Christmas Dinner disasters anyone?

[itsmeagain76]

Hi all
First year cooking Christmas dinner at home for a number of people, it went well thankfully.
My only 'disaster' as such was the 'get ahead' gravy recipe by Jamie Oliver which was awful. Anyone else use it? There's so much effort (I did it on Christmas Eve), roasting chicken wings and celery, onions, carrots, herbs, etc, then frying off on the hob with flour and water, straining it several times etc. For a start it had absolutely NO colour and looked and smelled like chicken soup. The next day when I got it out of the fridge it had congealed and I had to reheat it, re-sieve it and add more sherry, then it ended up far too thin and watery. To be fair it tasted ok, just looked very unappetising and pale.
On the other hand, Jamie Oliver's roast potato recipe was absolutely fabulous and a resounding success!

Any disasters anyone?
Any tips for better gravy?

Christmas dinner went well but on Christmas Eve my mum made a huge pan of pea and ham soup, left it on the gas, forgot about it and returned to the kitchen to a pea explosion. It was all over the wall, microwave, knife block, dropped down into the oven. Absolute bastard to get off, too.

F

My gravy never fails.

Bottom of tray are chopped celery, carrots and onions quartered. Put the turkey on a rack. Then use the stock to make the gravy. Just the jelly not the runny fat. Add a splash of port, gravy browning and thicken with cornflour. Just like my nan and mum made it.

I'd love someone to tell me how to make gravy easily - I'm not at home in the kitchen, so any easy to follow advice welcome. No kitchen disasters here as I was kept well away from the action.

We just forgot to cook the expensive stuffing that we'd bought from a little independent retailer a few weeks ago. No loss though as we just had it to today with leftover sandwiches.

MrsDThomas - see you jumped a huge step there when you said 'then use the stock to make the gravy'.

I ruined the gravy this year, and whilst I tried to salvage it all the veg went cold. Luke warm sprouts anyone???

I was pretty pissed while cooking but it was all good, I’m a confident cook.

Disaster was when I lobbed a potato in the beef dripping to see if it was hot enough. It was hot enough, it splashed up my arm and now I have burns. Dinner was lovely though!

@StoneofDestiny sorry, you’ve lost me. I don’t understand?

@MrsDThomas

My gravy never fails.

Bottom of tray are chopped celery, carrots and onions quartered. Put the turkey on a rack. Then use the stock to make the gravy. Just the jelly not the runny fat. Add a splash of port, gravy browning and thicken with cornflour. Just like my nan and mum made it.

Do you make a paste with the cornflour and then add it or do you just sprinkle cornflour into the gravy and stir it? I'm determined to get this right next year! Mine was far too watery for my tastes and very pale. Does the gravy browning also add flavour or just colour?

I did the Jamie gravy, as I've done for the past few years. What I do is make up a mugful of bisto granule gravy and add that in, as well as the juices from the turkey (skimming the fat off first) when reheating it on Christmas Day. This way, you get deeper flavour and a much nicer colour gravy.

When you come to reheat it, it will look lumpy and congealed, but after heating it for a while it will all mix again nicely.

I watched him do it on one of his programmes the other night, and he suggested that cooking all the meat and veg for longer would turn the gravy a darker colour. I think he meant burn some of it .

Easy gravy = Bisto all the way red one regardless of the meat

Also loved Jamie’s roast potato recipe. Slight disaster here when dishing up the floor got a portion of veg

My gravy tip is buy it from the shop! Much easier than faffing around thickening stock etc. Easy and quick, then we'll use the turkey stock from cooking for curry etc. No disappointments!

I only used that gravy recipe once and yes, it was horrible. Much better when l just throw whatever in a pot and strain it.

@itsmeagain76

Forgot to mention add the stock from the veg too!🤦🏼‍♀️

Always a paste. But take off the heat as you don’t boil cornflour.

Ready made gravy. Got M&S this year. Microwave 3 minutes. Not worth the hassle.

I love Jamie's gravy. We swap the celery 3
for leek, add mushrooms and use chicken stock instead of water (and leave out the star anise). Port and cranberry sause are a must too for the colour.

The problem I think is that is takes so much longer than the method says if you want it nice and brown. Roast for longer, on top of the stove for much longer too. And don't forget the turkey juices on the day.

Cold gravy normally congeals. You just need to reheat it! Its the geletin isnt it? And its going to be relatively pale if its chicken

I did get ahead gravy but made it from a roast chicken I did a couple of weeks ago, made loads and froze enough for Xmas day, I add gravy browning at the end to add colour and thickness. Burnt the mini pigs in blankets but fortunately had enough left over from Xmas Eve to make do!

I'm a good cook, love doing Christmas Dinner. But life is too short for making gravy, thats what granules and a kettle were made for.

First of all I cook my turkey crown in advance; it is easier to slice the next day into nice thin slices and once it has gravy and hot veg it does not matter if it is cold.

I drain off the juices once the turkey is out of the oven and add the bits of turkey and bones to it plus rosemary and some onion. This mixture goes in my slow cooker for a few hours. It is taken out and put (drained) in the fridge. In the morning the fat can roast the potatoes having risen to the top of the gravy and the rest of the gravy can be mixed with some vegetable water and some bistro, boiled up and served. Lovely especially with a dash of red wine! Bon appetit

I know many of you will be purists but the best gravy I have ever had is Morrisons packets chicken and sage gravy. I've always made my own and I'm not usually a fan of instant gravy but this is in another league altogether.
No disasters here other than forgetting the pigs in blankets. They were incredibly crisp (almost burnt) by the time we realised.

My dauphinois were a bit hard still which was a shame, edible and with amazing flavour. But roast was gorgeous and veg.
Made get ahead gravy before when we were meat eaters and was very disappointed but the made Jamie’s vegan gravy this year and it was lush!

Leave the skins on your onions to add colour to your gravy. I do Jamie Gravy but I really really cook it hard until really toasty and brown. Add a generous amount of flour as it’s easier to thin out the gravy than thicken it. And no star anise! Then also boil the giblets on the day for 2 hours and use the turkey juices. The Jamie gravy is more of a base then an end product.

Stuffing was rubbish though, Tesco packet mix