Christmas Dinner Get Prepped

[Changeismine]

Am keen this year to prep as much as I can for Christmas dinner before the day. Any tips please? Am especially keen to get the roast potatoes all done and dusted but I can't imagine serving up re-heated roasties from the microwave! Partner away on the day, small oven (no Ninja!) a microwave and old, four burner gas hob. Does it all have to be re-heated in the microwave? Thank you!

The frozen roast potatoes I do are finished in the oven on the day. Red cabbage you can microwave or heat in a pan. Dauphinoise you can prep and whack in the oven also.

How many are you cooking for?

I believe that roast potatoes can be done in advance then just reheated in the oven - I wouldn't microwave them. For myself, I usually peel them and leave them in water overnight then boil them early so they're just about ready. They do most of their cooking while the meat is resting, but I do have space in my oven to double up.

Usually joint in oven. Add potatoes. Remove joint. Add cauliflower cheese (that was prepped the day before). Eat all together about 30 minutes later.

How many are you cooking for?

You can take the meat out and rest it for a good hour, under foil and towels, while you do whatever else you want with the oven inc. Roasties, yorkshires, reheat, whatever.

What are you intending to cook?

We are veggies so I do a whole roast dinner in an hour in a small oven. So parboil roasties, put in parsnips and carrots and stuffing balls (pre home made and frozen) and roast those. Pop veggie main in along the way, and put frozen yorkies in for 5 mins. Cook sprouts, carrots on the hob, for 15 mins, add peas near the end for 5 mins, use water to make gravy and then drain and pop a knob of butter on the veggies. Then plate up the lot and all done. You could do the same with whatever meat you are having all pre cooked and then sliced and heated in the oven for 10 mins prior to serving. Have cranberry sauce if you want on the table.

I do red cabbage and cauliflower cheese well in advance and chuck it in the oven on the day to heat up. Red cabbage microwaves well.

Veg is prepped and left in water the day before.

Meat can rest for around half its cooking time under foil and tea towels, so that frees up your oven to whack it up and brown your roasties.

If you're doing a starter, do things you can assemble in advance (cold starters you can keep in the fridge) or something which takes little to no attention (a posh soup or similar).

I would reheat mash, red cabbage, bread sauce, swede and carrot mash and gravy in the microwave but roast potatoes no. If you sacrificed roast parsnips for mash they could be microwaved.
Basically anything you want crisp needs to go in the oven

Par-boil potatoes and freeze. Add to hot oil from the freezer to cook.

Stuffing made and frozen.

Been collecting gravy from Sunday roast. I can't get onboard with the Jamie Oliver make ahead gravy. It makes too much mess for not much yield.

Cranberry made and frozen.

Pigs in blankets already bought,

I prefer packet bread sauce so that's easy.

Sprouts (from veg patch) with pancetta cooked and frozen.

I'm all for ease, and whatever can be cooked or served in foil trays I will.

Par boil your potatoes the day before (much better as they dry out), put them in the oven when you take the meat out. Microwaved roast potatoes would be awful, you'd be better off having mash.