The totally off-topic thread

[Pushka]

Always felt funny eating pudding at Christmas, have been a firm believer in the last few years at celebrating Christmas with local food, be it bugs, prawns whatever, and don't mis the pudding at all.

But I can do that every other day!

 

[anat0l]

Always felt funny eating pudding at Christmas, have been a firm believer in the last few years at celebrating Christmas with local food, be it bugs, prawns whatever, and don't mis the pudding at all.

I'm not big on seafood, but we have some great local meat as well.

I have to say, I've very, very rarely seen someone pull of a nice roast turkey, especially a huge one.

 

[drron]

I'm not big on seafood, but we have some great local meat as well.

I have to say, I've very, very rarely seen someone pull of a nice roast turkey, especially a huge one.

Well just be sure your partner is a good cook.We spent a Christmas in the Adirondacks.Were meant to have a Turducken but on Christmas eve were told that it couldn't be delivered.So off we took in a blizzard to the village of Croghan.The door of the supermarket was open so in we went-surprised the woman as it was meant to be closed but she had forgotten to lock the door.Fortunately there was one turkey left and it was huge.
We were staying there with our surrogate family.The two wives did a fantastic job even down to a very tasty stuffing.A turkey when the snow is falling outside is just perfect for a Christmas lunch.As was the pudding.

 

[drron]

Why are some people luckier than others?

Well you should remember Gary Player's words on this-the more I practice the luckier I get.

 

[JessicaTam]

I'm not big on seafood, but we have some great local meat as well.

I have to say, I've very, very rarely seen someone pull of a nice roast turkey, especially a huge one.

Then you need to visit my mother's for Xmas lunch!

 

[Hvr]

Why are some people luckier than others?

You have lots of luck, just that most of what you call luck is bad.

Although, compared to other countries Australians are very lucky and even the poorest is wealthier than most other people in the world.

 

[anat0l]

Then you need to visit my mother's for Xmas lunch!

Is that an invitation?

(Just joking - my family probably wouldn't be happy with that, unless I happen to be unable to get to Brisbane for Christmas)

Although, compared to other countries Australians are very lucky and even the poorest is wealthier than most other people in the world.

I remember in my high school days when I did debating, "That Australia is the lucky country," was a frequent junior debating topic. Luckily, I never had to argue the topic at all.

 

[JessicaTam]

Is that an invitation?

(Just joking - my family probably wouldn't be happy with that, unless I happen to be unable to get to Brisbane for Christmas)
...

No! More for me.

 

[Pushka]

No! More for me.

I can pull off the Turkey but the glazed ham leg seems to be my trademark. . Followed closely by strawberry pavlova roulade and special brandy butter.

My mum didn't teach me to cook but my two grannies were legends. One of the grannies even refused to update her wood oven to one of those modern fan dangled electric things.

 

[anat0l]

glazed ham leg seems to be my trademark.

A bit ditto here! I was probably the first in my family to create a tasty glazed ham. Previous to that, usually it just ended up being a burnt mess. Not to mention every time I had to fetch the ham out and glaze it, mum use to always freak out because I was losing so much heat (and it was, in her view, an excessively painstaking task). The attention, of course, was well worth it!

 

[Hvr]

Well this year Xmas lunch is at my place. Could be an interesting family meal, no idea what to prepare.

 

[suze2000]

Hubby and I have just chosen to roast a chicken the last couple of years. Much nicer than a turkey, because it's moist. There's a recipe Roast Chicken With Whisky-spiked Gravy Recipe - Taste.com.au - use good quality whiskey, whiskey connoisseurs might cry, but it's totally worth the sacrifice.

However, I have (twice) got a turkey breast from the butcher, and taken my own stuffing down and had them roll it into the breast. If you make the stuffing moist enough (I add apricot nectar to it, and some nuts for compensating crunch), it infuses the breast and you end up with nice moist meat. Then I roast whatever didn't fit in the breast separately, for extra stuffing.

 

[anat0l]

We usually have a roast pork belly for Christmas. Usually prepared simply in Asian style - bit of five spice, salt - my mum's bane of existence every single year is perfecting the crackling.

 

[erkpod]

Got to love being 3 hours early for work because I wrote the master roster's start time & not the actual roster's start time!

Now catching a train to the city to hang out.

 

[Buzzard]

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Todays email from Qantas - might be too ON TOPIC for this thread :shock:


"For the first time ever, Australia's renowned chef and Qantas Ambassador Neil Perry has created a Christmas pudding for you to enjoy in your own home.
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[TD="width: 549, align: left"] Beautifully rich, the pudding is laden with only the best Australian fruit and brandy. This pudding is even more delicious when served with brandy custard – Neil's own suggested custard recipe is supplied with the pudding. It comes packaged ready to cook, simply steamed or microwaved.
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[TD="align: left"] Available for a limited time only
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[TD="width: 549, align: left"] Order from the Qantas Store before 11.59pm on Thursday 14 November 2013 to ensure a special finish to your Christmas menu.* Available for just 4,900 Qantas Points.^ Available for delivery within Australia only. "


It comes with a nice photo of a pud - but seeing I am not a fan of NP I wont be taking up the offer
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Why not upsell?....... Would you like status credits with that?

 

[Pushka]

We usually have a roast pork belly for Christmas. Usually prepared simply in Asian style - bit of five spice, salt - my mum's bane of existence every single year is perfecting the crackling.

Yum. I used to be able crackle pork easily but lately not so much. Maybe it was the oven. Just got a new Bosch one and it is soo much hotter than the old one.

 

[anat0l]

Yum. I used to be able crackle pork easily but lately not so much. Maybe it was the oven. Just got a new Bosch one and it is soo much hotter than the old one.

For some strange reason, our oven is heat biased on one side, and of course it is hotter on the side closer to the back of the oven than it is the front. This makes anything being prepared in our oven an interesting exercise. We do find sometimes that rotating the trays (i.e. not moving them up and down the racks, but actually rotating them say 180 degrees before putting them back on the rack) in the oven during cooking is a quintessential exercise.

 

[JessicaTam]

For some strange reason, our oven is heat biased on one side, and of course it is hotter on the side closer to the back of the oven than it is the front. This makes anything being prepared in our oven an interesting exercise. We do find sometimes that rotating the trays (i.e. not moving them up and down the racks, but actually rotating them say 180 degrees before putting them back on the rack) in the oven during cooking is a quintessential exercise.

That was an essential part of cooking before fan forced ovens came along.

 

[anat0l]

That was an essential part of cooking before fan forced ovens came along.

Well our oven is fan forced, but we're still being forced to do some ballet in the oven.

We should probably consider a new oven, but we tolerate it mostly because we'd likely have to live here at least another 10 years (and do a lot more oven based cooking) for a new oven to be worthwhile!

 

[Pushka]

Well our oven is fan forced, but we're still being forced to do some ballet in the oven.

We should probably consider a new oven, but we tolerate it mostly because we'd likely have to live here at least another 10 years (and do a lot more oven based cooking) for a new oven to be worthwhile!

I guess it depends on the price you pay. I ditched my oven after six years poor performance. I did a happy dance when it started to trip the safety device. We needed to repair the fan a couple of years ago.

I cooked a chicken in the new oven the other day and the taste was amazingly different but my technique hadn't changed. The new one was only $699 at Good Guys plus $100 installation. Well worth it.