How do you cook everything at Christmas?

[Knittedbreasts]

Hi I am loving reading threads about those of you that are cooking for 20 people etc and I guess sometimes people will bring food with them.

But. I struggle cooking a normal roast dinner for 6 and finding enough space or layers in the oven for roast potatoes, the mean amd parsnips. Any advice or tip?

I'm so excited about xmas!

It took a few years to dawn on me that you can take the turkey out an hour or more before eating, wrap it up in foil with a tea towel or 2 on top, and it will keep perfectly hot and carve better.
During that hour I make the gravy from the juices in the roasting tin, stick the roast potatoes/parsnips in the oven, and the pigs in blankets. And cook the other veg, obv.

I have nearly always cooked for a lot of Chr. day, and the only way I've found to be organised about it (esp. allowing for a lot of Buck's Fizz!) is to work out a timetable that starts backwards from the time we plan to sit down to eat.
So, sit down at 5 (ish, always around then here, less of a rush for the cook)
Turkey out of oven at 3.45
Spuds etc. in at 4, after parboiling
Spuds on to parboil at 3.30 to allow for drying off a bit, shaking
Turkey in oven at (whatever time)
Therefore turn oven on at 1/4 hour before that,
ETc.

Then I write it all out in proper order and stick it on the front of the fridge.
I started this after one memorable year when I'd completely forgotten about the spuds (I blame the Bucks Fizz) and dinner was over an hour late. Don't think anyone cared, though - enjoyed it all the more.

Seconding everyone saying make sure the roast meat/turkey is done at least an hour before you're due to sit down to eat.

Put it on a warm serving plate and wrap in foil then cover in a couple of tea towels. It'll sit and keep warm for an hour or more.

Works for most roasts.

Then you have an hour for roast potatoes/yorkshires/parsnips etc.

Yorkshire puddings can be made in advance and frozen. I just bung them in the oven for five minutes or so whilst I'm carving the turkey/dishing up.

Makes things much easier as my Yorkshire puddings are temperamental at best and don't come out as well in a full oven.

Invest in plenty of disposable foil trays (you can get 3 for £1 in poundshop) for your meat, spuds, parsnips and stuffing, saves on washing up and they go straight in the bin when you're done

Do you put them in straight from the freezer Clash?

Parboiling and freezing the potatoes makes for even better roasties I find. Just tip them straight from the freezer bag into the oil/fat. Works perfectly. Same goes for parsnips.

Turkey goes in oven Christmas Eve evening for a slow cook overnight. Smothered with butter and bacon strips then in the morning, the bacon is ready for bacon sandwiches and turkey is cooked.

Fresh veg is done in the steamer and parsnips in the oven with roast potatoes.

Yes to pre-prepared. A spreadsheet with timings & down to peeling veg & what pans. Par boiling on Christmas Eve so just intonover for roasties etc

For your first time hosting a big breakfast takes a lot of pressure of the cook. You can have a late lunch and nobody will collapse from hunger if you get delayed or forget to switch the actual oven on

Indubious yes, just chuck them in straight from frozen - they're fine, I was worried they might go a bit flaccid and soggy but not at all

I do my ham in apple juice in the slow cooker - goes in at 6am
I am always fighting for oven and job space so do as much as I can out of the oven. I have a slow cooker for keeping the root veg mash warm, and I have heard that you can do the par boil stage of the roast potatoes before hand and freeze them after coating them in whatever herbs/flour you plan to use.

Also my phone is set to alert me to what I need to do next

We have a double range oven and a microwave oven.
And around 20 to Christmas dinner. Huge forerib of beef which comes out of the oven, then potatoes, yorshire puddings, pigs in blankets, Parmesan parsnips, whatever else can go in the oven spaces. The meat needs a good hour at least to rest anyway.
Ham is baked and glazed the night before and warmed through, sliced and in a tight foil package, only 15/20 minutes so it doesn't feel 'cold' with all the other hot food.
Sprouts in pancetta cooked on the hob, aswell as gravy, carrots, anything else I've forgotten?
We also used to do similar when we had a tiny kitchen with just a small single oven no idea how dp pulled it off as he always does the cooking, but he bloody well did!
We don't eat our Christmas dinner until 5pm or so, not at lunchtime - wouldn't be enough time otherwise!

I tend to presume everything will be an hour late, so have smoked salmon on bread to eat as people are getting hungry
Also second the get the turkey out
Plus make gravy with chicken stock in advance, you can always lob in juices Attu e last minute.
Veg chopped the day before and in water, stuffing balls made up in advance too.

Another tip I've read on here is to cook and carve the turkey on Christmas eve and then reheat the slices in gravy in the slow cooker the next day. Not tried it myself as it's usually only dh and I so managable, but think I would if I was doing it for a bigger group. Apparently it keeps it lovely and moist.

We also use disposable roasting tins to cut down on the washing up.

Get people to serve themselves - you can actually get some fairly presentable disposable serving bowls now that are fairly sturdy if you don't want the extra washing up. Personally I find serving up more stressful than the actual dinner - and means that the food is normally hotter when served.

Also, don't be afraid to use shortcuts. I particularly like the chilled parsnip and carrot mash which is a faff to make and mine never tastes as good

Similarly, the M&S red cabbage which you can microwave is decent.

Don't get suckered into having to make every single accompaniment 'special'. My first attempt at cooking Christmas dinner at got carried away with loads of different additions to various veg dishes - it was a lot of extra hassle and actually, I like my roast parsnips to taste of roast parsnips, not honey, cinnamon and orange zest...

Oh and if you do want to try something new, make sure you've tried it before Christmas day!

I love mashed parsnip and it is easy to make ahead and freeze. Just cook, add butter and mash then out into patty tins and freeze. Decant to bag.

On the day they take very little time to warm through and if in a really hot oven get crispy on the outside

Make gravy thicker than usual and just top up with any meat juices on the day.

Go to your library and borrow one of Mary Berrys cookbooks....she does an idiots guide to getting out a three course xmas meal....with extra nibbles before and after....all timed & loads you can do in advance.

My sister made the Jamie Oliver gravy. It's basically a chicken dinner, and cost twenty quid or so for the ingredients.

Have a schedule. Do as much prep the day before as you can. Only do what you are capable of. If there is a must-have side for one or two people, buy it in ready prepared.

Delia.

I have a hostess trolley and par cook the vegetables ( about half cooking time) and out in hostess about 45 minutes before dinner along with the roast potatoes etc and dinner plates

That leaves meat resting and Yorkshire’s

My schedule is to peel the veggies, make the giblet stock and stuffing on Christmas Eve. Ditto cranberry sauce and bread sauce. None of takes long in itself. I store everything in plastic containers or ziplock bags. We also set the table.

On Christmas Day, we prep the turkey with bitter and bacon and put it into the oven before going to church, or we will wait until we are back and eat later.

As others have said, you can cook your veggies after the turkey has come out of the oven, which is very straightforward when there's no peeling to do. The last 10 minutes can be a bit crazy.

I don't think producing a Christmas lunch/dinner to be that hard, as it's fairly prescriptive. It's all the other meals that need to be planned, especially to use up the leftovers.

I am loving the look of this!

orders.booths.co.uk/products/great-northern-xmas-dinner/

This one is even nicer.

orders.booths.co.uk/products/ultimate-xmas-dinner-2017/

MorrisZapp. I did the JP grave last year and it was a bit of a faff. That may have been worth it had I liked it but I didn't. The star anise was too overpowering for my taste.