Christmas prep

[mrsawhite]

Hello

We've just moved house. Quite an epic move. But we are just settling in. I've agreed (madness) to have 8 round for Christmas dinner. All close family. We've been away for some time so will be lovely to have everyone together. Question is. What can I prep beforehand? I don't have a massive oven. And I'm a bit worried once the turkey is in. Quite what else will fit! MIL is bringing soup starter. Pudding doesn't worry me. But what about the rest!

Turkey can rest for up to an hour. So get that done, out of the oven, and then stick in the things that need to be finished off - usually roasties and chipolatas. I assume you have two oven racks and can put something on the base of the oven?

Par boil your veg, make the bread sauce and do the giblet stock the day before
Do you have a combination microwave

Turkey can rest ( covered in foil and towels) for longer than an hour imo.

Get the turkey out of the oven at least 45 mins before serving.
When you take the turkey out, you can put in the roast potatoes and pigs in blankets.
Mary Berry says that you can half roast the potatoes the night before so they only need 20-30 minutes in the oven.
15 minutes before serving, get potatoes and pigs out of the oven and wrap in foil to keep warm. Put your Yorkshires in the oven. If you make your Yorkshires ahead and freeze them, they only need about 8 minutes www.saga.co.uk/magazine/food/cooking-tips/best-ever-yorkshire-pudding-recipe When Yorkshires are done, turn oven off and put plates in to warm for 5 minutes.
Stuffing freezes well – you can even freeze it in an oven dish, so once it's defrosted, you can pop the dish straight into the oven. Some people go so far as to cook the stuffing before freezing, so on the day it only requires warming up: a good idea when oven space is at a premium.
Braised red cabbage is one of those foods that actually improves its flavour over time, so it’s well worth making in advance. It will keep a few days in the fridge, and reheats brilliantly.
Bread sauce freezes well, but it also keeps for a surprisingly long time in the fridge - just make it a few days before, and you'll only need to add a splash of milk and microwave it.
You can boil your parsnips and keep them in the fridge for up to a day before, to cut down on the cooking time. Alternatively, you could freeze them. Delia's Parmesan parsnips have freezing instructions.

Do the Jamie Oliver make ahead gravy and pop it in the freezer.
When you take the turkey out cover it in foil then thick bath towels to keep it warm. It will stay hot for an hour easy.

Excellent ideas. No microwave unfortunately. But I will do red cabbage before as suggested. Will look up parsnips and Jamie's gravy. Must find my delia book. It is in a box somewhere. Annoyingly wasn't packed in the ones marked cook books 😤

Is it in the boxes marked Xmas??
You'll be fine, I've done traditional Christmas for 12 in a small oven, four ring hob, and no microwave. (With a huge Christmas Eve house party, and another big meal for a slightly different 12 on Boxing Day, so advance prep was complicated...) Delia/the internet can supply a schedule with timings, follow that and make everyone help.

You might need fridge overflow- have a think in advance (eg- can veg and spare booze go in a box on the porch?). And where will the turkey actually be when it's resting?

Lucky that we have an old style pantry which is quite cool. Will keep softs outside I think. Fridge is annoyingly small. Hoping to find a good deal in Boxing Day sales but that doesn't help for the day itself haha!

In the past I've pre made pigs in blankets and frozen them. But not sure realistically if this saves much time.

Just a little note that Paul Kelly, a well known turkey farmer, made a video for us on some dos and don'ts on cooking turkeys. Resting, covering etc.

May be of interest :)

I found delia 😊 going to do parsnips and red cabbage this weekend. All feels right again in the world

I found delia 😊 going to do parsnips and red cabbage this weekend. All feels right again in the world

Great thread, place marking!

Can you do Yorkies in advance?