Alternative Recipes for the Christmas turkey

Published: 12/01/2013 - Updated: 02/22/2016

The Christmas dinner has the turkey as the stellar dish in most of the places which celebrate this event. The various versions are almost endless and their preparation is often not an entirely simple thing: If you would like to try something new this year, here are various options that you could try. Something out of the ordinary that will make your dinner an unforgettable event.

Lamb ribs with tomato pesto

Ingredients

  • 2 kg. of lamb ribs
  • 4 tbsp. of dried tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup of oil
  • 1/4 cup of Grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 tbsp. of Pine nuts or walnuts
  • Salt & Pepper (sufficient amount)
  • 2 cloves of garlic

Preparation

To prepare the pesto:

  1. Process or blend dried tomatoes with pine nuts and garlic, if you cannot find pine nuts you can substitute with any nut that you like.
  2. Mix preparation with oil and grated Parmesan cheese, season with salt if necessary.
    Place the lamb in this mixture to marinate, use a deep bowl or Ziploc bag. Marinate for at least one hour.
  3. Place the ribs on a baking sheet and season with pepper, cover with foil and bake at 200 ° C for about 50 minutes or until ribs are cooked.

Baked Fish

Ingredients

  • 1 large fish
  • 4 tomatoes
  • 1 onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 peppers
  • 3 tbsp. of Chopped parsley
  • 3 tbsp. of butter
  • Salt & Pepper (sufficient amount)

Preparation

  1. Clean the fish by removing the scales, guts, etc.
  2. Season the fish with salt and pepper on the inside and outside.
  3. Add the butter using a hand brush; it is easier to spread the butter at room temperature.
  4. Cut tomato, onion and pepper into slices.
  5. Finely chop the garlic.
  6. Place slices of vegetables and minced garlic inside the cavity of the fish.
  7. Place on a tray lined with foil, cover the fish with foil and bake at 180 ° C for 25 minutes until fish and vegetables are cooked.
  8. Serve with chopped parsley and pasta or rice.

Quail in spicy marinade

Ingredients

  • 20 quails
  • 100 gr. of Chili
  • 1 onion
  • 1/4 cup of vinegar
  • 3 tbsp. of oil
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • Salt (sufficient amount)

Preparation

  1. Chop the onion into chunks
  2. Clean the chili, remove the seeds and roast for a few minutes.
  3. Place in boiling water and let soften, drain and reserve a little cooking liquid.
  4. Blend the chili with the onion, vinegar, oil and salt.
  5. Clean the quail and marinate in the sauce for between 2-5 hours.
  6. Bake for 15 minutes or broil constantly, basting with the marinade. Cook until golden brown.

Grilled Prawns with garlic butter

Ingredients

  • 1 kg. of large prawns
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • lemons
  • 90 gr. of butter
  • 1 tbsp. of Paprika or sweet paprika
  • 3 tbsp. of chopped Coriander
  • Salt & Pepper (sufficient amount)

Preparation

  1. Chop garlic cloves finely and mix with the butter.
  2. Split the prawns in half, clean and preserve the shells and heads.
  3. With the help of a spoon, spread the garlic butter and sprinkle with paprika, salt and pepper.
  4. Place on the grill or griddle for a few minutes until they change color and are cooked.
  5. Sprinkle them with lemon juice.
  6. Serve with chopped coriander (cilantro).

About the author
  • Nayeli Reyes

    Nayeli is an expert cook, with the title of Chef by the International Culinary School of Guadalajara (Mexico), where she obtained the honorable mention for her great talent and dedication. In Biomanantial.com she presents her best recipes so that we can prepare them easily.

4 Replies to “Alternative Recipes for the Christmas turkey”
  • Betty says:

    Very good recipes! Especially if you want to try something new, I think that the fish is the perfect dish for a wonderful night as it can be shared with many people and the taste sounds pretty delicious! And the rest of the recipes sound very good indeed! I will try one of these for sure.

  • Carl says:

    Christmas is gone! but all of those recipes sound delicious and pretty good for the ocasion! and for the new year’s party too, you can try one of these to impress the people at the party, and well, you can even prepare those plates in the normal daylife, right?

  • Stacy says:

    I am definitely a fan of these recipes. My mother was always a horrible cook when I was growing up, and I never ate a turkey that wasn’t dry. I mean…these were TERRIBLE dishes to eat…they tasted like charcoal and they always flaked away into the gravy. I will definitely give these recipes a try this year

  • Emily says:

    Hmm… Call me old fashioned, but I am really fond of the traditional turkey and all the trimmings at Christmas time. These recipes are surely quite delicious, and I feel bad for people who have had a bad christmas turkey experience, but I can’t see me or my family changing this tradition any time soon. These dishes can wait until another day!