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Cooking Christmas dins in the Alps - suggestions ?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
So, there is a chance that the Boulevardier family will be in Champagny on Christmas Day ..... (yay and fingers crossed for snow). The flat has the usual tiny and unpredictable ski apartment oven.

I'm trying to work out if cooking anything resembling a traditional Christmas Day dinner is possible without poisoning us all - does anyone have any hacks for how to produce something edible and festive using aforementioned half size oven (overhead element, no temp control) and four hob rings? Or should I give up and just fry steak and get lots of wine in? I'm wondering about those chickens you see on a rotisserie in the shops - can you buy them / do you book one in advance ? Or just buy chicken breasts and fry them with some roast tatties and sausages?

All sensible ideas gratefully received here .....
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The rotisserie chicken vans usually rotate through the ski towns on market days and chickens can be booked.

The other option is to contact Hu.ski, in the past they have offered a Christmas dinner package of prepared food but not sure if due to brexit they are doing it this season but it may be too early.
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If you buy a crown or similar, and mostly cook the roast potatoes the day before (look up Jamie Oliver’s method) you could finish off the potatoes whilst the crown (or smaller) is resting. The meat will be better for resting for at least an hour anyway. Just cover in foil followed by several tea-towels.

You’ll have to boil/steam veg, and probably won’t have room for pigs in blanket or stuffing. You could fry off your sprouts with bacon for a porky touch though.
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Tradditional Christmas dinners as we know in the UK are almost unknown in France. For example I've never seen a goose on sale and brussel sprouts are rare. The closest you can get is the rotisserie chickens (well the tradditional British Christmas dinner is either goose or chicken with roast beef for the rich) and these are supperb. Call into the shop in the morning and order one. It is what we do. We also import our own sprouts and parsnips.
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All sounds like too much effort.

Just book yourselves into the nearest and best restaurant/hotel for a slap up meal, you may not get turkey with all the trimmings but it ‘ll be good.
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@boulevardier, Rotisserie chickens as mentioned already, usually are booked and probably the day before in food shops within ski village. They've to make sure of stock plus cook time to deliver.
Chicken in the oven, technically you need minimum of 60 degree right through the item consistently to cook it (more or less what the rotisserie is doing) so if you can set it going last thing the night before at 70 to 90 degrees covered in foil it'll get done for you.
T-minus 90 minutes to serve target, uncover and run higher heat to brown it properly, lightly blanche veg to desired softness and use the last 45 minutes (second half of the 90 minutes glide slope Very Happy ) to chuck them all in a roasting pan in hot oven while the meat is out and rests.

Pretty easy and maximum taste safely cooked, yum.

Extra roast potatoes, part boil and finish in roast pan on the hob, keep turning to crisp evenly.
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Bisto do small packets of gravy powder that can be easily smuggled in and then add jar of cranberry sauce to the luggage. Add the rotisserie chicken and potatoes and veg of your choice, dessert form the local bakery, local cheese and bread and you have a simplified Christmas dinner.
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You’ll be out skiing won’t you?
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On the occasions we have been there for actual Xmas day .

Book up Rotisserie chicks (beware , “ fermier” are tasty but tiny .but delish)
If you want to make it easier, add Dauphinois Pots
Salad
Pack a Xmas pud.

We tend to ski , pause at 11ish and come in at 3 ish and get going .
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@boulevardier,

We did it last Christmas (during lockdown) by combining the efforts of 4 chalets / apartments. We couldn’t have managed it in one kitchen. Roast pork, roasties, parsnips etc,



Yorkshires..



And of course,

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Why not just eat out?
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Mr.Egg wrote:
Why not just eat out?


too simple Happy

I thought the beauty of going on holiday at Christmas was to escape all that awful Christmas tosh: dud crackers, dry turkey, cannon ball Christmas puddings, dreadful mince pies, family rows, flat batteries in kids toys. Sprouts !

Clearly some people are gluttons.... for punishment. They probably wear hair shirts too.
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Mr.Egg wrote:
Why not just eat out?


It might be to do with the fact they fancy traditional Christmas dinner, rather than some incomparable French alternative Puzzled

And of course it may save a few hundred Euro (that they could then use to eat out - more than once - on alternative, cheaper, days during the trip).
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
davidof wrote:
Mr.Egg wrote:
Why not just eat out?



...I thought the beauty of going on holiday at Christmas was to escape all that awful Christmas tosh: dud crackers, dry turkey, cannon ball Christmas puddings, dreadful mince pies, family rows, flat batteries in kids toys. Sprouts !

....


Christmas at your place must be a riot.

I always make a Christmas dinner when I'm away - plenty of good suggestions that make it easy enough
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@boulevardier, They sell the rotisserie chickens at the butchers in the village, not sure if you have to order them. Another option is a roast pintade (guinea fowl) or two, they will easily fit in the small ovens and you can normally buy them from Super U near Moutiers.
Our favoured option is to eat out on the mountain at lunchtime, lots of good restaurants in the Champagny area and the price doesn't go up just because it's Christmas Day.
Christmas Eve is the main Christmas meal in France, usually lots of oysters and prawns being sold in the supermarkets.
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 Poster: A snowHead
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skichampcouk wrote:

Christmas Eve is the main Christmas meal in France, usually lots of oysters and prawns being sold in the supermarkets.


along with foie gras, more stuff people wouldn't go near the rest of the year.
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The big Carrefour in St Jean has sold sprouts and parsnips for the last few Christmases.
They also sell Capon (which is a reasonable turkey replacement), chipolatas and jambon cru make respectable pigs in blankets, and you can get pork sausage meat at the butchers counter to make sausage rolls.
They also sell sage now, so making stuffing is a breeze.
If you cook off a couple of confit de canard the day before, you'll have plenty of nice duck fat (don't spoonerise that) rendered off for your roasties / yorkshires, and you can have the duck cold on boxing day with your bubble and squeak.

TBH I have never got the places selling oysters and prawns (moules in the summer) in the Chablais region, as its hard to be anywhere in France further from the sea.

Also French Christmas dinner is on Dec 24th not 25th, and they do get booked up in the restos, but for what they are (defrosted shellfish, and goose liver) I find them over priced.
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Bergmeister wrote:
Mr.Egg wrote:
Why not just eat out?


It might be to do with the fact they fancy traditional Christmas dinner, rather than some incomparable French alternative Puzzled

And of course it may save a few hundred Euro (that they could then use to eat out - more than once - on alternative, cheaper, days during the trip).


Then why go to France? I go to escape the UK turkey. Vile stuff.
We will have a meal, but there might be oysters, a beef wellington, and I may possibly have a Christmas pudding as that is the bit of the meal I enjoy the most, but it will be a homemade one not a supermarket production.
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@Hells Bells, hear, hear. I've never cooked a turkey, nor do I intend to. That said, I would choose neither oysters nor Christmas pud, but that's just me. No prizes for guessing my preferred first course. wink My preferred pud (bought - shock horror!) is pannetone with a boozy crème anglaise. At least the second bit of that is French... even if it's custard by another name. Madeye-Smiley
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If we are away for christmas we have Christmas dinner with relatives the weekend before the holiday.

Then on Christmas day itself in the alps we would eat in a mountain restaurant and have buche de noel as a pudding.
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snowymum wrote:
and have buche de noel as a pudding.


that would be dessert wouldn't it?

Christmas Pudding would be a pudding.

Unless of course, you live at Downton Abbey, in which case it is all pudding.


Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Mon 11-10-21 13:21; edited 1 time in total
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davidof, Hells Bells, and others: exactly!
Awful Christmas Tosh is an excellent description.
We too go to escape it all.
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@davidof, @davidof,
Quote:


that would be dessert wouldn't it?

Not in some circles! Shocked
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Hurtle wrote:
@davidof, @davidof,
Quote:


that would be dessert wouldn't it?

Not in some circles! Shocked


No not in some, the pudding eating toffs have always liked to use common words like pudding to show that they don't have to try to be posh, unlike the dessert eating middle classes.
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@Bergmeister, Eat out on Christmas day when the menus and prices are the same as anyother day.

One big reason I go skiing over christmas is to avoid christmas in the UK.
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Hells Bells wrote:
Bergmeister wrote:
Mr.Egg wrote:
Why not just eat out?


It might be to do with the fact they fancy traditional Christmas dinner, rather than some incomparable French alternative Puzzled

And of course it may save a few hundred Euro (that they could then use to eat out - more than once - on alternative, cheaper, days during the trip).


Then why go to France?


Errr.... perhaps it's something to do with sliding about on the white stuff Puzzled First and foremost a ski trip, with eating playing second fiddle, surely? Puzzled

Are there really people who would put cuisine before quality skiing? Maybe I'm missing something....
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Bergmeister, definitely.
Not forgetting the people who put looking good before quality skiing
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@boulevardier, There have been many suggestions made in this thread, at the end of the day its what works for you. The closest you may easily be able to get to a roast turkey xmas dinner, will be a rotisserie (likely pre- ordered) chicken (you will also likely find turkey strips that can be stir fried, in many supermarkets/butchers if that could work for you) with potatoes (you should be able to get a basic roast-able potato in resort), sprouts (take with you I've seen them in the supermarket in Bourg St Maurice but they are not a usual find), carrots are usually available. Take a jar of cranberry sauce, stuffing mix and packet bread sauce with you if you want them, making from scratch will be difficult. Sausages etc for 'pigs in blankets'? difficult given the potential problems taking meat into the EU now, local alternatives will not fit the brief.

The key word is easily! Most things are possible but how much time and effort do you want to put in to creating a 'traditional' Xmas dinner as you think of it?
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Thank you all so much for all this - there are some wonderful ideas and I’ve loved reading through all of the replies. I love skiing and cooking - Christmas dins is always special and, for me , worth making a big effort (although not to the extent of missing much skiing! ) . I won’t be able to match Mike’s efforts though ! The capon /guinea fowl idea is interesting , as is booking a rotisserie chicken . I will look into these further, for sure . I agree with what’s said re the trimmings . I think I can do this now with all this advice, so here’s to snow this Christmas Eh oh! !
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Do you have any outside space? & do you have a BBQ? You could use indirect heating method.
https://www.weber.com/GB/en/recipes/poultry/barbecued-christmas-turkey-with-lemon-parsley-and-garlic-butter/weber-60397.html

You could buy an electric oven or chicken roaster or halogen convection cooker if you got room for another gadget…. Really depends which one you are likely to use again!

Lots of the rotisserie chicken you buy from a shop, should also have potatoes, cooked (soaked!) in the chicken juices that run off.
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 Poster: A snowHead
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Now looking at halogen ovens - v interesting ! Thanks Eh oh!
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WindOfChange wrote:
The big Carrefour in St Jean has sold sprouts and parsnips for the last few Christmases.
They also sell capon (which is a reasonable turkey replacement)


This. Much better than any turkey. Le Chapon!
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@boulevardier, +1 for halogen ovens, with a rotisserie function, i bought one about 4 weeks ago now. have cooked several roast meals in it, only regret is that i did not buy a bigger one (mine is 14.5L), it does not take up that much room on the kitchen worktop.

bought mine via a tv shopping channel offer, (late night, booze, credit card generally not a good mix Toofy Grin Toofy Grin )

but, there are lots of choices on amazon

I can just about cook a small rotisserie chicken with the roasties soaking up the juices in the bottom whilst they are cooking. It only takes around 50 minutes to cook, compared to about 1.5hrs in a conventional oven, so less energy being used.

I cooked a roast beef joint, using the rotisserie, and I have to say it was the best roast beef I have ever eaten!!!

its just a shame i am flying for my next two trips to the alps, staying in self catering apartments, as if i was driving i would take it with me, as generally the ovens in the apartments are useless!!!
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How about ditching the turkey replacement and opting for another joint? The rotisserie chickens are nice but cost a bomb! Over the years, I have done wild boar, veal, lamb, venison, beef and then just done the usual roast pots and any other veggie I can get my hands on. We used to swap brussel sprouts for parsnips with our neighbours but they have been easier to buy in the local Super U over the last few years. Also by picking a quicker cooking joint, you can open pressies in the morning, ski, stop for a treat and still just do a more 'regular' but relaxed dinner.
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@boulevardier, I contacted Hu Ski (https://hu.ski/ -based in Bourg St Maurice and will deliver meals all over the Alps) today and their Christmas menu and they expect to have something on the site next week. I haven’t used them before, but we’ll be trying them out this Christmas Day. It certainly takes the hassle out of cooking (we normally cook, but it’s not possible this year for various reasons).
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Huge thanks to everyone who posted - lots of brilliant ideas ! I think we will be able to do this - looks like a capon and rotisserie of my own is the way to go for me , although I will defo need a trial run . So great to have all these lovely responses which have been so useful.
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@boulevardier, the Chapons can be quite large, make sure your rotisserie oven is large enough.
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To me the main challenge is the oven capacity (size and heat). If you have ingredients that have to be roasted, and the oven's a bit poo-poo (it will be), then you could be waiting a long time for it all to be ready. Unless I really know the oven capacity and have plenty of time, I'd make sure that the main components of the meal can be done reasonably quickly on the hobs - e.g. steaks or chicken breasts, saute potatoes, boiled veg, and use the oven mostly for keeping things warm
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@viv, trouble is with no temp control at all it will either be hot or cold. At least there are 4 hob rings though.
The EoSB self-caterers do manage roast dinnersproduced in combi microwaves though.
I have never done anything large on Christmas Day as there are only 4 of us, and we go to escape the whole turkey and trimmings. We don't even cook turkey if we are in the UK.
Ours will probably be a Beef Wellington or maybe a stuffed loin of pork. We'll do the seafood while I'm preparing it. Dessert might be a buche de Noel bought from the patisserie, or even a creme brulée or pannacotta. Plans will change it the weather is awful on the day though.
Reminds me I need to start planning.
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We had some sort of combi oven in an apartment we rented two years ago in Ste Foy for Christmas. I had taken a turkey crown from Cook which I managed to keep frozen on the way. I checked it would fit into the oven when we arrived. I was completely perplexed by how to drive this oven but luckily we had our daughter and her family with us so she sorted it. A few days before Christmas we did roast a chicken so worked out that it could be done.
In our own chalet we had a range cooker which took numerous dishes in the oven as huge. Not very well insulated though and definitely a child free zone when it was on as the outside got very hot.
I recently discussed with the daughter what to do this year as we are repeating, fingers crossed etc, with our younger son and his lot so more of us. Oh, I think best to book and go out - was the response. Tick in the box from me.
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