To ask for your ultimate Christmas dinner tips and cheats??

[AngeloMysterioso]

We’re hosting my parents in law for the first time this year after they (by which, let’s be honest, I mean MIL) have done the hard work for several years on the bounce. I’ve never cooked for them and we’re in a new house, with an oven I’ve yet to do a roast dinner in (Rangemaster 110) and I really, really, really don’t want to fuck it up. I’m sitting here with a copy of Delia’s Happy Christmas that I bought on a whim in a charity shop this morning and I can already feel my blood pressure rising, so I’m now in search of any tips, cheats, short cuts, easy foolproof recipes that will help things go as smoothly as possible! Any really good ready made supermarket sprouts I can just bung in the oven, a lovely gravy, a never-lets-you-down turkey recipe, a good store bought Yule log, honestly any suggestions will be gratefully received! Failing that, recommendations for a nice dinner wine or Christmas cocktail so I can get them so pissed they don’t notice how much of a bodge I’ve made 😂

Aren't they! The freezer dries off the outer layer and so they're even more crispy.

I use King Edward potatoes, not Maris Piper, not sure why I wrote that (other than I used to drive to work via Maris Lane which is where they were first developed ).

Use your fridge and a whiteboard marker to keep on top of what needs to go in and when. I find it easier to look at than a scrap of paper and you definitely won't lose it!

@Letthemeatgateau why do you recommend buying potatoes now?

Buy a centrepiece and a dessert from Cook and just do the sides. Life is too short.

Why is it all on you and not you and your DH? We divide and conquer.

DH peel and prep all the veg the day/night before
Like pp have said - set the time you want to eat and work backwards to get approx timings
Make sure bird prepped to go in early (again DH job to baste and check)
When bird has finished cooking leave it under foil and tea clothes while you finish roasts/stuffing
(make sure you allocate enough time to get the roasts nice and crispy - it always takes way longer in Chrustmas for some reason)
Par boil spuds and rough them up a bit before putting them in hot sizzling oil.
Last 20 mins put the boiled veg (if any) on.
I can’t make gravy so we just buy the best quality proper gravy in a packet from M&S or Tesco finest.
Enjoy!

And do get your DH to do his bit. It’s your Christmas as well, and good role modelling for children so they don’t look at a Christmas dinner and automatically think it’s a woman’s job to do it all.

It's in the next part of the post - you can par-boil them now and freeze them, then cook from frozen on Christmas day.

Nigellas brine recipe for the turkey! You soak it for 2 days before in a mix of water, salt, sugar, syrups, orange, onions and a shit tonne of herbs and spices. It really tastes amazing and because its brined you honestly cant fuck it up and make it dry... although to be sure get a meat thermometer and check temp of turkey. We have been conditioned to think cooking a turkey asked 5 hours - then we all complain they taste of sawdust!

A few years ago I watched Jamie Oliver's Get Ahead Christmas - or something like that - where he preps everything possible in advance. That first time I tried it it was a game changer and I wouldn't do it any other way now. Christmas Eve is very busy now with all the prep but Christmas Day is much more relaxed, especially if I end up having to feed quite a big crowd. I always plan it ahead, time it all to the minute and it generally goes like clockwork. The only time it didn't was when I had a new range cooker and hadn't got used to the oven in advance, so DEFINITELY do that. A trial run of the whole thing would be helpful, probably.

I do roast dinners fairly regularly and always try to keep a tray of roasties in my freezer! Agree about king edward potatoes, they work great, but have always found maris work fine too. The cheap all rounder potatoes DO NOT work! (Capitals as I feel very strongly about this 😅).

Limit the number of side dishes and vegetables.
Concentrate on doing the meat, the roast pots ( I parboil fluff up and roast in goose fat) and Yorks pud really really well.
Don't take short cuts with gravy granules or packet stuffing.

Buy in some kind of pudding and nice cheese.

Oh and do a roast dinner before hard to check how your oven is.

It's easy - turkey crown, roast potatoes (sprinkle a stock cube over them after par boiling and bash them up a bit) and, so carrots and parsnips with honey salt thyme. Otherwise same old.

M&S 😊👍

Bread sauce is brilliant pre-done then frozen. Defrost, add more nutmeg and milk or cream. Gravy also is life changing made a week or so before then frozen.

Practice in the oven! You have 5 weeks. This weekend is the weekend to make a Sunday roast. Ovens are capricious, the bastards. Learn the quirks yours has. They all have quirks. All of them.

Get some backups just in case. A buttered turkey crown in a tin foil tray from M&S. It can always be frozen if not used.

I reckon that if you have nibbles and sparkling wine, a main and then a pud no-one cares beyond it. I LOVE christmas pudding ice cream. I get good quality vanilla ice cream, crumble Aldi stollen pieces in it, add a bit of rum and some chocolate chips, glace cherries and re-freeze. Perfection.

Let M&S do as much as possible. Turkey gravy, stuffing, pigs, bread sauce, cranberry sauce, Xmas pudding, brandy butter / sauce etc etc.

This is my fav stuffing recipe

I always use this chestnut stuffing recipe:-
1 x packet of ready cooked and peeled chestnuts
6 ozs of freshmade breadcrumbs
1/2 lb Sausagemeat
1 small onion
1 egg - beaten
1/4 of a beef stock cube with a little water.
Add breadcrumbs, sausagemeat, chopped onion and chopped chestnuts. Add the beaten egg and just enough of the stock to bind. Then stuff into the turkey neck and roast - not forgetting to add that weight onto the roasting time.

It is VERY easy - I do it the night before and store in double bagged wrapped sandwich bags as the onions are good at stinking the fridge if you don't

Delia is spot on.

I fo the turkey differently though. I put it on top of a bed of the giblets, onion, carrot and celery.

Bear in mind you don't have to do turkey

do a practice run of a roast one day. Have a think about what needs to be in the oven at its fullest!
buy gravy unless you are good at making gravy.
I also buy cranberrysauce, bread sauce, pigs in blankets and stuffing as life is too short.

no starter.

ask someone to bring a pudding.

Turkey crown is easier to cook than turkey with legs. It stays warm for a good couple of hours once cooked and tastes better if it’s had time to rest.

don’t stress and accept all offers of help.

I’ve regularly done Christmas dinner for 12 to 14…. A flexible start time is handy.

Don’t overthink it. Have you cooked roasts fairly regularly before? It’s pretty much the same, with the addition of pig blankets and bread sauce etc, all of which can be bought to just heat up. I wouldn’t recommend trying to do anything elaborate on the day which puts you out of your comfort zone as it’ll be far more stressful than it seems with endless potential to go wrong with timings and so on. Just buy all the ingredients from M&S or Waitrose and nice fresh gravy.

Stock cube over potatoes? Gross.

I would go for one veg with additional flavouring eg red cabbage (can be made ahead and freezes mine) or sprouts with bacon and the rest just normal steamed veg. Too many flavour combination overwhelm and clash.

Home made cranberry sauce is super easy, takes less than 10 mins and looks and tatses amazing. Made ahead and freeze.

Don’t do too many courses. If you’re cheeseboard people then don’t do a starter.

Well cooked simple food is so much better than all the flavourings chucked on a plate and a stressed host.

Frozen Brussels spouts taste sweeter and are nicer!

Don’t even think of doing a starter.

Not necessary, gives you a load of dirty dishes coming into the kitchen, more stuff in the overloaded fridge beforehand etc. When people think Christmas Dinner they think roast and our, cheese, chocs. Not fiddly stuff on plates to fill you up and create extra stress and work.