reheating christmas dinner

[stilletoe]

Just wondered if anyone prepares their dinner a day early on christmas eve, so that they can enjoy christmas day?

If you do, what can you get away with precooking?

I'll be doing the usual traditional stuff, turkey, veg and stuffing. Can you reheat turkey and veg and if so how do you do this?

Any advice would be good

[mrsruffallo]

Terrible idea

[mmrsceptic]

golly thought you were talking about last year's

anyway, yes, you can peel and prepre all veg and stuff the turkey

you could get away with cooking carrots and brussels a bit and reheating with five mins in hot water the next day

bread sauce you could make the day before
pots have to be hot inside before they go in the roasting tin
parsnips will be soggy
sausages could be done and slung in with the turkey to warm up I guess

but it's all so bitty -- it's only a roast dinner, and so long as you've got the veg peeled and in cold water outside overnight, and the turkey ready stuffed and bacon laced, that's the worst of it done

[bodiddly]

I don't cook the day before but I prepare all the veg the night before which saves time in the morning!

[stilletoe]

Thanks everyone, it's given me some preparation ideas to save a bit of time, but I suppose you are right, it is just a roast dinner, so I'll stop panincking and look at it this way.

[crokky]

Here's what I did last year - I cooked the entire roast dinner on christmas eve - cut the meat and put onto plate with roast potatoes, veg, sausages and bacon. Put plate in fridge, microwave on christmas day. We enjoyed it and spent the time opening presents with DS and DD and went round to my mum's as well.

[crokky]

oh, I just made some instant gravy on the day

[GetOrfMoiLand]

Do some veg preparation the night before - peel all potatoes and parsnips, peel and cut carrots and broccoli.

I prepare and par boil sprouts - these get stir fried with bacon on the day.

I make up the mashed swede - this gets put in a pot and heated in microwave the next day.

I make the red cabbage and reheat that the next day as well.

Cook the giblets to make the gravy (with the windows oepn becauee smells strong) and drainm the stock.

Prepare the pigs in blankets.

Prepare a load of mince pies to be put in oven first thing so can have warm mince pies with clotted cream for breakfast.

Ooh, I now feel all Christmassy!

[MrsBadger]

hell no

get some family round to entertain the kids, pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy having the kitchen to yourself

admittedly I do all the things in advance that I can do in advnace (red cabbage, veg prep, stuff and butter turkey, wrap saus in bacon etc)

but no cooking in advance

NB we never bother making any sort of pudding - everyone is always too full to eat it and if they want something they can have a mince pie

[GetOrfMoiLand]

I don't think I would make the dinner and reheat in a microwave.

However, I am the type of person who really likes cooking anyway, like MrsB says get someone else to put batteries in toys/listen to kids play their new musical instruments/referee fights over selection boxes while you have a couple of peaceful hours in the kitchen.

It pays off anyway, I always cook far too much food including about 6 different types of veg, so there is loads left over for bubble and squeak etc on Boxing Day.

[Seeline]

I cook veg on the day, but prepare it all the day before. Sausages, stuffing balls, ham, bread sauce etc day before and then wrap in foil and reheat on the day. I cook the turkey over night in a very low oven - wake up on christmas morning with the smell of roast turkey wafting upstairs

[ShinyAndNew]

I would peel and chop veg and leave in water. We do lamb which can be cooked the night before and is served cold - but has warm gravy on anyway and we do chicken on the day

[flamingtoaster]

After my DS was born we decided that we would have our first full Christmas meal on Christmas Eve to allow for a relaxed Christmas Day. I start cooking around lunchtime and we started the tradition that we all sit down, all dressed in our best, to our first full Christmas meal by candlelight on Christmas Eve. We move the dining table and chairs in beside the Christmas tree and it is lit as well. There is still a wonderful sense of anticipation then. We have a very relaxed start on Christmas Day (OK it used to start at 5.00 am but that's a different story!). I can enjoy present opening and we have time to go to the Christmas morning service without worrying about cooking. Over time I've offered to change it but DH, DS and DD wouldn't have it any other way now.

[SomeGuy]

You can do the gravy before hand out of the giblets. And make stuffing and prepare veg.

[bibbitybobbityhat]

Good gawd.

Is there not a Christmas topic?

[stilletoe]

Hi Seeline,

Can you tell me more about cooking your turkey overnight slowly. Turkey is a dry meat, but does cooking it this way make it moist?

What size turkey did you cook? and what oven temprature did you cook it on? and for how long?

Presumably it was cooked all the way through and still nice and warm to eat for your dinner. Did you wrap it in foil or use one of those cook in bag things?

[Eyeballls]

I want Christmas dinner for tea tonight now
I want loads and loads of crunchy but soft in the middle roasties, stuffing, piggies all drowned in gravy and sod the turkey and veg.

[Seeline]

Hi stilleto - I usually have a qite large turkey - 8kgs or thereabouts. I don't stuff it, just do that separately. I literally put it in the oven, covered with turkey foil (the thick stuff) when I go to bed on Christmas eve, with the oven on gas 1. I usually take the foil off for the last hour or so to crisp up the skin. Do watch out, use a nice deep roasting tin, because the amount of cooking juices that come out is amazing - the first year I did it this way it ended up all over the kitchen floor in a tidal wave!! We do eat Christmas dinner early compared to some, at about 1.30pm, but it is always moist and well cooked. Carving it is not easy though as it does tend to crumble best done in private rather than at the table

[ByThePowerOfGreyskull]

if all the juices come out and it crumbles does that mean the meat is a bit dry? I LOVE turkey but DH finds it dry anyway..

[Seeline]

No it doesn't go dry - I think because it is cooked very slowly, and covered, it sort of steams or something

[ByThePowerOfGreyskull]

ooh sounds lovley!