What do you freeze ahead for Christmas?

[triplets]

Really do want to be ahead of myself this year, be it cakes, canapés, veg etc. Would love some new ideas, every year I do sausage roll, mince pies and red cabbage!! Thanks :)

[Lunaballoon]

Stuffing can be made well in advance. This Nigel Slater recipe half way down the page works very well and is infinitely better than any shop bought or Paxo type stuffing.

[agoodbook]

agree with stuffing - I make a traditional , family one with sausage meat - I make double and freeze in portions as its a good sandwich filler in the long January :) . How about blinis - they freeze well , little mini muffins - savoury and sweet

[lilolilmanchester]

For Christmas dinner itself I make and freeze ahead Red cabbage, stuffing, bread sauce, cranberry sauce, Parmesan parsnips (Delia's recipe), pigs in blankets. For other meals, mince pies, sausage rolls, and a few puddings

[tb]

This year we'll be eating last year's Christmas Pudding, but will also be making and freezing sticky toffee pudding - mainly for dd who doesn't like Christmas Pudding that much.

Will also cut up and freeze the huge pork shoulder that I bought this morning as we've decided to have pork.

I have a whole salmon in the freezer that we didn't eat last year, so may take it out and cook it to see if it's ok. If it is, it wil be turned into fishcakes and they will be frozen. Will then buy another smaller salmon for Christmas and freeze as the local supermarket always has a promo on whole salmon just before Christmas.

There are lots of duck fairs, so will buy some gizzards and also some duck legs for confit, but will freeze them first until I can be bothered to do them.

Will also make and freeze mince pies - have only just turned the Aga on, so am looking for things to cook - despite being officially on a diet.

[triplets]

Thanks everyone :) tb I have never eaten confit duck legs, is it good? I am thinking of making homemade food gifts this year, lots of friends I like to give a small gift to, I am fed up of traipsing round the shops looking for something! Do you make any gifts?

[firesidechat]

Parmesan parsnips. (Delia)

Cauliflower cheese. (Lorraine Pascale)

Stuffing.

Red cabbage. (Delia)

[agoodbook]

Yes- I make gifts I make lemon curd, jam little xmas puddings and florentines

[triplets]

Oh my Florentines always turn out soggy, whats your tip?

[agoodbook]

I don't really have a tip - I use a recipe out of the guardian which seems to work for me-
? Felicity Cloake does the best recipes !

The perfect florentines

(Makes 18)

45g butter

60g demerara sugar

60g candied peel, chopped

45g dried cranberries or sour cherries, roughly chopped

45g soft dried figs, roughly chopped

20g pistachio kernels, roughly chopped

60g blanched almonds, cut into slivers

15g plain flour

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp double cream

200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark four and line two baking trays with lightly greased parchment paper.

Melt the butter and sugar together in a pan over a medium heat until combined. Put the fruit and nuts in a bowl, sift over the flour and toss together until the flour is evenly distributed.

Take the pan off the heat and stir in the salt and cream, then stir into the fruit and nuts. Dollop rounded teaspoons of the mixture on to the baking trays and flatten out as much as possible without leaving holes, making sure they are well spaced out on the trays.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown all over, then leave to cool on the tray.

When cool, melt half the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, making sure it doesn’t touch the water. Stir occasionally until liquid.

Carefully dip the underside of each florentine in the chocolate and leave to cool and set, then repeat. If you want to be really authentic, you can use a fork to make a wavy pattern in the setting chocolate at this point. Leave to harden completely before serving or storing in an air-tight box.

[agoodbook]

And I will be honest - I love them anyway they come out

[SundaeGirl]

Cranberry sauce
Jamie's make-ahead gravy

[triplets]

That's a good idea for the gravy, its always a fag on the day! Thanks for the recipe, will give those a try :)

[tb]

Duck confit is fantastic - think of the way that Peking duck just falls apart.

Basically, you leave the duck legs in coarse salt with seasonings in the fridge for 24 hours to draw out the excess water. You then poach them very slowly in duck fat for about 3 hours. You then pack them into preserving jars like Kilner or le Parfait and they keep for months, or a couple of years even here.

We've done more traditional ones and then ones with garam masala added to the salt and another lot with Chinese spices. We're going to do the ones I bought today with Chinese spices and then add 1 or 2 star anise to the poaching to try get a stronger Chinese flavour.

You take them out of the fat and either fry them in a pan or cook them in the oven.

The process melts most of the fat under the skin, so that when you cook them you get lovely crispy skin, but not much fat.

Good Housekeeping book from the 70s has a recipe. Think it is coarse salt, pepper and some thyme or sage.

There was a duck fair and legs were in packs of 4 for €3.99/kg and the gizzards were only €1 for quite a big pack. DH loves gizzard salad - sounds much better as "confit de gessiers" lovely and melting, not chewy and rubbery at all.

I live in the middle of the foie gras part of France, and there are duck fairs up to and after Christmas. Most of France eat foie gras and oysters and the fattened ducks have their livers and breasts sold and the carcases and legs aren't so highly-prized.

Last year, at the market, I bought a duck skin for about 50p and gave it to my uncle. He poached it gently to get the fat, and it gave him enough duck fat for his roasties for a year.

[JoyceDivision]

ooh, so jamies make ahead gravy, and we've made delias parsnips on christmas day, but I willlook atmaking them in advance and freezing them.

mashed carrot and swede always freezes well!

[FTS123]

Gravy
Bread Sauce
Cranberry Sauce
Red Cabbage

Don't know yet if I'm working at Xmas, need to get going!!