Christmas Dinner Help, please!!!

[BigBumpBonnie]

I've bought what I thought was a bacon joint for roasting but it's a 'ready to eat' ham joint. Can I cook this to have with Christmas dinner? or do I have to go shopping again???? Also I've got no room in the oven to do everything at once. I'm cooking a rather large turkey, beef and pork. If I were to cook the meat this evening would I be able to heat it up again for dinner and if so what's the best way to do this without drying it out! As you can see I'm pretty rubbish in the kitchen and don't want to ruin the dinner. Please help!

don't cook the ready joint, your going to have to go out again I'm afraid......
Will you have room to cook it earlier tomorrow am, do it foil wrapped to prevent drying out, then warm it up again later!

Oh dear about the ham joint! never mind. Yes, I could do it am, when you say heat it up again is it ok to do this in the microwave?

I personally wouldn't, I'd go for the oven, as soon as you whip the turkey out, which is gona stand for a bit before carving, right?

I think you might be trying to over do it a bit! We are doing two joints tomorrow, beef and turkey, but I am fortunate to have a range with 3 fullsized ovens - otherwise I wouldn't try it!

Just serve the ham as it is on boxingday and do hte beef and turkey tomorrow.

If I were you I would put the turkey on a low heat c150 to cook overnight, with a quick blast of c200 for an hour in the morning. Take it out and cover to rest until needed. I'd then put beef in.

When you have made the gravy, pour some into a serving dish and put the carved turkey in it, pout some more gravy over the top then put it in the oven until it has warmed through, then serve.

The caterers always use the gravy method to reheat as it keeps the meat moist!

Is it safe to cook a turkey overnight?

wow, you lot are fantastic. I didn't know you had to leave the turkey to stand! I might forget the bacon joint and just make do with the one I've got for boxing day, that's a good idea. It's really hard with such a small oven.

That gravy method sounds like a great tip as I couldn't work out how to reheat without drying it out. Will try that, thanks.

More help, please. Can I make the stuffing today? What else can I prepare in advance?!

I am a tad worried about leaving the turkey in all night, then again with a 2 month old baby i'm sure i'll be getting up once or twice so I suppose I can check on it.

at your range soapbox

OMG! I must go & make the gravy. Thanks for reminding me.

make gravy????don't you just put the granules into a jug of hot water? I'd love to make my own gravy but haven't a clue

You can do most things in advance.
Potatoes can be peeled and parboiled (even frozen) ready to go into the oven tomorrow. Bread sauce and stuffing can both be done in advance. Gravy, to me, is the one thing that needs to be done last minute, as I use the juices from the turkey as a base. I add some wine (or port) to those and bubble away for a couple of mins, then add some flour to make a paste. You then continue as if making a white sauce, adding a little liquid at a time - the liquid being either the water that the veg has cooked in/over (but not potato water, it's yuck) or stock which I have already done boiling up the turkey giblets. Add a little something sweet too, such as redcurrant jelly or even jam.
If you don't have any suitable liquid then just use water from the kettle and sprinkle a little stock powder in. Taste it lots and you'll know what needs to go in. Best bit of the whole meal is a good gravy!

I've just cooked my chipolatas too as it'll take less space to reheat than cook them tomorrow.

can I make packet stuffing in advance I have already made the real stuffing(sausagemeat etc)but have one vegetarian who is getting paxo!Can I make it today and bake tomorrow?Or bake today and re heat?

I've never done packet stuffing, but presumably you are just adding water? I can't see any reason why you can't just do it today. If you used hot water and there was something in it that shouldn't be reheated twice then I would worry but I can't imagine there is.

Packet stuffing okay to make today. Mix with the hot water, put in baking dish and cover with foil.

Put it somewhere cool overnight and then bake in oven tomorrow before serving.

You can cook it in the micro as well if you want.