As noted elsewhere, we have yet to cook our Christmas Dinner, but when we do, it will a close to traditional as possible for a gluten-free, corn-allergic (etc) vegan.
We'lll have Walkie's Awesome Nut Roast of course. Nope, I don't have an oven, anymore, as some might have spotted fronm other posts, but I do have a big combination microwave , so it can cook in there
And sprouts. yes, sprouts. we both really like sprouts. I usually pre-cook them , then saute the cooked sprouts along with finely chopped garlic and flaked almonds, then smother the results in chopped parsley. This year I thought I'd try substituting chestnuts for the almonds because chestnuts are more traditional; besides which there was a two-for one offer on 'em *grin * . I used to saute them in a mixyure of butterand olive oil before I became dairy intolerant. I now make do with olive oil and/or some kind of vegan spread .
And roast [potatoes and roast parsnips They can be done in the micrwave too! though it might get a bit overcrowded .
And stuffing. I used to get Mrs Crimbles gluten-free sage and onion stuffing mix. . Dead simple! but the manufacturer has suddenly started putting corn starch in it. So have all the other manufacturers . Grr. So I've bought some "rice breadcrumbs. "The other ingredients are things that I always have in stock anyway. So it's make-my-own-stuffing from here on. And hope it turns out alright.
And vegan gluten-free gravy, which I always make to my own recipe anyways, throwing extra stuff in which i can't normally be arsed with (finely grated carrots, onions and sprouts) to make it extra special at christmas . The essential ingredient is loads of yeast extract- that gives it the "meaty" taste- then herbs (pasrley, thyme, rosemary usually) and some kind of thickener- I used to use cornflour, but lately i'm finding that a mixture of rice flour and xanthan gum works quite nicely.
Preparing that lot would totally wear me out before i was halfway finished, these days, but Christmas is one time when I can always count on my son's help in the kitchen
Back when used to houseful for Christmas dinner, I used to also throw in a dish of baby broad beans in tomato ,mustard and basil sauce, which complements the other stuff nicely, but that's rather too much nowadays, especially with reduced amenities!
Even back then , i was cack-handed and disorganised and would wind up with sprout peelings, sauce splashes etc all over the kitchen. My favourite compliment ever came from one Christmas Dinner guest who said "Who would guess that something so delicious would emerge from such chaos?"
