Christmas Meal Box

[billysboy]

I thought i would be smart this year and a friend pointed me in the direction of a michelin starred chefs xmas box of food

Brilliant for my current situation and a real treat so paid my money and it all turned up last Tuesday , cooking instructions arrived via email

is it me being a bit thick but there were no timings for anything or how to bring the meal together eg Sprouts " heat in a pan until hot !
Mash potato , place in a medium saucepan with a little milk , Heat until hot and serve
Also came with Turkey breast and a Beef joint all to be cooked at 180c which is fine until internal temp is 40- 52 for beef and 60 for the turkey , again no suggested times
Every ingredient was the same

AIBU to expect an overall time ie this will take approx 1 hour for turkey and approx 10 mins for veg etc or the mains will take 2 hours overall

made for a very interesting cook on xmas day but help me out this was supposed to be easy

Agree they should of given you rough timings. But re heating mash is pretty basic. Perhaps they assumed a basic level of cooking skills but they should of made that clear

Also I don’t own a meat thermometer so would of been completely stuck

Yes I'd also want to know the approximate timings - especially for the meat!

If you need precise timings I'd highly recommend the Cook christmas dinner for next year (we've had it for the third time this year!). It's more home-style than fancy chef, but it's way better than any restaurant roast, minimal effort and no waste.

Was it Tom Kerridge? And if so was it any good?

I looked at the price and I’d expect instructions for that price 🤣

YANBU. Oven temperatures and rough timings make it much easier to plan. But you can look all that up on the Internet.

I would expect timings, pretty basic thing to include.

It wasnt Tom kerridge , I am cooking some more of it tonight

roast carrots - no time
Gratin , until piping hot - no time
sprouts , until hot - no time
roast spuds , turn every 10 mins - no time
Venison sausages and pigs in blankets , no instruction and no time

most of it I can work out but it I expected an overall plan with timings

Theres loads of it and it tastes great despite my cooking and timings

That's ridiculous, they should have provided a meat thermometer if they give you those instructions.

That must have been a real disappointment - you'd have got more guidance with supermarket food.
Sadly, I think a lot of chefs/restaurants are turning to the boxed meal ingredients route as an alternate source of revenue to help carry them through varying stages of lockdown.
Clearly, some are proving good at it, others less so.
on hand and you'll notice any delays less (or care about them less).

That’s really crap. How much was it? Any reviews online. I’d definitely email them feedback. If they don’t response with decent acceptance it’s required I’d then leave a review.

It was £300 for a Christmas Box for 4 , I just keep thinking is it me ?

Maybe your skills would be better suited to a M&S ding dinner

@billysboy

It was £300 for a Christmas Box for 4 , I just keep thinking is it me ?

Fuck instructions, for £75 pp I would expect the chef to come along and cook it too

£300?
£300??

Wow.

Where was it from?

Was it from a restaurant?

Lots of them started doing this under lockdown and lots of them don’t seem to have a grip on home cooking needs.

That’s incredibly expensive tho! What was in it?

Anyway no it’s crap - I’d ring and complain and unless they do something to make it up to you, leave a sharp review.

£300 is really expensive?! So yes you should have timings. It might be worth messaging them as there are probably other people who might be put off by that.

THREE! HUNDRED! QUID! FUCKING HELL! WITH NO TIMINGS?

I would definitely expect timings and a thermometer if that was part of the instructions as well. I would definitely give feedback as that seems insane not to include them when you are paying that much.

Wow - that's expensive for something you seem to actually be cooking yourself.

Please tell me it's all prepared in a fancy way at least ie the sprouts were all peeled and with additions like bacon and chestnuts etc (not just the same as a 39p bag from Tesco).

@LowlandLucky

Maybe your skills would be better suited to a M&S ding dinner

I'm with you OP. I'm a pretty experienced cook, I can make things like pastry by eye without weighing things out and could cook all things you've listed from scratch without a recipe or needing to look up timings or recipes but... if you sent me a bunch of semi-prepared/pre-cooked items I would be a bit lost.

If was just a case of reheating, I could make a guess but I wouldn't really want to guess from a food safety perspective. Plus there are lots of things that could affect the timings eg how thinly sliced the potatoes are in the gratin, how deep is the gratin, has it been part cooked etc. If I had made it, I would know. It actually sounds harder and more stressful than just making it yourself. I would also expect to have been warned that you need a meat thermometer before buying, not everyone has one.

No, that's rubbish.

Either you're a confident cook who can rustle up a roast dinner with no drama, in which case it's a massive rip off as you could have sorted it yourself for roughly a quarter of the cost OR you're a non cook who is paying a fortune for it to be idiot proof.

It clearly wasn't idiot proof, so lousy value for money.

I'd be leaving a grumpy review.

I hate recipes that say things like "Meanwhile...."

£300 quid??
Tell me when you're doing it next time and I'll come and cook it instead. All from scratch to a high standard, I'll shop for it, wear full PPE and not charge for petrol to drive over...all for less than £300 quid!!!

Jesus ! 300 quid . I agree op timings would have helped I think

What level or prep was done already n do you think quality wise it was worth It ? Not that I’d ever spend this , just curious