Christmas dinner in the dining car

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Contemporary holiday season travel can present challenges that will dim the spirits of even the most joyful among us. Let us, for a few moments, recall a time of more enjoyable travel, a time when getting there was a fun part of the adventure. Like today, travel on Christmas is not an ideal situation. In times long gone, those who did find themselves aboard a train would have been treated to Christmas dinner in the dining car, prepared with all the trimmings.

The railroads and, at first, Amtrak made a special effort to present Christmas dinner in a traditional fashion. Just like at home or grandma’s house, the wonderful smell of roasting turkey or, maybe, ham would drift from the dining car kitchen beckoning passengers to the most delicious holiday feast — railroad style.

Although some railroads and Amtrak did offer ham on the Christmas dinner menu, turkey was the star of the meal. Like at home, the turkeys weighed in between 14 and 24-plus pounds and required 5 to 7 hours to roast in the dining car oven. Yes, the roasting was done en route so that the turkey would be served hot, fresh, and juicy straight from the oven. The turkey Christmas dinner in the dining car was popular. In 1951, the Pennsylvania Railroad alone served 3,500 turkey dinners on Christmas. On the Southern Pacific dining car ovens were kept full for the better part of the holiday roasting turkeys. The typical SP dining car oven could hold six turkeys at a time, which usually weighed in around 24 pounds.

Just like at home, Christmas was a time when the railroads could bring out the finer china, to turn a phrase. While railroads were known to have individual patterns for the dishes they used, there were some pieces that only came out on special occasions. The over-sized turkey platter is the prime example. This type of platter was the means to present the entire turkey, golden brown, fresh from the oven. Platter designs, just like home china, carried the graphics from the balance of the china pattern — except larger. The average railroad china turkey platter measured between 18- and 20-inches long.

It should be noted that Amtrak, for a short period after its 1971 start-up, did continue the Christmas dinner in the dining car tradition. During those early years, Amtrak ran Heritage Fleet dining cars, which were hand-me-downs from participating railroads. Amtrak chefs were roasting turkey and ham in the kitchens they had for years. Amtrak even featured a special menu for Christmas day.

Today, there are dozens of tourist railroads offering Christmas-dinner-in-the-dining-car-like experiences. An internet search for “Christmas dinner in the dining car” will provide a list for you. If none of these suit your plans, consider recreating Christmas dinner in the dining car in your own kitchen. Following we have gathered a Christmas dinner menu full of dining car recipes. All have easy-to-follow instructions and will be fun to cook with family and friends.

Suggestion: Invite family or friends over for a holiday meal. The theme, of course, is Christmas dinner in the dining car. Have them arrive early enough to help with the cooking. Following the traditional railroad recipes makes for an afternoon of culinary fun before dining as if you were traveling by train on Christmas.

The Christmas dinner in the dining car menu

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Beverage

Horse’s Neck (The Pullman Company)

Appetizer

Poinsettia Salad Merchants’ Limited (New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad)

Entree

Roast Turkey with Poultry Stuffing (Chicago, Burlington & Quincy)

Cape Cod Cranberry Relish (New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad)

Puff Potatoes (Southern Pacific)

Sweet Potato Puffs (Pennsylvania Railroad)

Buttered Beets (Union Pacific)

Carrots Vichy (Chesapeake & Ohio Railway)

Dessert

Cranberry Pie (Alaska Railroad)

Pumpkin Pie (Missouri Pacific)

The Christmas dinner in the dining car recipes

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Horse’s Neck

• 1 lemon
• 12 oz. ginger ale

Peel the entire lemon, spiral fashion, in one piece. Place a single ice cube in a tall 14-ounce glass. Arrange the lemon peel inside the length of the glass, with one end draped over the rim of the glass. Fill glass with pale, dry, or imported ginger ale. Stir slightly with spoon, taking care not to dislodge lemon peel. Serve at once.

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Poinsettia Salad Merchants’ Limited

You’ll need: saucepan to boil the tomatoes before peeling

Preparation: 15 minutes (after tomatoes are peeled)

Yield: 6 servings

• 6 medium tomatoes
• 6 Tbsp. cream cheese
• 3 tsp. heavy cream
• ¼ tsp. salt (or to taste)
• ¹⁄₈ tsp. pepper
• 6 egg yolks hard boiled and crumbled
• 6 slices iceberg lettuce, ½ inch thick
• French dressing to suit

Peel the tomatoes and chill before using. Meanwhile, combine cream cheese, cream, salt, and pepper. Stir until smooth. Then, cut each tomato into eight sections from top to bottom, but do not sever at the base. Fold back eight tomato “petals” to form a flower, leaving center pulp intact. Put cream cheese/cream mixture on center pulp. Sprinkle cheese with sifted egg yolk to represent yellow center of flower. To serve, place a leaf of iceberg lettuce in a salad bowl, and top with a slice of lettuce and a tomato poinsettia. Serve French dressing on the side.

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Roast Turkey with Poultry Stuffing

This stuffing, enough for a 14-pound turkey, should finish moist and light, not heavy and soggy.

You’ll need: large oven-proof mixing bowl, large skillet, baking dish, butcher’s string, shallow roasting pan with a rack large enough for the turkey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Preparation time: 45 minutes (plus roasting time for turkey)

• 12 cups day-old bread crumbs
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock
• ¹⁄₃ cup minced bacon
• ¹⁄₃ cup minced raw ham
• ¾ cup onions, finely minced
• ½ cup celery, diced
• 1 turkey liver, chopped
• 1 ½ tsp. poultry seasoning for stuffing, 2 tsp. for turkey
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¹⁄₈ tsp. pepper
• ¹⁄₃ cup chopped parsley
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp. milk

Stuffing: Place bread crumbs in mixing bowl and moisten well with rich chicken stock as needed, taking care not to make soggy. In a skillet, sauté minced bacon and ham over medium heat until done, about 5 minutes. Add onions and celery. Sauté until vegetables are soft, but not brown. Remove gall bladder from the turkey liver and chop fine. Add turkey liver to the vegetables and meat and continue to cook for a few minutes. Remove from heat, stir into bread crumbs, and mix thoroughly. Add poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, and parsley. Beat eggs with milk and pour into the stuffing mix. Stir all together well. To use to stuff a turkey, first bake stuffing in 350-degree oven 20 minutes, then stuff bird. To use alone, place stuffing in well-greased baking pan, add sufficient stock to moisten, sprinkle a little drawn butter on top, and bake in 350-degree oven for 35-50 minutes.

Turkey: Season 14-pound turkey with salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Place turkey on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. If doing so, fill cavity with stuffing. Using butcher’s string, tie legs together over tail. Tuck wing tips under body. Cover lightly with foil. Roast in a 325 degree oven for approximately 3 ³⁄₄ to 4 ¹⁄₂ hours.

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Cape Cod Cranberry Relish

You’ll need: meat grinder, medium bowl with lid

Preparation time: 15 minutes (plus 2 or more hours to stand and chill)

Yield: 1 quart

• 1 lb. cranberries
• 1 large orange, unpeeled
• 1 large red apple, unpeeled
• 2 cups sugar

Wash and drain cranberries. Cut orange into wedges to fit meat grinder, then remove any seeds. Core apple and cut into wedges for meat grinder. Put cranberries, orange wedges, and apple wedges through grinder. Add sugar and mix well. Cover and chill at least 2 hours before serving.

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Puff Potatoes

You’ll need: 2-quart saucepan, colander, baking sheet

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Preparation time: 1 hour

Yield: 6 servings

• 1 qt. (6 medium) mealy white potatoes
• Salt to taste
• 2 oz. butter
• 3 egg yolks
• Pinch, nutmeg
• Flour for dusting
• Egg and milk wash

Butter baking sheet and set aside. Peel and cut potatoes evenly. Place in sauce-pan and cover with boiling water, add salt, and return to boil, cooking until done, about 20 minutes. Drain well and place saucepan on stove to thoroughly dry potatoes. Mash potatoes. Add butter, egg yolks (one at a time, mixing well after each), and nutmeg. Put potatoes on lightly floured pastry board. Dust with flour, roll into long strip, flatten to about 1” wide, and cut into finger-length pieces. Set on buttered baking sheet 1” apart, brush with milk and egg, and bake until nicely browned, about 10 minutes.

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Sweet Potato Puffs

You’ll need: medium mixing bowl, rolling pin, small cookie sheet

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups, cold, cooked mashed sweet  potatoes
• 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
• ½ tsp. salt
• 6 large marshmallows
• 1 cup crushed rice flakes

Butter cookie sheet and set aside. In mixing bowl, beat egg yolk lightly. Add mashed sweet potatoes, butter, and salt. Mix thoroughly. Divide mixture into 6 portions. Roll each portion between sheets of waxed paper to flatten into the shape of a pancake. Place one marshmallow in center of each. Carefully pull potato mixture up around marshmallow, leaving a small opening on top. Roll the sweet potato balls in crushed rice flakes. Place on a buttered cooking sheet. Bake 15 minutes. Serve hot.

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Buttered Beets

You’ll need: 1-quart saucepan

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

• 3 cups cooked beets
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¹⁄₈ tsp. white pepper
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1 Tbsp. white vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. butter, melted

Drain beets, placing liquid in saucepan. Add salt, white pepper, 1 tablespoon butter, and vinegar. Dice beets, add to liquid, and bring just to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve using a slotted spoon, draining off all liquid first. Drizzle melted butter over beets just before serving.

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Carrots Vichy

You’ll need: 1-quart saucepan

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

• 1 ½ lbs. carrots, sliced
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. pepper
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• ½ tsp. instant chicken bouillon
• ½ Tbsp. freshly chopped parsley

Place first six ingredients in a large saucepan and add just enough water to cover. Stir to mix. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and slow boil, uncovered, until carrots are done to desired tenderness, about 10 minutes. Liquid should be almost evaporated. When serving, sprinkle with the chopped parsley.

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Cranberry Pie

You’ll need: 2 quart saucepan, 9-inch pie tin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Preparation time: 2 ½ hours

Yield: 1 pie

• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• ¾ cup water
• ²⁄₃ cup seeded raisins
• 2 cups cranberries
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 two-crust dessert pie pastry

In saucepan, combine sugar and flour. Add water, raisins, and cranberries, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture into an unbaked 9-inch pie crust shell with a rim, and cover with a lattice top. Bake for 40-50 minutes until crust is brown. Cool before serving.

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Pumpkin Pie

Enhance the unique flavor of this regional specialty with a dollop of whipped cream.

You’ll need: large mixing bowl, two 9-inch pie tins, electric beater

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Preparation time: 1 ½ hours

Yield: 2 pies

• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 ½ ozs. unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup light cream
• 1 cup milk
• 4 whole eggs
• ¼ cup molasses
• 1 tsp. pumpkin spice
• Pinch, salt
• one 2 ½ lb. can pumpkin
• one 2-crust dessert pie pastry

In large mixing bowl, combine sugar, butter, cream, milk, eggs, molasses, spice, and salt, and beat thoroughly. Add pumpkin. Continue beating until very smooth. Fill two pie tins lined with unbaked dough. Bake until knife inserted into pie at least 1 inch from the crust comes out clean, about 45-60 minutes.