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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Help a non British person with British Xmas dinner?

87 replies

RiceRiceBaby16 · 24/12/2022 10:58

My AIBU I guess can be- am I being unreasonable to think a non Brit can pull off cooking a British Xmas dinner? Blush but really posting here for traffic...

I know everyone's busy but please HELP if you have a moment. Yes Google exists but I trust MN more😂

Having guests over tomorrow afternoon and my main aim is to cook / prepare as much as I can tonight when my 1 year old is asleep. I won't manage it all tomorrow with him awake. My main questions...

Out of these dishes, which ones can be cooked today and heated tomorrow and they won't taste awful??...

Turkey crown
Mac n Cheese (not traditional Xmas dinner I know)
Roasted veggies (carrots, lsprouts)
Stuffing
Cauliflower cheese
Roast potatoes (perhaps par boil today to roast tomorrow? Or will that turn out shit?)

lastly... any tips on cooking the turkey crown so it isn't dry? Never cooked turkey before in my life...

Any advice appreciated...Merry Christmas to all ❤️❤️🎄

OP posts:
RiceRiceBaby16 · 24/12/2022 14:48

RosesAndHellebores · 24/12/2022 11:39

How many are you cooking for? How big is your oven?

I don't think mac n cheese or roasted veg have a place at a traditional turkey roast personally. I'm not convinced about cauliflower cheese either.

We are down to five so it's easy peasy.

1 stuffed and prepped turkey crown (cook in a bag - never done that before). Serves 6-8. 20 pigs, 6 stuffing things with a bit of bacon round them

Roast potatoes and parsnips
Chantenay Carrots
Sprouts with chestnuts (bought ready for microwave)
Braised red cabbage (bought ready for microwave)

Bought poultry gravy and bread sauce
Small jar of cranberry

Method:

10am - put in turkey crown
11.50 - brown crown
12.10 - remove crown from oven and cover with foil and two teatowels.

At about 11 peel and par boil spuds in salted water, add parsnips once bubbling for 5 minutes. Also at 11 put a good glug of rape oil in a baking tray and put in the oven. Once par boiled drain spuds and snip and give a shake in the pan - put on a v low heat for two mins to dry them then put into the sizzling oil making sure they are coated on all sides. Put in the oven.

Top and tail chantenay Carrots - pop into dish just big enough for them. 1 dsp of water, pinch of salt, large pinch of sugar, knob of butter - seal.tightly with foil and pop at the bottom.of the oven.

Get ready serving dishes. (Fill gravy boat and sauce dishes with boiling water) Pop gravy into a pan, heat through bread sauce and put in a lidded dish.

At 12 turn oven down and move spuds near the bottom. Put in pigs and stuffing at the top. Plates and serving bowls in the middle.

At 12.30 take out plates and serving dishes - empty hot water from gravy boat and sauce dishes. Put a light under gravy - bread sauce into serving dish.

Blast sprouts and transfer sprouts and Carrots to serving dish.

At 12.45 call people to table.

Ask someone to put plates on table
Pop spuds into a serving bowl and back in the oven.

Slice turkey and stuffing onto platter - get someone to take through.

Pour gravy into boat - get some one to take through. Get out spuds - have taken through with bread sauce.

Turn oven up to high to brown pigs and extra stuffing

Red cabbage into microwave - turn into dish. Take through

Sprouts and Carrots- 90 second blast in microwave.

Cranberry - bung in gravy pan with juice of a clementine or satsuma - warm it through and serve.

Tip pigs and stuffing into warm dish and take through.

You could do the sprouts/Carrots, pigs and stuffing the day before and microwave - I find it makes for a lot of things that need microwaving at the last minute so would only do if feeding 8-10 nowadays. Always set the table the night before.

Hopefully by the time you sit down someone will have helped people to turkey and vegetables to get things underway and wine will have been poured plus drinks for the children.

Crackers - finish serving and tuck in.

There will be 5 adults and one 8 year old. Oven isn't very big! I might miss the cauliflower cheese. Thank you so much for the helpful tips and sample schedule! Going through it now

OP posts:
AmazonianAvatar · 24/12/2022 14:50

Brine your Turkey tonight. Put in a pan with cold water and salt overnight with a lid on top. We pull back the skin and put butter, sage, lemon and orange slices under it.

Peel pots and carrots/parsnips put in pots of water. Preferably in fridge.

Cut sprout bottoms off, small slice along bottom and put in a bag in fridge, no water. Do NOT boil sprouts! Steam then when slightly soft, lightly sauté with butter and chestnuts/pancetta.

Steam cauliflower and pour cheese sauce on top. Allow to cool put in fridge overnight, add cheese tomorrow. I like a big spoon of whole grain mustard mixed in the sauce. Same with the Mac and cheese.

Bread sauce is yuk, don’t bother!

eleanorwish · 24/12/2022 16:13

Don't carve the turkey straight out of the oven. You need to rest it for a while under foil. This will help it retain moisture after cooking. We have managed to keep a turkey warm like this for at least half an hour to 45 mins while other things are cooking in the oven

WineIsMyMainVice · 24/12/2022 16:35

When you take the turkey out turn it upside down to rest (as others have said wrapped in foil to keep heat). This helps keep the juices throughout the meat)
Just keep everyone’s drinks topped up and all will be fine!
Merry Christmas!

aintnothinbutagstring · 24/12/2022 16:51

For roast potatoes - add whatever fat you're using (goose or beef dripping) but add a few knobs of butter, season well with salt and white pepper if you have. Butter is the secret ingredient!
Gravy is important! You can use powdered or ready-made gravy but put in a saucepan with the turkey juices, a dash or port or similar, bay leaf if available and let it reduce down so its thick enough.

Sometimeswinning · 24/12/2022 17:06

For your roast pots use a masher to slightly crush them after 30/40 mins. Just enough to hear them crack. I usually stick them in the air fryer at that point as they look amazing finished in there!

RiceRiceBaby16 · 25/12/2022 08:55

Quick little update. It wouldn't be Christmas if plans didn't go majorly wrong, right? 😂 due to unforeseen circumstances my guests can't travel to us today so we are going to them instead. Which in a way makes it easier as I don't have to lay a table, host, and later clear up. However. I'm not left with the dilemma of how to pack everything up for safe transportation😂 it's a 30min drive. Turkey was in a brine Over night, now sitting in a butter and herb rub and I'm about to put it in the oven. Potatoes par boiled ready for roasting. Cauliflower steamed ready to bake in the sauce. Need to do the veggies. Might
Leave out the Mac n cheese after all as I've made a dessert from my country instead which is a type of curd and semolina cheesecake baking now! Quite simple
To make and delicious. Hope
You're all having a wonderful morning.

OP posts:
RiceRiceBaby16 · 25/12/2022 09:12

DS on the other hand has been very calm today and playing on his own a lot. Allowing me to get stuff done, with added mum guilt of course that I'm not spending time with him. DH still sleeping as he works nights and was in at 6am

OP posts:
misscockerspaniel · 25/12/2022 11:31

Happy Christmas (and you have still forgotten the bread sauce, which is the main part of the veggie Christmas dinner!)

FlamingJingleBells · 25/12/2022 11:48

Transport in the cooking trays & pans as they're already hot so will keep everything warm. Wrap in foil and tea towels and flat pack the trays in flat boxes.

For the turkey, do the same but put it in a box with a blanket or tea towels to stop heat escaping. The gravy can be transported in a thermos flask.

Before serving, warm your dishes in boiling water or in the oven for 10 mins to warm them through.

RiceRiceBaby16 · 28/12/2022 19:32

If anyone still is here... it went great! Turkey turned out amazing considering I've never cooked one before :)
Skipped the Mac n cheese. Did the cauliflower cheese though and actually everyone loved it! I baked it in the oven with some golden breadcrumbs on top and it turned out great. Sprouts yummy with tonnes of butter, carrots too. All in all, I did great and I am proud of myself Smile not a single sly remark about something being off, which wouldn't be unusual around this crowd!

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 29/12/2022 09:06

Glad it all worked out!

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