Cooking Christmas dinner for the first time for 15

[oustedbymymate]

Help.
I'm cooking Christmas dinner for the first time. For 15 people! Tomorrow!

Need all the tips.

We have a large pork joint and a large chicken. Should I Cook the chicken today and warm through tomorrow?

How and when should I cook the pork?

Veg prep tonight.

I have a hot cupboard (cheers mum!) an oven and an airfryer.

Nervous to say the least.

Dinner is at 4pm

If you can fit the pork and chicken in the oven at the same time, do those, then leave them to rest for about an hour and a half while you do the veg and potatoes. If you hvae a slow cooker you can have that going with the red cabbage warming through freeing up some pan space, are you steaming your green veg? You might need two steamers. While you have the potatoes and veg roasting you can put any stuffing in there as well as cauliflower cheese, then yorkshires right at the end. Dont forget the pigs in blankets!

You need to timetimeable backwards

I’d cook the pork today, chicken is much nicer fresh and the pork can be sliced and reheated with gravy.

The chicken can be roasted and then taken out to rest. If you cover it in double foil and throw a tea towel on top it’ll hold its heat while the roast potatoes crisp up - or you could do the potatoes in the air fryer. A roast dinner is one of the easiest for a big group because it’s quite forgiving - it’s just getting things in and out of the oven in time.

Yes to prepping veggies, if you’re doing carrots and parsnips par boil them and then put in a ziplock bag with honey in the fridge, you just need to tip them into a roasting dish for the oven.

Good luck, pour yourself a glass of something nice while cooking, and relax. Everyone will be fed regardless of what else happens.

Agree with pp timetable backwards

tell us what you’re wanting to cook and we can help you with the timetable

just think of it as a fancy roast dinner. I have my timings and what to do on a list and tick off as I go

Don't stress, warm the plates, accept help. Have stuff for people to nibble on if your timings go wrong.

Timetable backwards.... 💯% agree with that.

Other tips... Parboil all the veggies today and finish off in the air fryer with butter glazes for carrots / parsnips and plain butter and oil mix for the spuds. It looks really fancy pants but is really simple, quick and frees up cooker / oven space

Gravy - do it today. slowly fry onion until deep brown add carrots and celery plus any other vegetable peelings. Sprinkle over flour and mix into the fat to take ot the lumps. Add red wine ( half a bit) reduce down by half add stock and simmer for an age. Sieve and save. Reheat in the microwave.

I would do both meats tomorrow. Pork first because it needs to rest longer and can tolerate a reheat if needed. Undercook the meat by 2 degrees and triple wrap loosely in foil to keep it hot.

The warming cupboard should help a lot. I’d cook the pork and chicken tomorrow, but aim to have both cooked by 3. Remove the crackling and put on a baking tray, baste both well, cover both with foil and keep warm in the warming cupboard.

Today, do all the veg and sides prep. Peal and cut potatoes and carrots and soak in water overnight. Peal and parboil parsnips and toss in seasoned flour mixed with Parmesan. Prep sprouts. If you’re doing cauliflower cheese / red cabbage ect cook that and have ready for reheating. Prep stuffing balls and pigs in blankets and put back in fridge on baking trays. Don’t over complicate any of the recipes!

Then tomorrow you just need to put in the meat, then when it’s done cook the veg. Air fry the roasties, microwave the red cabbage, oven the parsnips, stuffing and pigs, rest on hob.

youll be fine ❤️

Even though I have been doing Christmas Dinner for decades, I still write everything down. This prep will give you confidence and a plan to follow throughout the day. As a firs timer I would devote an hour to this today,

Write out your menu
Then the time plan. Write beside each ingredient how long it would take to cook and prepare.
These timings are assumptions
Then timings for the non menu items. Laying table pouring drinks. Delegate these and make sure they know the timings
Your meats can stand for up to half an hour after they finish cooking.
3.40. Reheat Gravy and any other warm sides
3.30 all veg on. Over the next30mins.If you are placing veg in serving dishes get them warmed up . Dishes should be one of the earliest things you get out
3.10 stuffings in oven
2.50 roast potatoes in oven
that is the idea, to work backwards until everything is accounted.
The day before get out every serving dishes and plate that you will need.check you have enough
prepare as much veg as possible. Put labels on everything with the time it goes on. This way you don’t suddenly find Brussels sitting in cold water on the side.
Think about desserts the day before too.
Before everyone arrives put a sign on kitchen door KITCHEN CLOSED
Do not let anyone in there unless you absolutely trust them.
Be firm or delegate a minder. Some person don’t think it applies to them. They want to chat, or get you a drink or say I just want to get.

Write it all down. I can cook but struggle with the getting it all ready to serve at the same time so do your timings. Think of it as just an expanded roast dinner if it helps. I would do the veg prep today. Meat wise wrapping it or double wrapping in foil while it rests is a game changer. It's done and you can sort out the veg. Discourage all observers/can I helpers/ oohhh that looks good commentators. They are a pain in the arse.

I would cook all your veg today and put in foil trays like this.

www.gather-be.com/post/prepare-ahead-vegetable-platter

I would also cook mash and warm through tomorrow. Cook your meat tomorrow and just wrap up well in foil and bung the veg in the oven to warm up.

Cook your green veg (broccoli, sprouts) in the microwave. Put them in the bowl you’re serving in, couple of squares of damp kitchen roll over, plate on top, 3 minutes on high then check and stir and another 2 minutes or less depending on quantity.

Also as a first timer don’t be overly ambitious. Cook things you have made before. A simple dinner well cooked will be appreciated more than fancy folderol’s, 5 veg and three different types of potatoes.

You asked “how” on the pork. What joint is is? I do a full rack, in which case you get out of fridge first thing in the morning, score the skin really, really well (I find a bread knife is easiest for that), pat dry and season the meat with salt and pepper and the skin with lots of salt, and leave out covered with kitchen roll so the skin drys and the meat comes to room temp before cooking. Then simply roast in a hot oven for about 2 hours, no basting needed, don’t overcook and use a meat thermometer to check. As a pp said remove when it’s a few degrees below, the middle will come up to temp during resting.

if it’s a shoulder it would be better with long, slow cooking as the meat is a lot tougher/fattier than the rack.

I use the slow cooker to keep veg like Brussels warm till serving so it’s not all a last minute panic timing thing.

Write it down - good. Set Alexa up to remind you when to do things - better.

Lots of

It will all turn out great!🎖

Concur with the keep it to something you are confident to cook and do that well. May I ask what size pork joint? I cook a whole leg so it’s in the oven for six hours to ensure the core is up to temp.
I would not advise using a warming cupboard for pork or chicken unless you had a proper kitchen one that can keep cooked product well above 82c. more so if you have any over 70s or under 5’s to feed. Chicken is best very hot or cooked in advance and served chilled and not reheated as it is the meat after fish/shellfish that is risky for food poisoning. Pork needs to rest before carving for 30 to 45mins depending on the size of the joint. Whilst it rests you can put pre boiled spuds in to roast along with roasted carrots and parsnips. Chefs tend to cut those into battons and toss in salt and fresh ground black pepper and oil so they cook uniformly and will only take 30 mins to cook.
Fresh veg can be steamed if you have a steamer and takes 20 to 30 minutes depending on volume of veg. If you ensure all is of a mostly uniform size it will cook uniformly. It’s if you have large and small pieces you will have some uncooked and some over cooked.

As others have said, a simple but well cooked meal will be fondly recalled and enjoyed. A complicated menu that ends up badly cooked from lack of experience will enter the family and friends Christmas legends for years to come for all the wrong reasons.

Pork is pork leg 2.964kg
Also have two large chickens with cooking time 1hr 40 on

Veg
Red cabbage
Mash
Roasted carrots
Roasted parsnips
Pea (request!)
Roasted potatoes.
Cauliflower cheese

Yorkshire puddings
Pigs in blankets

Gravy.

Cook the pork today and do as much as you can in advance. If you have a DP or older DC, give them very specific jobs to do at specific times.

I draw a map of the oven to show myself what’s going where at what time.

Kids are 2 and 4 DH working until 6pm tonight 🫣

Are you having cranberry sauce and bread sauce too? If so, make those today and reheat the bread sauce 5 mins before serving.
What are you having for pudding?

Pudding. Christmas pudding and roulade. Both bought

Cranberry sauce also bought

I write a timeline and go backwards from when I want to serve. I write it down to the minute - look at how long things take to cook, allow time for water to boil on things. It actually helps me remember what to do when or my DH can look at it and check everything has been put in at the right times if I am busy. I also have two children 3 and 7 this year so it gets busy! I'm aiming for a 1.30pm eat so need to start the oven stuff from about 12pm (always takes longer with more stuff in the oven)

We cook the meats before the potatoes, vegs, additional items as our oven isn't big enough. Put under tin foil and clean tea towels to keep warm. Carve just before serving. e.g. our meat needs to go in at 10am to come out by 12pm when I need to start cooking the rest of the things.

With everything else, I par boil things like potatoes, broccoli and sprouts the night before. Anything that has a second cook basically e.g. roast potatoes, broccoli cheese, pan fried sprouts.
Pre make any Yorkshire pudding batter/stuffing balls and put in the fridge.

Red cabbage I'm doing in the slow cooker this year. 6 hours according to google.
Pigs in blankets you could do in the air fryer. (We are using ours for our gammon)

Gravy was made yesterday - we make it from chicken wings so a long process!

Delegate the simple stuff like peeling spuds preparing sprouts etc

Remember that the people you're cooking for are your friends and family. People who love and care for you. They are not going to notice little mistakes, they are here to see you

My friend cooks her meat the day before amd serves it cold. She swears that on hot plates, with hot gravy and hot veg / sides, no one can tell

I think your menu sounds quite complex, wirh lots of dishes. If some of your guests live nearby, could you delegate some tasks to them eg they bring cooked roast potatoes with them? If you keep hot food well wrapped and resist the temptation to peak at it, it should keep warm for a bit

Meat is important as you could get ill if not properly cooked. Everything else is a bit mire flexible

And everything takes longer than you expect

Lots of cooking tips but are you sorted for seating? Have you enough chairs/table spaces, do you need to do multiple sittings? This is what always caused dh stress when cooking for 18. He had everything planned out for the food cooking and then with about 15 minutes to go it became clear there were at most 10 seats. He’s never agreed to cook at mil house since, it was madness.
So might be worth just double checking that side of things today.
Good luck!