Christmas Dinner recipe thread

[shylatte]

I'm hosting this year for the first time, I started another thread about the logistics of hosting a large family which has proved very useful so I want ideas/advice regarding how to cook. I'm regarded as a good cook, but I would mostly do curries and casserole type dishes. Roasts (especially for 10+ people) worries me a bit. Plain boiled/steamed veg doesn't really appeal to us!

I would like different ideas (with rough instructions please) for:

-Roast potatoes
-roast carrots/parsnips. I like the idea of some sort of herby/honey glaze
-braised cabbage. EVERYONE on here talks about it as if it's a staple but I've never had it so no idea what to do with it.
-brussel sprouts. Something more exciting than just steamed/boiled.
-proper gravy. How do you make enough for 12 people?

Would also like to know what desserts you have, as I haven't started thinking about that yet.

The Delia red cabbage recipe is excellent and can be made well in advance. I have a massive Le Creuset so make a triple quantity, then portion it up and freeze it.

Jamie's Get Ahead gravy is lovely (I make it without the star anise)

I prep and freeze my roast potatoes in advance www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/freeze-ahead-roasties

And this recipe for carrots and parsnips realfood.tesco.com/recipes/sticky-chantenay-carrots-and-parsnips-with-maple-syrup-and-mustard-glaze.html

For the roast potatoes, after par boiling (and allowing to steam cook a bit in the colander), heat the oil in the oven, then season the oil well with salt and pepper. Then add lots of sprigs of Rosemary to the roasting tin with the potatoes, also adding a couple of slightly bashed cloves of garlic. Lovely garlicky rosemary roast tatties!

I agree with the Delia red cabbage (with apples?) recommendation - I only started making it a couple of years ago, and wouldn't be without it now - mine's already made and in the freezer in portions :) Please be careful with your sprouts - there are some of us (me!) who love them simply steamed or boiled - with butter and white pepper - and can't be doing with all the added bacon and chestnut rubbish!

For roasties. Firstly start with the right potatoes. Either King Edwards or Maris Piper IMO.

Lots of people will say chop them uniformly so they all cook identically. But in my family people have different size preferences so I have everything from teeny ones to whoppers and they all cook fine.

Parboil in salted water until you can push a fork in.

While this is happening, put a roasting tray in the oven with goose or duck fat (for crispness) and / or beef dripping (best flavour).

Drain.

Put a few tablespoons of flour into the saucepan. Put the lid on and then gently bash them so they're coated in the flour.

Transfer them to the piping hot oil. Turn regularly until they're super crispy. I'd usually try and give them an hour.

[quote WhatonEarth1]I prep and freeze my roast potatoes in advance www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/freeze-ahead-roasties[/quote]
Love this idea!!

What could I use instead of duck or goose fat?
I usually use olive oil on my roasties.

I second Jamie's get ahead gravy without the star anise, but I do add a couple of chicken cubes to it. It saves a lot of hassle on the day and I add the turkey juices to it.

Roast potatoes I just par boil in salted water for five mins or so, then drain and scuff them. I cook them in goose fat with a sprinkle of salt on a fairly high heat to crisp up, I've been known to do this all in advance as well and then bung in the oven Christmas Day.

Parsnips I just tend to add butter and honey for roasting but Delia's idea of dusting with grated Parmesan works well too.

Braised cabbage I think I used the delia recipe last time.

Sprouts I shred and stir fry with smoked bacon and splash of water if too dry.

I do my own recipe for red cabbage, fry some streaky bacon rashers ,cut into narrow strips, into the sauce pan until they start to brown, add shredded cabbage and 6 slightly crushed juniper berries, then 3 tablespoons of cider vinegar, and a of water, cover tightly and cook for 30 minutes. If you like sweet and sour taste you can add sugar to taste at the same time as the vinegar.

This gives a cooked but still crisp cabbage.

@BaconAndAvocado
This recipe uses oil recipes.sainsburys.co.uk/recipes/extra-crunchy-freeze-ahead-roast-potatoes

For carrot and parsnip i just do batons then toss in honey and a sprinkle of salt over before roasting.
Roasties i parboil then drain and dry off on stove again before a shake up then into hot oil. I use crisp n dry . The trick is to get the tray you are using into the oven witl oil in to heat up while potatoes are boiling. Needs to be hot before they go in.
Stuffing in our house (mils way she showed me. Fucking delish) loaf of nutty crust blitzed roughly. Good bunch of parsley chopped. 2 onions chopped. Onions in dish first (i use my big oval pyrex one) along with some butter chopped in too. Then a layer of breadcrumbs then layer of parsley until all in. When ready to go i just stick in oven and then put a fork through every so often to mix it all through. Might add a few more pieces of butter through if needed.
Ive bought a xmas pud and a choc mousse gateau thing for dessert so far. Xmas cake i made for first time this year. Its now wrapped up to mature. Pray for me🤣🤣

[quote WhatonEarth1]@BaconAndAvocado
This recipe uses oil recipes.sainsburys.co.uk/recipes/extra-crunchy-freeze-ahead-roast-potatoes[/quote]
Thank you 😊

I'm going to look up the Delia red cabbage recipe.
Is it in her Christmas book?

Thank you everyone for these, I’m going to do a few test runs with the potatoes/sprouts/cabbage to see how well they freeze. I think pre cooking as much as possible before the day will make it much more enjoyable for me.

Xmas cake i made for first time this year. Its now wrapped up to mature. Pray for me🤣🤣

That's amazingly organised of you. I bet it will be sumptuous.

OP, best of luck. Yes, pre-made is the way to go! Re: gravy, you can also save some water from boiled peas or whatever of course to make the gravy stretch. I have been watching Marco Pierre White' s YouTube recipes as well and I want to say, add a Knorr's chicken stock cube, too.😁

Sprouts are nice if you lightly steam them and then fry some lardons , toss in some cooked chestnuts and then add the sprouts. Or shredded leeks instead of chestnuts.

Carrots and parsnips - toss in melted butter with a bit of olive oil and a teaspoon of honey before you roast them. I sprinkle a few cumin or caraway seeds on the parsnips before roasting and when the carrots are out of the oven, sprinkle with some finely chopped fresh thyme.

Red cabbage: shred it finely along with equally finely shredded red onion and a coarsely grated apple. Add a pinch of grated nutmeg, brown sugar, salt, pepper and a few cloves and some orange zest if you like them. Toss in a glass of wine and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. Bake in a casserole dish with a lid for at least an hour. Take out and stir half way. It smells and looks disgusting half way through - sort of gray and honky. But keep on cooking and it suddenly turns dark purple and sweet scented so don't be scared when you get it out to stir it.

Parsnips are par boiled and tossed in flour and Parmesan (think that’s a Delia recipe?) and can be frozen.

Potatoes (always King Edwards here) can be par boiled and tossed in goose/duck fat or veg/olive oil whilst hot and then left to cool, ready to roast the next day -but can be frozen.

Sprouts are shredded and Pancetta cooked (keeping the released fat) the day before. Then they’re put in a frying pan/wok together with a splash of boiling water and heated through. My mid-80s father never ate sprouts until I did this a few years ago.

Carrots -really didn’t know how divisive these could be 😳 so I now steam and then purée them in advance and reheat. Now no one’s happy, bar me 🤣

Given up on red cabbage, as I’m the only one who likes it 🙁 but Delia’s recipe is great.

Bread sauce, stuffing and gravy (as mentioned, Jamie’s is really good) can be prepared in advance and frozen if necessary.

Tbh if buying posh gravy from M&S etc in advance helps, then do that!

Good luck, and I hope all the suggested recipes and shortcuts make your Christmas feast fun and fabulous 🥰