Our best-ever Christmas dinner menus: extravagant

Ossetra caviar with blinis and sour cream

Our best-ever Christmas dinner menus: extravagant

by Great British Chefs8 December 2017

To hell with the bank account – Christmas demands something truly special. Make this year’s feast the most luxurious banquet in the world with our no-holds-barred menu.

Our best-ever Christmas dinner menus: extravagant

To hell with the bank account – Christmas demands something truly special. Make this year’s feast the most luxurious banquet in the world with our no-holds-barred menu.

Great British Chefs is a team of passionate food lovers dedicated to bringing you the latest food stories, news and reviews.

Great British Chefs is a team of passionate food lovers dedicated to bringing you the latest food stories, news and reviews as well as access to some of Britain’s greatest chefs. Our posts cover everything we are excited about from the latest openings and hottest food trends to brilliant new producers and exclusive chef interviews.

Great British Chefs is a team of passionate food lovers dedicated to bringing you the latest food stories, news and reviews.

Great British Chefs is a team of passionate food lovers dedicated to bringing you the latest food stories, news and reviews as well as access to some of Britain’s greatest chefs. Our posts cover everything we are excited about from the latest openings and hottest food trends to brilliant new producers and exclusive chef interviews.

Fistfuls of caviar, a wood’s worth of truffles, the largest goose in the shop window – if you can’t go overboard on Christmas Day, when can you? Instead of spending your hard-earned cash on expensive presents for the family, turn dinner into a gift for everyone by sourcing the finest ingredients and serving an incredible multi-course showstopper that they’ll remember for the rest of their life.

Canapés

Set the scene with some incredible canapés, to let your guests know what they’re in for. Fresh oysters always have an air of indulgence about them, and Bruno Loubet makes them extra-special by topping them with a beef and horseradish jelly. If you want to channel Russian oligarch vibes, then go all-out with some Ossetra caviar – one of the finest varieties of caviar in the world – served with some simple blinis and sour cream, or keep things distinctively Mediterranean with Frances Atkins’ truffle sandwiches, complete with melted Raclette cheese.

Cocktails

A bottle of vintage Champagne might sound like the best match for your decadent feast, but a fancy cocktail allows you to show off your mixing skills. Le Coup D’etat is an incredible drink, combining your best champers with elderflower liqueur, port and Suze bitters, while Vivek Singh’s Parisian Pisco Punch is full of exotic, tropical flavours that are sure to brighten up any chilly Christmas Day. If you fancy going down the classical route, then Luis-Rene Orozco’s take on a rum Manhattan will certainly do the trick.

Starters

Once everyone’s had their fill of posh tipples and nibbles, kindly ask them to move into your grandiose dining room for their starter. Smoked salmon is obviously far too simple for a meal such as this – a carpaccio of hand-dived scallops in a truffle vinaigrette sounds much more suitable. If you like the sound of truffles but not the shellfish, then Pascal Aussignac’s double-baked Parmesan and truffle soufflé is perfect, and if you’d prefer a meatier beginning to the meal then try Paul Welburn’s beautiful cannelloni, stuffed with venison, kale and wild mushrooms.

Mains

The main course should be a real showstopper of a dish, enough to put any thoughts of turkey to the back of your diners’ minds. That’s all but guaranteed with Marcus Wareing’s goose recipe, including a homemade sausage roll made from the leg meat. Few ingredients are more luxurious than meaty lobster tails, and William Drabble’s butter-rich dish puts them centre-stage. Or for a prime cut of beef that’s sure to get tongues wagging, follow in Alyn Williams’ footsteps and serve up a perfectly pink chateaubriand (James Mackenzie's five-bird roast is worth a look too).

Desserts

There’s nothing particularly elegant about a Christmas pudding, and it would make for a bit of a bullish end to such a luxurious starter and main. Instead, why not serve a multi-layered sundae with all the traditional flavours? For a touch of retro-elegance you can’t go wrong with Andy McLeish’s Black Forest gâteau, or why not plump for something a little more exotic with a pineapple upside-down cake.