast of seafood.

The great thing about les fruits de mer is the great variety of options available. 

Prawns, mussels, calamari, oysters, salmon, ocean trout.  It would be easy to design a delicious Christmas menu using any combination of these, or visit your local supermarket or fishmonger and ask for some tips.

Something for the vegetarians

Being a vegetarian at Christmas can mean lots of wonderful flavours.  

There’s the traditional nut roast, spiced strudels, all range of pies to choose from and that’s before we have even mentioned cheese. A homage to fromage.

So whether you opt for turkey this year or something a little bit different, we hope you have a fabulous holiday season topped off with some delicious meals.  

Merry Christmas!

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Jo Kane

Events Gold Coast