My mom and I both love to cook. We've had some years where we tried new and exciting recipes and others where everyone just wanted old favorites!
If you don't feel super confident in the kitchen, my advice is to make something you really LOVE- something you feel good about making and proud of serving. You want to enjoy the day too and not be stressed out!
If you are having your 'big' meal on Christmas Eve, first off, I suggest getting a nice veggie tray, some cheese and crackers for folks to nibble on while you're getting things together in the kitchen. Also, make some punch ahead of time, or put your husband in charge of wine or whatever drinks you want to serve. He can focus on the guests while you focus on what you're doing.
I would suggest making a Beef Wellington, which is MUCH easier than it sounds and very impressive! You can do almost all the work a day ahead of time, too.
1)Get a nice big beef roast from the butcher- tell him you are making Beef Wellington and for how many people and he will help you get what you need. Also ask him how long it should cook ( it will depend on how big the roast is).
2)buy a frozen pie crust- the kind that comes in the box in a rolled circle of dough- NOT the kind in a pie pan. You might want to buy an extra box, just to be sure you have enough.
3)Brown the beef in the pan on the stovetop just to give the meat a nice color. Let the beef cool off and allow the pie crust to thaw enough so you can unroll it easily. Then just wrap the pie crusts all around the beef roast, almost like a present, so you have a wrapped 'package' of beef. Use a little warm water to 'glue' the edges of the crust shut if you need to.
4)You can use cookie cutters to cut some little shapes - stars, holly leaves, etc.- out of the extra crust and also attach those to the top of the roast to make it pretty.
5)Then you can put the roast into the fridge until the next day. Take it out about 15 minutes before you want to actually cook it and let it sit while the oven warms. You can roast it in a roasting pan or a dutch oven- whatever you have.
6)Break an egg into a glass and keep the egg white, discard the yolk. Brush the crust with egg white, just like you would for a pie. This will make the crust shiny and pretty. Heat your oven to 350 and (depending on the size of the roast) plan to cook it for about an hour to an hour and a half.
7) check it after about 40 minutes and make sure the crust isn't getting too brown. If it is, lay a piece of foil lightly over the browned crust to protect it from the heat. When the time is up, check it with a meat thermometer. Remember- the temperature of the meat is what is important and means that it is cooked! Just insert the thermometer on the side or somewhere it won't show too much.
8) if the meat is done, take it out and sit it on your serving platter with the piece of foil over it. Let it sit for about 10 or 15 minutes- this will make the meat really tender.
9)While the meat is cooking, put together a bag of salad with a few fancy extras, like dried cranberries and walnuts. Also, one of my fave side dishes is green beans with hazelnuts. I usually steam the green beans in the microwave for about 4 minutes. While they steam, I heat up a non-stick skillet and get some crushed up hazelnuts ( you can do this with walnuts or pecans too) and I stir-cook the nuts in the pan with a little butter. It smells delicious! Then drain the green beans and drop them in the pan too with some more butter. Cook them and stir them all around until you are ready to serve! You can also roast some little potatoes with this meal too.
For Christmas day, I say a ham is great. you stick it in the oven, everyone has sandwiches at lunchtime with some potato salad or things like that. Or a nice macaroni and cheese casserole with some bacon in it- comfort food you can just stick in the oven and don't have to mess with! Get a coffee cake or something for the morning and let people just snack and enjoy the day! Good luck - and remember what Julia Child said 'In your own kitchen nobody can see you!" have fun- I'm sure it will turn out great!
