What do you 'precook'?

[BelBabe]

So this year I'm cooking my first Christmas Dinner. We've always went to the in laws but this year we've decided to just do second Christmas with them on Boxing Day and spend the actual day at home.

There's just me , DH and DD (3) but I'm getting carried away looking up recipes.

But in terms of logistics is there anything you cook before hand and either freeze or keep in the fridge and then just heat up on the day? Maybe certain side's?

I've already done the red cabbage and I have parboiled frozen potatoes in the freezer (homegrown) to roast as well. You can do gravy if you want to (loads swear by Jamie Oliver's - without the star anise!).

Just the boiled ham.
Everything else is prepped in advance but nothing precooked. But I don't do 17 veg and 5 other sides either.

Red cabbage - I make it and freeze it a week or so before.

Cranberry Sauce I make up to three weeks before but pour into sterilised jars and leave in then fridge.

Cauliflower cheese I make on Christmas Eve - I make it to the point of assembling, covering with sauce and cheese and then whack it in the oven on the day.

Yorkshire puds
Parboiled spuds
Stuffing cooked in balls
Boiled sprouts and veg including carrots and broccoli that I then roast on the day
Mash frozen with butter and seasonings mixed in

Remember to defrost the turkey in plenty of time- google this for the right timing-weight.

Work out weight of stuffed turkey to work out cooking time, and some chefs recommend letting it rest under foil for as long as you cooked it.

Baste your turkey every 30-45 mins!

Two adults and one toddler, and no leftovers needed because you're elsewhere on Boxing Day?

Make it easy for yourself, get a turkey crown (or even a large chicken if you 're not that mad keen on turkey) and just do a glorified normal roast dinner with added pigs in blankets & cranberry sauce. Buy a Xmas pud and mince pies from the supermarket, job done.

With a little one in the house, you are really really not going to want to spend hours in the kitchen cooking a giant repast with loads of complicated side dishes.

The only thing I'd do in advance is buy some cocktail sausages and streaky bacon, and make your own pigs in blankets. 24 sausages and 12 rashers, as you only need a half a rasher for each one. Then freeze the lot on a tray, then bag up. You can then cook however many you need from frozen on the day.

Well in advance:

Cranberry sauce
Bread sauce
Brandy Sauce
Red cabbage
Stuffing balls
Bacon rolls (not pigs in blankets)

Day before:
Prep veg
Boil potatoes for roasting,
Gravy

We have to have vegan alternatives for everything not already vegan.

How do you do your roast potatoes? We have lots of potatoes but I've never mastered freezing for roasters.

I do yorkies day before and prep the veg/potatoes and season the meat

I followed these instructions the first time.

On Christmas Eve

Cook the Turkey and stuffing

Par boil the potatoes

Prep the veg

We just had Thanksgiving here in the US and I did the 2 small turkeys the day before and reheated in a crockpot. The Turkey is way less dry this way.

for you and one other adult? bugger all would i precook 😐

get some sides from marks

and then you do the roasties and veg and meat… and enjoy a chilled christmas at home

Par boils they get fluffy bits.
Coat in goose fat (or oil if preferred)
Open freeze on trays over night then bag.

Chuck in a hot oven on trays 9n the day for 30-40mins.

Has worked for me for many years - and I tend to do a whole bag of spuds to use a full jar of goose fat at a time and just use what I need outside of Christmas.

Even if you don’t cook things in advance, I highly recommend measuring out ingredients ahead of time. You can measure all the dry foods like flour and salt now. Just label everything.

do all the chopping and peeling a day or two in advance.

then on the day you are like a tv chef just tipping things in and cooking very quickly. Much less mess and much less time in the kitchen since all the prep is done.

Thanks so much everyone!

Definitely just getting a turkey crown so that will be a cook on the day job obviously.

Really like the thought of freezing the roasties so will be ready to just shove in the oven.

Will also probably pre do the cauliflower cheese. Everything else will be done on the day.

Although the thought of just getting a load of sides from Marks and Spencers is also very tempting

Think I'm just excited to start our own wee Christmas Dinner traditions so probably over thinking it all!

@LittleOwl153 do you defrost the potatoes before cooking them on Christmas Day?

I don't defrost mine.

I wonder if a better question is "what do you want for Christmas dinner"? and then, "what can be done in advance?" and "What have I got freezer space for?".

I've got bread sauce, red cabbage, stuffing and a base gravy already in the freezer. I'll add cauliflower cheese and a ham (to glaze nearer the time) in due course. Personally I don't like pre-prepped roasties (they are always soggy ime), so those and my parsnips will be Christmas eve prep.

Like many others, we freeze the red cabbage in advance. This year we also made a batch of cranberry sauce which is currently in the freezer.

I precook the braised red cabbage (that’s tomorrow’s job), the apple sauce, the stuffing and the stock for the gravy. I also make and freeze the breadcrumbs for the bread sauce.

Cook your turkey (crown) the day before and cover in foil, it carves better cold anyway. Boil spuds for the roasties, buy everything else if you can.

We even make the mash and carrot/swede/turnip a couple of days before if you feel the need to cook, and put it in foil/glass trays so it can be reheated.

Make your own gravy though. Bisto is perfectly fine unless people are really picky.

To those freezing roasties.

Do you parboil, cool , freeze then put them straight into hot oil in the oven on the day ?

@Slidingsocks, ours are never soggy. You have to roast them for a good while to make sure they're done properly though.

Yep! They take at least an hour to do properly too.