What can I make for Christmas dinner?

[PersisFord]

I'm excited to be hosting this year, but dreading the cooking. I am a perfectly competent cook usually but every Christmas it just falls apart. Plus we have such complicated dietary requirements it all ends up being a battle, and then people say "dont do anything special for me, ill just eat some coal" and it gets worse. So I am wondering if there is something I'm missing.

There will be 10 of us. 1 vegetarian, 1 coeliac. 2 life threatening allergies (mushrooms and nuts) so they can't be in any part of the meal at all. One child has a real aversion to mashed potato.

Roast dinner with a veg option is logical but I'm just not good at cooking it - last year it was about 2 hours late, meat overcooked, potatoes undercooked,veg cold. And I was nearly in tears.

Best Xmas dinner I've ever had was in Australia when I was backpacking - bbq prawns and salad. Would do this again except for I eat this most days...

Does anyone have any ideas?

I have a vegetarian to cater for and tend to do a roast dinner - eg turkey crown, roast potatoes, various veg, pigs in blankets. For the vegetarian i just do a veggie sausages instead of meat.
I do 2 gravies,
Oxo gravy which is vegetarian, plus a turkey gravy.
That to me is pretty straightforward. No tears or excess stress.

Is that ok for coeliac?

Also, don't bother with a starter and get your serving dishes organised in advance so you aren't desperately looking for suitable dishes at the end.

I clear a section of the kitchen right at the end and put everything out there - people queue up buffet style and take it to the table.

No cooked dessert apart from a Xmas pudding in the microwave. I get guests to bring dessert. This means I don't have to try to fit it into the fridge along with the other stuff the day before as I don't have the room.

I also don't have a big enough freezer to pre prepare like others have suggested.

My nephew always helps me - everyone else has to keep out.

Buy the frozen premade one... comes out lovely you just whack it in oven from frozen for 45mins honestly save yourself at least some hassle!!

Champagne and pre dinner nibbles are your friend. If you're running a bit late it stops people moaning that they're hungry and after enough Champagne no one really minds what you feed them!

The trick for all roasts is to cook the meat first then keep it warm while veg cooks for an hour. Never try and do both at same time. The most forgiving roasts to do are gammon ham, pork, and chicken. Ham goes v well with cauli cheese and baked or roast spuds plus salads or buffet. Beef, venison, always easy to overcook even with thermometer. Chicken - easy to use proper electronic meat probe and will cook perfectly if you take it out at 72 degrees. Bought gravy is your friend. Turkey always overcooks somewhere unless you just do a crown.

You could do most coeliac friendly
keep it simple
Roast turkey
Loads of veg , sprouts ( quick cook the day before , then fry in butter on day )
carrots , broccoli
Buy some red cabbage from M & S
Gravy , if you add butter , and boil to reduce you can make a lovely gravy with no flour ( a day before job ) Jamie Oliver does a good prep ahead gravy with chicken winglets
Roast potatoes in sunflower oil ( par boil them the day before , if you can , if not just peel them and keep them in cold water outside )
for the veggie ( buy something from M&S or Tesco finest ) or roast cauliflower?

Buy a Christmas pudding , make some choclate mousse or buy some meringues with tons of cream and icecream and fruit

lots of wine , make a keep out sign for the kitchen and go for it

Oh yes , get a meat probe , life changer

I truly believe that ovens on CD are not as hot as other days.

I would do a rib of beef if you are not confident with a Turkey . That can go in early, and come out to rest hours ahead.

Then ramp the oven up and do the potatoes first, put in a cauliflower cheese about 20 minutes later, along with carrots and parsnips.

Finally jack the oven up and put the Yorkshire in in a dish, rather than muffin tin.

Gravy: use the water from the cauliflower throw in gravy granules, stir like a maniac and heat in the microwave 5 minutes before touchdown.

Top tips:

NOONE except you and a bottle of sherry in the kitchen.

Everyone arse on seats 10 minutes before you put the gravy on, whilst you plate.

ONE PERSON in the kitchen to take the plates in.

Long line of placemats down the table for bowls so every can help themselves.

My tip for a successful Christmas dinner is a hostess tray (we use two when we’ve had more people than usual). Then everything comes out of the oven when it’s perfectly done and waits for the rest. Plus a plug in fabric plate warmer, those two things eliminate the stress of things a) being ready at the same time and b) being hot.

Sorry that didn’t help with your question at all. I focused on the overcooked meat, cold veg.

Borrow an air fryer if you don't have one - you can cook stuff in there quite easily alongside the oven, hob and microwave if you have one.

You guys are brilliant. I wish you were coming for dinner!

So how about this? Everyone is staying over Christmas eve so we can have fancy granola for breakfast, fruit, yoghurt. Then a nice walk.

For lunch:
Nibbles instead of starters
Slow roast lamb or beef (TBC). I will buy an oven thermometer - I think despite my use of the meat thermometer last year it obviously did keep cooking whilst resting under the foil (cannot believe i didn't think of that!) so will do something more forgiving
Roast potatoes i will cook in advance
Cauliflower cheese i will cook in advance
Maybe oven roast veg I will buy frozen
Brussels sprouts that i loathe but that are beloved my my least fussy guest - will buy preprepared
Leeks (my favourite)
Maybe red cabbage i will buy ready made

Puddings and cheese i will ask to be brought - coeliac will bring a GF Christmas pudding and vegetarian can make a cake. I will buy nice ice-cream for me.

On the day - I will make a timetable with lots of wiggle room, and when things get hairy in the kitchen I will lock them all in the living room with wine and crisps.

For tea we can have cheese, crackers, smoked salmon - i will ask for these to be brought by guests.

My mistakes last year:

1. Meat keeps cooking whilst resting
2. Industrial quantities of veg take longer to cook
3. People ask to help because they want to but if they aren't actually being helpful they should be banished with no guilt

@PersisFord look..... gluten free and vegetarian 😂😂😂
(picture incoming....)

Sounds really good! Definitely ask people to bring things, people really want to!

Ha I might just get that coal if I can and bring it out after lunch!

Thanks again everyone xxx

Your plan sounds great! You can do it!

Your plan sounds great - you can thicken the sauce for the cauliflower cheese with cornflour to make it GF and use a vegetarian cheese and you will please everyone.

The Deliciously Ella GF granola is really nice, I’m looking forward to the deluxe blackberry & pecan one. Also some of Lizi’s brand https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/shop/search?&searchTerm=deliciously%20ella%20granola%20gluten%20free

Serve light starters buffet style with drinks for people to help themselves at 12pm. This will prevent people popping into the kitchen asking what time dinner will be served.

Then you can serve the mains straightaway at 2/3 pm and people won't be too full from the starters. Dessert can be served around 5/6pm giving you a gap for a walk between the final courses.

This has revolutionised my meat cooking. Light years better than any other thermometer and ours is about 15 years old. V experienced cook, but wouldn’t do any roast without this. Def go lamb not beef for less stress. thermapen.co.uk

Roast potatoes are better twice roasted than once roasted, which means you can get them to the pale golden stage beforehand and then pop them back in the oven to properly crisp up after the meat comes out to rest.

M&S sides are fantastic- red cabbage, sprouts, cauliflower cheese etc. You can also buy pre-made GF Yorkshire puddings (homemade are nicer but there's no point having the additional stress on Christmas day).

OR: ask guests to make the sides and desserts (compliant with dietary requirements). We always do this with big family get together. The host makes the meat/veggie main and roast potatoes and everyone else brings a dish (allocate this to them). And usually, as they only have one thing to do (e.g. red cabbage) they will do a really fancy one so you end up with an amazing feast that would have been far too much work for one person. It's much easier for you than for them to bring smoked salmon/cheese/nibbles which are the zero effort bit.

I par boil the potatoes and then freeze them. You can also do them the day before.
Pre cook and freeze red cabbage
Buy a hot plate... important!
Sprouts par boiled the day before and then fry with onions and bacon. Add cream at the end.
Pre cook the meat and freeze or cook it in a slow cooker on the day
Pre cook gravy.
Make the Yorkshire mix the day before
Cauliflower cheese made and frozen
Pigs in blankets prepped and frozen in foil trays

Could you do a roast dinner and the veggie have it with some veggie sausages? It’s all in the planning really.

Get your gravy made ahead of time (I roast a load of chicken wings with bacon rashers,onions celery and carrots, add flour, cook for a few mins then deglaze with wine then add stock. Cook for half hour, check it tastes great then strain it and freeze. Can add more Turkey juices on the day.

Prep all the veg a day or two before and have it on covered trays ready to go in the oven (could even use foil ones for ease)

That way all you have to do is mainly focus on the meat on the day - once that’s out and resting you can put the rest in the oven.

Sort the veggie and GF gravy the day before (maybe buy a fresh one from M&S)

The secret to a roast is resting the meat and not just for a few minutes. It can sit almost as long as it was in the oven if needs be. It will be much more succulent for the extra time, and that completely takes the pressure off the veg and potatoes.

You need the extra wide, extra strong tinfoil, and a nice big beach towel and you can just wrap it up and put it somewhere out of your way.

Heat the plates and serve piping hot gravy if you have any worries about things getting cold.

Something that can throw off oven timings is opening the door and the subsequent cooling. At Christmas you can find yourself opening the door quite a bit to check this, add that, etc and then things take longer than expected. That may be why your planned timings weren’t working.

Selection of pizzas and salads. Delicious and easy!

I'm late to come back but just wanted to say your plan sounds perfect!