AppetizersComté gougères
- Comté100 g
- Eggs3
- Flour80 g
- Butter50 g
Dishes the little ones eat too, and quantities that count a child as half a serving.
Tight budgetReady the day before
With kids at the table, the secret to a great Christmas dinner is a menu everyone likes, from the little ones to the grandparents. Gougères, mini skewers and sausage puffs are always a huge hit as appetizers.
The chestnut soup is mild and comforting, and the turkey breast stuffed with chestnuts cuts into easy-to-eat slices. The porcini sauce stays on the side, for whoever likes it.
And the dessert everyone's waiting for: a chocolate mousse made the day before. The quantities count a child as half a serving, so you don't end up with three kilos of leftovers.

Before the party: 2 hr 5 min of cooking. The big day: 2 hr of cooking, and the oven runs for 1 hr 50 min.
7:00 PM: the oven is already at 180 °C for “Turkey breast stuffed with chestnuts, porcini sauce”, and “Comté gougères” needs 200 °C. Cook “Comté gougères” first, then reheat it at the last minute.
7:05 PM: the oven is already at 180 °C for “Turkey breast stuffed with chestnuts, porcini sauce”, and “Sausage puffs” needs 200 °C. Cook “Sausage puffs” first, then reheat it at the last minute.
Do the "buy now" shopping (pantry, canned goods, drinks)
Do the fresh shopping
Make the choux dough for the gougères, keep it in the fridge
Make the chestnut soup, keep it in the fridge
Stuff and tie the turkey breast, keep it in the fridge
Make the chocolate mousse and chill it overnight
Preheat the oven to 180 °C
Take the cheeses out of the fridge (they should be at room temperature)
Put the stuffed turkey in the oven (about 1 h 30)
Put the mini skewers together and keep them in the fridge
Bake the gougères at 200 °C
Roll the sausages in the pastry and bake 15 min at 200 °C
Serving: appetizers
Reheat the soup on low heat
Time to sit down: the starter
Make the porcini sauce while the turkey rests
Serving: main
Serving: cheese
Serving: dessert
About $77 in groceries for 6 guests, including 2 kids, so around $12.89 per person, from appetizers to dessert. That's an estimate based on average supermarket prices.
Your store and your brands will move the total, but that's the ballpark.
The day before or earlier: Comté gougères, chestnut soup with crushed hazelnuts, turkey breast stuffed with chestnuts, porcini sauce and chocolate mousse with candied clementines, so 2 hr 5 min in the kitchen before the party. On the big day, you get to breathe.
The oven runs for 1 hr 50 min on the big day, and two dishes want it at the same time at different temperatures: the game plan tells you which one to cook first.
Dinner's served at 8:15 PM, and the game plan warns you when things get tight. The timers in the plan tell you when to take each dish out.
With drinks: Comté gougères; Mini cherry tomato, mozzarella and basil skewers; Sausage puffs. To start: Chestnut soup with crushed hazelnuts. For the main: Turkey breast stuffed with chestnuts, porcini sauce. For the cheese course: Cheese board. For dessert: Chocolate mousse with candied clementines.
For 6 guests, including 2 kids, the big picture: cooked chestnuts (400 g), turkey breast (900 g), Brie de Meaux (120 g) and dark chocolate (180 g). A kid counts as half a serving: you're cooking for 5. The full grocery list, aisle by aisle, is right above.
In two trips. Three days before, the stuff that keeps (13 items: produce, dairy and pantry). Then the day before, the fresh stuff (13 items, like sausage meat, turkey breast and cocktail sausages). You'll dodge the last-minute crowds.
To sit down at 8:15 PM, the first step of the big day starts at 6:15 PM: preheat the oven to 180 °C. The main (turkey breast stuffed with chestnuts, porcini sauce) goes in the oven at 6:15 PM. Every step of the game plan is timed backward from when you sit down to eat.
This menu is free of fish and seafood. It's not vegetarian: for a meat-free table, there's a full vegetarian menu. Kids get dishes they'll actually eat, and count as half a serving.
Yep, from 2 to 12 guests: change the number at the top of the page, and the quantities, the grocery list, the budget and these answers all follow.
Your weekly meal plan in one click, based on your tastes, your time and your budget. Christmas Eve leftovers? Fridge raid tells you what to cook with them. Every recipe step by step, and your grocery list sorted by aisle. Free, no account.
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