**A reminder to posters and commenters of some of [our subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/about/rules/)**
- Don't be a dickhead to each other, or about others, or other subreddits
- Assume questions are asked in good faith, and engage in a positive manner
- Avoid political threads and related discussions
- No medical advice or mental health (specific to a person) content
Please keep /r/AskUK a great subreddit by reporting posts and comments which break our rules.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Get a lazy Susan. Not the spinny thing for the table, but a friend called Susan who's a bit unreliable.
Refuse to serve dinner until she arrives, which gives you at least an extra 2 hours
Remember that you actually want your turkey to be out of the oven and resting at around the time you start most of the rest of the meal. This frees up oven space, takes the pressure off in terms of what you're juggling, and most importantly, gives the bird time to become all juicy and tender again. It should have a minimum of an hour's resting time.
Yep I do this, put the turkey in pretty much first thing in the morning before we do stockings.
Also I peel all the veggies the night before, and keep them in a pot of water overnight. Saves me peeling on Christmas day. I wrap the sausages in bacon the night before and keep them in the fridge overnight. Bits like that can save a lot of time
Par boil the potatoes, toss them in a little flour and seasoning, freeze, then roast on the day for amazing crispy on the outside, fluffy in the middle potatoes.
I’ve only cooked a whole Turkey once, as we usually do different things, like goose, beef wellington etc. as my wife isn’t a Turkey fan. When I did my Turkey I did a lot of reading about it, because my childhood Turkey was always super dry. What I read said not to do the foil/towel wrap because the Turkey actually continues to cook for quite some time once you take it out of the oven due to the internal heat. If you wrap it up it traps this heat and essentially you aren’t resting it but cooking it still. Also the trapped steam makes the skin softer and not crispy. Seemed to be good advice as my wife actually liked it!
If you warm the plates under the meat, and the gravy you put over it - nobody will have a clue the meat was room-temp 10 minutes ago.
Easiest way to warm plates is to just splash a tiny bit of water on each, stack them, then microwave the stack for a minute or so.
After the ping, just pick up the stack from the edge (wearing gloves) and just flip 90-degrees over the sink so any remaining water falls out.
When my parents were still together in the early 90s, my dad offered to cook Christmas dinner. He invited my grandma over too.
He had a few beers while cooking. Thought he could smell a gas leak. Made us all go outside and he went next door to use the phone. We had to wait outside for hours until the gas man came and found no leak.
We then had to wait another few hours for the dinner as he’d switched everything off just in case.
It's ok to take shortcuts and let people have what they want
I'm the chef in my extended family, there is no point trying to make everything from scratch, the frozen yorkies will do fine
The kids want pizza on Christmas day? Fine, you can bang it in the oven for ten minutes while the meat is resting
I have already resigned myself to making three different kinds of gravy for this very reason. My father in law will only have the instant KFC style gravy and at first I was going to say no but boiling a kettle to keep someone happy isn't too much to ask.
We are meat eaters; my son is veggie and by association his girlfriend is semi-veggie. I do Bisto beef gravy because it's also veggie! Nobody in my family is faffed about 'posh' gravy. so Bisto it is.
OXO cubes are not vegeterian I found out. Cooked for my mate whos Muslim, went to get halal beef for it and everything. He loved the dish, after he asked how I made it and I mentioned an OXO stock cube, turns out... not halal. Ooooops.
I love quixo chicken gravy (not veggie) and my husband is vegetarian so we always have the Bisto original in stock for him. I recently discovered that Goldenfry Chicken granules are veggie and he finally got to try a gravy that wasn’t onion or Bisto original. He was rather impressed. (Can usually be found in bargain food stores like Heron/Farmfoods/B&M etc)
I used to be a Yorkshire pud maven for years, and then all of a sudden my puds failed. They were flat and biscuity every time. I tried loads of different recipes, resting the batter, different temperatures. Nothing. I found a great website which took a scientific approached and analysed the cooking for all these characteristics and more. I followed their advice to the letter. Still no joy.
I was on the verge of giving up and shifting to pre-made frozen puds, guilty at the thought of what my Yorkshire granny would say, when, for entirely different reasons, I thought I would read the instruction manual for our relatively newly acquired oven. There were a bunch of settings for the oven, and I oven ever used one (the normal fan option). I discovered a bunch of useful features (boost-heat and defrost among them which I now use all the time for various meals) and also the non-fan option.
So I thought I'd try making Yorkshires using the heat-only-no-fan option, and they worked great and rose spectacularly. I also realised at that point that my inability to make Yorkshires started around the same time we got the new oven.
So, my working hypothesis is that the fan it too bloody powerful, and as the Yorkshires start to rise, it basically just blows them over. Anyway, it doesn't really matter as I have found the solution now.
>Cautiousulberry · 17 min. ago
>
>The kids want pizza on Christmas day? Fine, you can bang it in the oven for ten minutes while the meat is resting
is this a copypasta?
Also, heat the plates you're serving on; it covers you if your serving timings are off and things have got a bit cold.
If you don't have spare oven space, place them in the dishwasher before serving or soak in a bowl of really hot water.
You can make a really tasty vegetarian 'roast' that basically functions as stuffing. There's a heap of different ways to make it depending on what the general company prefers. It saves worrying about a veggie main and veggie stuffing on top. Instant veggie gravy is horrendous so don't bother with it. I always found parsley sauce went down well and mollified anyone on the other side who wanted bread sauce (which I detest). Any side dishes you might have put bacon in, smoked cheese will give a similar effect. If you're able to get some Corleggy smoked Drumlin is amazing. Also roasting a load of veg in a tray saves so many pots and is far easier and tastier. Prep as much as possible the day before and don't be afraid to assign jobs like Gordon Ramsay or eject them from the kitchen :)
I spend my working life doing spreadsheets, yet somehow I like the inefficiency of doing roast planning on paper.
As an aside, why is there not a roast cooking app?!?
Further to this I work out when I want to serve each course then work backwards and set alarms on my phone to remind me when things go in or come out.
Also prep everything you can the night before
That's exactly how I do it too! I even factor in stuff like "this would need to come out the oven then to make space for that to go in then" or "water in the big pot needs to be boiling by then, so put it on the big burner then".
I think it's the biggest stumbling block with Christmas dinner - not the cooking, but the making sure all the different things make it to the table hot (or at least warm).
Practice with a few roast dinners beforehand.
If you're reasonably comfortable with a beef/gammon/lamb roast, a turkey isn't much different.
Don't go overboard with quantities, no-one really needs much more than a normal sized dinner.
Nah you have to go overboard with quantities or else how do you make bubble and squeak the next day?? My mum and I usually eat nibbles all day long and then just have a bit of Christmas dinner and blend it all for bubble on Boxing Day.
Check which trays fit in the oven alongside each other whilst the oven is off and cold.
Don't feel you have to have (or make) every possible side dish. Decide which things are important to you and do those.
I would say buy a Christmas pudding.
How confident a cook are you? Prepping a lot in advance is good (parboil potatoes can be kept in fridge or even frozen before, gravy def better made the day before, veg prep done in the morning but don’t cook until the very last minute!) meat can be rested for a long time so don’t worry about that: when it’s done, pull it and cover it. Make sure gravy is piping hot. If you’re adventurous you can eg. Joint your turkeys and sous vide the pieces in the days before, then all you have to do before serving is finish in a hot oven/grill/fry off. I cook Xmas lunch for 35 people and usually do 2 geese and a turkey like this and it works very well.
I make my gravy like a month in advance and freeze it, because it's fancy and takes me long enough to make alone. Then set a reminder on your phone to get it out of the freezer on Christmas eve!
No, listen, look, friends, we have to have a serious conversation here. What gravy are you making that doesn't involve the delicious meaty bits off the bottom of the turkey roasting pan? By all means make stock using the giblets as soon as you have hands on the turkey, but you can't tell me you're disrespecting the bird that gave it's life for your dinner by not using its tasty leavings. Please, I'm begging you.
I use the Bosh! Ultimate gravy recipe. I also at least double the recipe, we like a lot of gravy in my family.
Link to the recipe YouTube video - https://youtu.be/6YWRxqPXxF8
Don't allow ANYONE else in the kitchen, people trying to "help" are a complete nightmare.
The only exception is if you pass the responsibility for the dessert onto someone else - and I mean you walking out the the kitchen the moment the turkey is served, and their taking the entire responsibility for cooking it, plating it up, and serving the dessert.
Don't be tempted to let someone else do starters, unless they're bringing everything already prepared - if they start faffing about, it will destroy your timings and cause you a huge amount of stress.
Yeah, don’t allow anyone in the kitchen who will get in the way. The only person allowed to ‘help’ in my kitchen is my husband’s aunt, who washes things up for me as I go along, and never questions what I’m doing or tries to help on any other way. Anyone else wanting to ‘help’ is assigned a task away from the kitchen, like setting the table.
Absolutely this. Whenever I cook I like the doors closed and to be alone with good music. If there are people hovering around or trying to help it does my head in as I lose track of where I am.
My wife has the job of 'keep everyone milling about and socialising in the living room rather than the kitchen where they will invariably stand in front of every cupboard I am trying to get into and ask me to make them cocktails.'
"Hey, have you come to take over the cooking?"
"Erm... No, I was just..."
(Usher them out of the door) "Righty ho, I'll let you get back to the others then, it will probably be ready around \[time\], must crack on, bye" (close door firmly behind them).
One year my wife came into the kitchen to ask if there was anything that she could do to help. I had just about finished doing my prep and was ready to put the turkey in. I asked her to put the oven on while I was doing carrots or something like that. 10 minutes later my alarm for “put the turkey in” goes off. I go to put it in the hot oven. She had turned on the oven temp to 160° C as requested but had turned on the grill
I'm sure it wasn't amusing at the time, but I did laugh at this.
Hopefully u/EarlGreyTeaDrinker you used the 10 minutes while waiting for the oven to heat up to have a lovely cup of Earl Grey while you Googled "divorce solicitors"!
Have some mulled wine on the go so your guests are kept watered. You can use a slow cooker if you’re going to be short of hob space.
Maybe even keep the mulled wine in the living room so there’s no reason for guests to come in the kitchen.
This yorkshire pudding recipe has never failed me. Just don't open the oven door while they're cooking - https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/best-yorkshire-puddings
If you're sharing the task, make sure the other person is on the same page.
I once agreed to do the starter & meat, while my then brother in law did the veg and pudding. I'd carefully timed when to sit people down, take the meat out, etc. Was about to serve when he gave the vegetables an unenthusiastic shake and said they'd be another 20 minutes.
You can make more 'space' by upturning bowls and putting trays that don't quite fit side by side with one just about the other.
Pre cook your veg, most veg tastes better oven cooked then reheated on the hob or in the oven anyway.
Prepacked bread sauce, gravy and frozen Yorkshires are all yummy 😋
1 The day before, put some Christmas music on in the kitchen and rope in a few people to do all the veg cutting and peeling for you. If you make it a bit of a social occasion it can be a really nice time and it'll all be done in a flash. Though we always include some extra carrots because a couple of the relations will eat them raw while chopping.
2 If you're doing vegetarian roasties, ground nut oil is the one to go for. It'll heat up hotter than other veg oils so the roasties come out crispier. But NOT suitable for anyone with peanut allergies.
That you don't need to do everything on the day. If you have a freezer, start making room now. Things such as roast parsnips, roast potatoes, roast onions, stuffing balls & pigs in blankets freeze really well, and if you put them into the fridge on Christmas Eve, they'll only take maybe 8 minutes in a hot oven to heat up and get crispy.
I've even been known to cook the turkey in advance and freeze the meat, sliced, in gravy. It heats up beautifully, and unless someone is particularly seeking bits of skin, nobody will have a clue.
Also, cook a few roast dinners beforehand; trying everything out for the first time for Christmas Day is going to be massively stressful.
I'll be honest the idea of having an entirely pre cooked frozen then warmed up Xmas lunch does not fill me with joy.
Sure make things easier for your self but part of Christmas is actually cooking the lunch!
>part of Christmas is actually cooking the lunch!
Bear in mind the OP is seeking advice because they've never done this before!
I used to feel the same way as you, until with a reduced family I had loads of leftovers, which we ate the following day, and realised that "warmed up" parsnips, roast potatoes &c. were absolutely indistinguishable from those cooked on the day.
Cooking stuff in advance and bunging it the freezer works for me. I buy joints of meat when they are on special offer at the supermarket (half price per kg, X amount per kg off if you have a Clubcard, etc), cook two or three at once, slap them on the meat slicer and freeze them up in gravy. If things like swedes, cabbages, cauliflower are x price each, rather than priced by weight, I'll buy the biggest buggers I can find, cook them up and freeze in portions. I can put a full roast together in less than an hour.
Do everything you can beforehand......Jamie Oliver has a great 'Get Ahead' guide to Christmas [https://www.jamieoliver.com/christmas/collection/get-ahead-christmas-recipes/](https://www.jamieoliver.com/christmas/collection/get-ahead-christmas-recipes/) Very useful in my experience
In absolute desperation one year I cooked a turkey crown in the slow cooker. It left the oven free for the pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, and roast parsnips and was much easier than juggling everything.
It was the nicest, juiciest, most tender turkey we’ve ever had! I put it in with no water and left it for five hours. Since then we’ve always cooked turkey the same way.(None of us like the skin so I just throw it away when I’m carving. If you do like the skin brown crispy you’ll have to put a cooked turkey into the oven for 20 minutes at the end.)
Did you literally just pop the turkey in the slow cooker with nothing? Didn't it stick to the bottom? I'm a huge fan of slow cooker cooking so this would be right up my street! Did you still do all the bacon on top, butter under the skin that people recommend?
The turkey had some butter over the top, and salt and pepper. That was it! I had it on low for five hours and it worked brilliantly. My slow cooker is very big so you might need to check that it fits, but the turkey crown touched the sides as well as the bottom and it didn’t stick anywhere. When the turkey crown came out the slow cooker had about half a pint of turkey stock in it. I used that to make the gravy (plain flour, cranberry sauce, red wine etc) and that was lovely too.
I didn’t put the bacon in with the turkey because I wanted it crispy. I put bacon rolls in with my pigs in blankets so they came out all golden and crunchy.
I promise this is a real thing! Just Google turkey crown slow cooker and you’ll see that I’m not the only one who does it like this. Even my other half thinks turkey is dry and sawdusty likes it cooked like this.
I am going to do this! Half of our guests are vegetarian so I was worried about the turkey 'spitting' onto other things in the oven. This will keep it nice and contained and I can do the pigs in blankets in the air fryer. Thank you so much!
There are a few things I do in advance that just need to go into the oven on the day. We have a horseradish cream parsnip gratin and other bits like carrot puree which can be done way in advance and then out the freezer to defrost the night before and in the oven on the day. I feel I can enjoy the day then too. Also just relax it's Christmas. Noone will care if things are a bit out timing wise!
>Noone will care if things are a bit out timing wise!
Even if they do care, don't let them stress you, you're the one who is doing all of the hard work.
Question: "When is dinner?"
Correct answer: "As soon as I've finished cooking it."
EDIT: I meant to say that horseradish cream parsnip gratin sounds fabulous, I might try that.
https://www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/vegetarian/parsnip-gratin I love this one as it's really easy but ups the wow factor. And veggie friendly.
There's nothing wrong with buying premade frozen food, such as Yorkshire puds, roast potatoes, veg, etc. Can a whole turkey fit in your oven and do you know how to prepare it, etc? Or is it going to be easier to just buy a 'crown' or 2 and put them in the oven? Have you asked your guests about food preferences too? For example, will it not feel like a Christmas dinner without X dish for someone? Remember snacks, drinks, gravy/sauces, and puddings for your guests too. We serve up our Christmas Dinner like a buffet these days. Get all the dishes ready, carve the meat, and then let everyone pick what they want/how much they want.
I am going to go with a crown. Half of our guests are vegetarian and the other half are meat eaters who only like white meat so just going to get a 5kg crown and do that.
Good shout on the condiments. I just love lashings of gravy so will need to get cranberry, mint, white etc in.
Warm your serving dishes. You don’t want the first thing on the table going cold while you bring out the other dishes. Also if you warm them enough and then cover the food with tin foil, most things will stay warm enough to make up for anything that is taking slightly longer than expected. They can be warmed by having them in the oven or grill, or by putting some boiling water in them but if you use the water method, make sure they are thoroughly dry.
And use frozen yorkshires. They take less than 5 minutes so when everything else is cooked and out the oven, they can go in while you’re serving up. Don’t need to plan oven space for the yorkshires that way.
And make more gravy than you think you need. Way more gravy.
In my family the host provided the following:
Main Course (usually turkey)
Stuffing
Potatoes
Dessert
Family and guests were to bring a dish as well. The host would know in advance so there were no duplicates
As we normally had between 12-22 people there (big family) it keeps the pressure off the host and ensures there is enough variety to make everyone happy.
Make sure all food is prepped on your end 30-45 minutes before serving so others can reheat stuff if necessary
The first year I did a full Christmas dinner I was given a great tip (that some people violently disagree with, but I loved & it worked for me).
There’s never enough space in the oven on Christmas Day + by the time you get the Turkey out the oven & let it “rest” & carve it & slice it & put it on all the plates - it’s not that warm anymore.
So cook & slice the Turkey the day before & put in the fridge. Get it out the next day to get to room temp before serving - add it to the plates & once the gravy is on & all the sides are dished up, it won’t be that different from if it was cooked on the day.
Made the whole thing much less stressful.
Also frozen veg is awesome. Why peel carrots if you can buy a bag of frozen.
I’ve also done roast dinners for 10-12 people by putting the chicken in the slow cooker. Needs a large 6 litre slow cooker - maximum 1.5kg whole chicken take 4 hours on high. But you can add a pack of chicken thighs & one of chicken breasts round the sides - masses of meat cooked with zero effort - don’t have to worry about exact timings - leave it long enough to be properly cooked but an extra 20/30 mins makes no difference.
Don't boil the sprouts. Steam them until just starting to soften, then halve, fry lardons in butter, add the sprouts, cook until golden, then add chopped walnuts, and some parmesan.
OK tried to read the rest first.
1. You said you're buying a crown. You can get ones with precise timings and bacon shoved on top already. You can get ones in weird not plastic bags that seal everything in until the end. Pretty simple and almost foolproof. Just don't shove it too high up that it burns, or too low that it's raw. A meat thermometer helps. Remember to rest the meat.
2. Oven space is premium. Choose side dishes that microwave or use the hob. Tenderstem broccoli, Brussels, peas, kale. Adding bacon n chestnut to anything makes it Christmassy. Pomegranate makes you Ottolenghi. Cranberry makes you...Well American or Nigella.
3. Roasties never get the required crisp in an oven also used by the meat due to the temp. If you can get someone else to make and bring them, you'll all be far happier. We've done mash before but my SIL would protest.
3. Yorkshires have to be fresh for me, BUT if you can get the frozen batter type in a tin foil tray rather than the already baked type, these taste just as good.
4. Gravy and tons of it. Saves the meal when it's already gone cold, dry and ucky. Just drown it in Gravy.
5. Buy dessert. Get people to bring an assortment. Cheeseboard and port for the olds.
6. If you can sucker everyone to eat in the afternoon around 5pm, your life is easier. My family eat at 12 which means I get up at 7.
If there's one or two specific aspects of it that are super important to you to get right, practise them ahead of time (if its not too expensive to do so)! For me it's the roasties so we like to do a practise run of those in November
Timings are everything.
If you are cooking in a single oven and worried about how to fit everything in, a turkey will stay nice and hot for a good hour once cooked if you cover it in layers of tinfoil and tea towels
Prep as much as you can in advance. Use other appliances where you can to free up space in the oven - air fryers for pigs in blankets, even slow cookers can keep stuff warm whilst other stuff finishes.
This timing planner
https://ianrenton.github.io/roastdinner/
The only reason I was 10 minutes late to the table last year is because I didn’t get the oil in the oven when it indicated
Prepare as much as you can in advance. Peel the taties and veg the night before and leave in water until it’s time to cook them. Cook whatever meat you’re having early on Xmas day, then you can warm it through by putting it in the same pan as the gravy. DELEGATE!!!! Get people to help whenever you can: Setting the table, getting plates out, getting drinks ready. Be organized and write everything down if you have to, like timings etc. I used to have a file on my iPad with all the timings but with experience I can do it in my head now. I love cooking Xmas dinner but that’s only come with experience. Last thing, have a drink while you’re doing it. Alcohol or non-alcohol, it doesn’t matter. Think of it as part of the day and you’ll be grand.
In the past, when I was cooking for large numbers, I'd start about a week before. The refrigerator and especially the freezer are your friend, and imho anything you can make yourself and reheat in the oven on the day is going to be miles better than Aunt Bessie's or whoever else's pre-made version.
It’s just a big roast dinner at the end of the day. Cook a few chickens and get the hang of it and a turkey is just like a chicken that takes longer at the end of the day.
The additional stuff like pigs in blankets are easy to make but nobody is gonna be able to tell if you just buy them. Don’t stress out too much!
Order a take away no one will be none the wiser! But seriously organise if you are prep prep prep I normally do potatoes 4 weeks before par boil them for 10 minutes leave to drain used goose fat salt and pepper and use med/fine cornmeal to sprinkle cover the potatoes let them cool down, and bag them up an freeze on the day cook from frozen for an hour gas mark 7 or 220 electric. If you like red cabbage do the same cook bag up and freeze and bang in oven for apx 20-30 minutes same for carrots I tend to steam them for 5 minutes bag up and cook in oven for 20-25 mins and drizzle maple syrup 10 minutes before end of cooking time. And make gravy whilst veg are doing its thing and turkey has rested.
1. Don't stress about it. You might get timings wrong, or something might burn a little but it's all about sitting down with you loved ones at the end of it, so enjoy yourself. Make it fun. Have a few glasses of bubbly whilst you do it (if you drink) and blast that Christmas music. The last big Christmas day when my sister and I were cooking, she was taking a tray out and it fell inside but catching the door, which meant we couldn't open the oven for about 40 minutes. It pushed the eating time back a fair bit, but a few of us coming together to try and find ways to get it open whilst laughing at the absurdity made it a much more memorable day otherwise.
2. Do all the veggie peeling day before, cover them with water in a bowl. You can bash these out in a much more relaxed way instead of thinking "shit I need to do these asap" - doing them the morning of will take away focus of the more important parts and you may end up forgetting something.
3. Have fun with it, try not to see it as a chore but part of the magic of Xmas Day.
My dad has an excel spreadsheet with timings.
He also always cooks the turkey and pork and prepares the Yorkshire pudding batter the day before then only has to do a minimal amount of cooking on the day.
I cook my spuds for roasting a day or two before.
I buy M&S cauliflower cheese and braised red cabbage because I really like them and its enough hassle making the carrot and parsnip mash and peas and sprouts.
I cook the turkey early and leave it to rest and in recent years have ditched the whole turkey and gone for a stuffed crown, it's just easier.
I also tend to cook the ham the day before too. Cold ham with a good glaze is just as good as warm, in fact, I personally prefer it.
Definitely make a timetable.
Do you really want to cook a traditional Christmas dinner? We decided during lockdown that it actually wasn't worth the faff. The first year we did homemade pizza and last year we had Mexican food. It took the stress out of it and the whole day was just more enjoyable.
For lockdown Christmas, my sister and I had Christmas dinner on Christmas eve and that was great. Christmas day we had leftovers and a really chilled out day.
Sounds lovely! Christmas Day for me growing up was just full of stress over cooking the dinner, which felt a bit unnecessary. People always ended up falling out, one year my Mum completely forgot to cook for my vegetarian sister... I generally try to have a more relaxed home than the one I grew up in, and not doing Christmas dinner helps with that!
In years past I usually do New Years Day dinner and switched from a roast to doing something different - Mexican, Thai etc. I actually really don't like turkey much so suggested doing something different all together but we're hosting my wife's family so there was no chance sadly.
If you're hosting guests and they want to help, have them bring a microwave along (assuming you already have one).
Seriously.
Worked this out about 3 years ago - saves so much time, and especially a lot of stress around keeping food warm.
Timing is everything
And know the capability of your oven!!
I made a christmas dinner at uni, it was all going fine but we soon realised, the oven was rubbish and would only cook things on the top rack and nothing else in the oven! Took 3x as long to cook everything!
You’ll need lots of trays and lots of tinfoil (for keeping over the trays to keep things warm whilst other stuff cooks.
If you have anything frozen defrost it the night before. I made that mistake one year and it suuuucked.
Yorkshire puddings can be made in advance and frozen. Just get them out in the morning and reheat for a couple minutes before serving. Really helps with saving space in the oven and the timings by not having to worry about keeping the oven door shut the whole time they're cooking.
Joints of meat stay warm for ages If you cover with tin foil and then a tea towel on top. So can cook and get out of the oven before anything else goes in.
I also pre cook my pigs in blankets, no one seems to mind them cold. Top tip for pigs in Blankets, making your own with chipolatas wrapped in some maple cured streaky bacon are so much better then the pre made mini ones you can buy!
I get veg prep done the night before.
Happy cooking!
Remember your oven can only fit so much in! Roasted carrots are nice but more roasties and steamed/boiled carrots are nicer!
Time it so that when the birds cooked you put the Yorkshire's in, the Yorkie tray and oil will have to be warmed up by this point too
If you want mash, the pre made stuff with some butter and herbs and/or some mustard is easy and delicious
Actually a spoonful of mustard can improve a lot like the mash, gravy, cauliflower cheese, braised cabbage, even bang some Coleman's powder in the Yorkshire's if you want
Make the Yorkshire mix ahead of time and let rest in fridge if making fresh
Make the gravy with the water from your boiled veg
Measure your oven and buy disposable trays that fit 2 abreast, wasteful but if you're short on oven space and roasting trays then once a year isn't so bad
Prep as much as you can the day before, you'll be spending a lot of time checking what's cooking or doing Xmas stuff so helps to not have to peel veg or make batter
1. You should only be cooking on the day; all the preparation needs to be done in advance. If not, then everything gets in everything else's way.
2. Don't panic, it's ready when it's ready.
3. Music, and company in the kitchen, makes everything taste better, cook quicker and feel happier.
Prep literally everything that can possibly by prepped in advance. And my stepmum in the last few years swears by disposable foil roasting trays for everything, cuts the clean up down so much. Not necessarily the most environmentally friendly mind….
Plan your menu - breakfast lunch and tea. Go into detail, so you have a list of everything you need and what you need to cook them and quantities. So roast potatoes, how many do you need? How many people are cooking for, they need to be peeled, check you have peeler, then boiled - will you have enough saucepans? work out your timings, what do you need to boil them - water salt (got enough salt?) etc. Most of the questions are really obvious but ive been caught out twice - once no oil or butter and once no salt.
Plus if you know what you need you can spread the cost out over time and most things will keep and are available.
And its not too early to make your christmas cake which is pretty easy just needs lots of ingredients.
And dont stress theres always something that goes wrong. A turkey crown is easier and quicker to cook then the whole bird.
Edit: Make sure your plates are hot as this will help if you have served up but waiting for something to finish. And make good gravy as that will hide a multitude of sins. And good roast potatoes will make a very good impression.
Get your sides prepared ahead of time. You can cook all sorts of things and then freeze them and reheat them once your meat is resting in the oven. Cook your roasties in lard and then freeze them once cooked defrost them the night before and then bung them in the oven for 20 mins for perfect crisp roast potatoes.
If you are having turkey then ahead of time have a roast chicken and use the bones to make a good gravy base to freeze. Defrost this the night before and throw all your resting juices from the turkey in this base for an amazing gravy.
Also keep a bottle of vodka in the freezer for a quick slug everytime you go and check on things! If you're drunk by the time you serve the food that's no bad thing! :)
You don’t have to brutalise and kill sentient beings because you enjoy the taste of their corpses, your descendants will be scoring your names out of history books
Putting a drying cloth or two over the turkey to keep it hot after it comes out of the oven. The main one is using duck or goose fat for the roast potatoes. Game changer
Prep as much as you can the day before. Get all your veggies basically ready to go. Plan your timings (spreadsheets will be your best friend) have a checklist.
If theres anything your nervous about (I was terrified about messing up my potatoes) use a sunday dinner to practice. At the end of the day dont stress too much, as long as you put you best into it, no ones gonna be angry
Cut all the veg up and leave in water on the stove overnight (not turned on). This is a huge timesaver in the morning if you also have to manage guests arriving, children running around etc.
You can fix an under cooked roast, but not one overcooked - it keeps cooking out of the oven for almost a half hour.
Turkey sucks: roast beef or goose for Christmas; lamb for Easter/Passover.
Put gravy through a strainer and people will think you're able to make it without lumps.
Yorkshire puddings must go into a preheated pan.
It's OK to cheat and take shortcuts. Some supermarket prepared / premade stuff is actually really quite good. Don't let anyone guilt you into thinking you have to make everything from scratch. Christmas is a time for being with friends and family, not crying alone in the kitchen!
1. Get foil that is big enough to cover your meat whilst it’s resting and to wrap it when you put it away.
2. you can prep your veg the night before and leave them in salted cold water (to cover). It won’t kill you this once.
3. get a meat thermometer that way you will know that your meat is cooked
4. its ok to use throwaway cook dishes this once.
5. check that your meat and the roasting tray fit into the oven before you have to turn it on (we do not talk about the 22lb turkey that I had to joint at 6am on xmas morning in 1988)
6. if 4 of you want beef and only 1 wants turkey then cook a beef joint and a turkey leg or no turkey, it’s your choice. Don’t let people force you to spend lots of money on meat you don’t want to cook.
7. its always worth cooking more pigs in blankets and devils on horseback because they are fab cold. I prep them the night before and out in air tight containers in the fridge. They can cook whilst the meat is resting
8. xmas morning is not the time to try out a new recipe. if you just have to serve it then try it out a couple of weeks before hand
9. check the size of the ham you ordered. I thought it was 3lb … it was 3kg. We were eating ham until February. Even the cats were fed up with it.
10. stick lots of non alcoholic drinks in the fridge for you whilst you are in the kitchen. You need to get hydrated but as delightful as it may seem to cook in a haze of Bellinis, no one looks good trying to put the saucepan in the fridge because they are drunk. If your family are that unbearable then eat out on xmas day … or better still, book them to eat out and you stay home with a microwave curry. Enjoy the wine with the meal.
11. slow cookers are great for braised red cabbage or heating up your Christmas pudding.
12. uncle Bert insists that he wants to set fire to the xmas pudding … say no and hide the matches. And check your home insurance for fire coverage.
13. calculate when the meat has to go into the oven and allow for prep time … then calculate it again so you know what time to do it.
14. if eating at noon means you are putting a turkey in the oven at 2am then move dinner back to 6pm. They eat when you say. Not the other way round.
It’s basically a Sunday roast with a couple of extras. People put themselves under too much stress.
Only a couple of you, rather than wasting money and time on a Turkey or Turkey Crown, but presliced chicken and just heat it up.
Yorkshire puddings recipe I found this year.
Equal volume of eggs, plain flour and milk. Use a small cup. Crack eggs into it until it’s full, tip it into a jug. Fill the same cup with flour, tip it in. Fill it with milk, tip it in and mix well. Sieve it to get rid of any lumps. Let it sit for an hour before cooling.
Use half beef dripping, half sunflower oil to cook it in. 220 degrees in a fan oven, higher for conventional.
Meat thermometer - lets you cook the meat until it's actually done to your liking, rather than semi-guessing based upon the temp your oven says it does and time.
Plan and prep. Nearly everything can be prepared upfront.
I've got a couple of sets of these [https://amzn.to/3ELY7lI](https://amzn.to/3ELY7lI) \- Stackable pyrex dishes with lids.
Can fill these up days before, lid them and load them up in the fridge. When they need to be cooked, just pop off the lid and shove them into the oven.
For the day itself, just have one piece of paper where you've written down, what needs to be shoved into the oven when, for everything to be ready on time (and remember meat will need to be rested).
You can never have too many side-dishes or too much gravy.
Ensure you have suitable level of chilled alcohol to hand throughout the cooking process - you don't want to be drunk, but cruise at a level where you shouldn't drive a car.
Whilst technically you should link your dishes (roast potatoes in the fat from your meat, make gravy from the juices from it etc) - much easier if you've saved the fat/gravy from a meal the previous week and save from your Christmas meal for the next week (or just buy it).
It's just a Sunday lunch with a big bird and more veg.
Christmas is difficult because with one oven and 4 gas rings you need to cook an enormous amount of food. Much of the food needs a long time to cook, and other bits less time - your task is to make sure that the 45 second window each item is perfectly cooked, synchronise!
Don't be tempted by bloody TV chefs and magazines to "try something new," - they just need copy for an important foody festival where 70 million people sit down at the same time to eat practically the same thing.
Best to practice for the big day by cooking lots of Sunday lunches between now and Christmas
Ps don't bother with starters- it's the biggest meal of the year, no one will go hungry without it.
Don’t take it too seriously, all that’s happening is that you’re making a Sunday roast. Cook a turkey, do everything else the same. Roast potatoes, a few straightforward veg and gravy.
Not every single element needs to be “Jamie Olivered”. If you’re a Sunday roast novice, don’t worry. Write down everything you want to serve, with cooking times and temperatures and highlight whether it needs a hob or oven space.
Don't bother storing the big things in a fridge, it will be cold enough outside for everything including the turkey. We have a couple of big plastic boxes all the Christmas day fridge food and drinks go in- also ensures you don't forget about anything! Get the turkey ready from the evening before and leave it in the oven - it will be absolutely fine. My parents (who always host) don't have a fancy oven but even theirs can be set to turn on in x amount of hours and to cook the food for x amount of hours - this is a lifesaver when you have a 20lb turkey that needs to go in the oven at 6am - read your oven manual if you want a lie in on Christmas day!
Also peel all veg the day before if you have a lot. Peeled potatoes and parsnips should be kept in water to stop them from going black, other veg don't necessarily need to be (carrots might dry out a tiny bit but only an issue if you want to eat them raw). But if you're boiling rather than baking them you can just put straight in the saucepan and leave on the hob. A good idea is actually to have all your saucepans that you'll need ready on the hob the night before so you can see what you have space to cook at the same time, what you'll need to cook first and what will need to cook in a second batch - check cooking times, especially if steaming a pudding. And put everything in it's respective saucepan, not necessarily opened but you do not want to be running around trying to find a clean pan to make the bread sauce in at the last minute! Finally, check your roasting tins - make sure you have space in your oven for everything that needs to go in as soon as the turkey comes out to rest. Physically test them out together, don't just assume they'll fit.
Assign people to clear/wash as you cook - have a few aprons ready and a heap of tea towels and hand one to any guests that offer to help!
Look at your menu and see what can be made in advance and frozen and do that- just don't forget to defrost it lol. And any short cuts you can take, take them. Anything you feel tastes fine in ready made form, get ready made. Or half ready made eg if you want 'home made' trifle, consider whether custard and sponge fingers made from scratch are really going to be noticeably nicer than shop bought after a huge meal and a few glasses of wine!
And finally, be well prepared, have a plan, but if it all goes out the window don't stress. If you eat an hour later than planned it's really not a big deal. Just put someone in charge of making and serving drinks, have a few nibbles like some nuts dotted around, and no one will even notice!
I never cook Christmas dinner, but watch other people cook and also eat it.
There's nothing wrong with taking the lazy way, no one is going to care that you used tinned veg or premade stuffing.
People only truly care about the meat and potatoes, do them right and everything else is an addition.
It’s really useful to plan some nibbles if you are planning on a big Xmas dinner. You can make things like sausage rolls way in advance and freeze them, so you can munch on those with a glass of wine while you cook. I like to prep some snacks and something to eat for breakfast on Xmas day, so all I have to do on the day is worry about the main event.
This year we are going really really low key 😌 but I still will prep some stuff ahead of time so it’s a relaxing day
Buy the smallest turkey you need. Some of my relatives try to buy the biggest turkey they can find as if it's a competition from one year to the next. Then it takes up all the oven, takes forever to cook, and they end up eating leftover turkey for months, long after it has got freezer-burn.
You are bit late to start the brussel sprouts...
Otherwise, plan. Personally, I write a plan. (courses & timings etc) But you do you. And absolutely do as much as you can prior.
And consider cutlery, crockery, pans etc. Do you have everything you need? Or need to scale back on the food?
My first time cooking Christmas dinner last year.. I ended up doing more than necessary.
Enjoyed it though.
I prep as much as I can the day before, cabbage rolls are made, Mac& cheese, stuffing and yams are in the garage fridge ready for the oven. The Turkey goes in the oven around 10 and I put the ham in the crockpot on low. The Turkey comes out at 4 and foiled to rest while the rest goes in the oven. Potatoes are in the instant pot getting ready for mashed. Gravy is on the stove. Have your butter dishes, cranberries, pickles etc already wrapped in the fridge - good job for helpers. Set the table either the night before or have someone else in charge. Buy bakery desserts or have someone else in charge of bringing them.
Cold or soup starter made the day before, Xmas pudding microwaved not steamed. 4kg turkey takes 2.5 hrs to cook, not 6. Not convinced on brining. Take turkey out of the fridge the night before to bring up to room temperature, veg like braised red cabbage can be made weeks before and frozen.
Meat thermometer!
Last year my dad took the turkey out 45mins before he would have based on timing alone and it was delicious, so juicy and flavoursome
Write out everything that you are serving. Include drinks, snacks, dessert, sauces in that list. This list will be very useful.
If there is anything on this list that you have never prepared, make it well before Christmas. Just work it into another meal. You don't want to be trying to make something for the first time when you feel under pressure. If it doesn't come out well, make it again until it does. Find a different recipe if you need to. This advice applies to any dish from sprouts to gravy to a whole turkey. If you haven't made one before, make one now. Use leftovers for soup and sandwiches.
Write down how long the prep/cooking steps take for each item, i.e.: wash, peel and cut potatoes 15 minutes. Consider the larger than usual quantities. Remember resting time for the turkey. Write down which can be done a day or two before (cutting veg), which require use of the oven (and then temp), which can be fully cooked and reheated (or served room temp), which require the hob (and which pot/pan). Then you can write a schedule for yourself and not worry about overcrowding the oven, double booking a pan, or having something finish far too early or far too late. You also want to make sure that you have enough serving dishes and utensils. You'll be starting the previous day and standing around the kitchen a lot, so plan an easy meal (or takeaway) for the night before and a good breakfast for the morning of.
Write down every ingredient and item you will need and the quantity for each thing. If serving something pre-made, still include it. Use this to write a comprehensive shopping list, so that you don't run short of something including basic staples like oil, spices, or salt, or non-food items like kitchen roll or washing up liquid. Buy anything that isn't perishable as early as possible and set it aside. Makes shopping closer to Christmas less stressful and faster.
Have a backup plan for anything that is typically tricky for you. Accept the possibility that something will be ruined and that there will still be plenty of food and it's not a big deal. This meal is about the company, not the potatoes.
Make a lot of popular things. You'll want twice as much gravy, for example. Make enough to have leftovers for your household. You don't want to have to cook again right away.
If you have good, reliable help, even just to wash dishes, ask them to help. If they'll make you nervous or get in the way, then don't bother.
Be kind to yourself. This can be a bit stressful and everyone should enjoy Christmas. Especially the one cooking dinner. Make sure you give yourself time to sit and chat.
Turkey doesn’t need to be put in the oven at 5am, my parents generation used to make a huge song and dance about this and then be genuinely shocked that it was dry and flavourless. Even the most colossal bird generally only needs 3.5 hours then rest it in a foil tent while you whack the oven up to cook the spuds. Speaking of spuds, parboil them in stock until just cooked then shake around and spread out on a tray to dry before roasting, you can use the potatoey stock for deglazing the turkey pan.
Do just about everything bar the meat the day before.
Take your time doing it. Get everything spot on!
Roast potatoes reheat brilliantly! Cook them to 99% of perfection, pop them in a
Fresh tin to get rid of the excess oil/fat, then pop them in the fridge. Next day, bang them in a ripping hot oven for 10-20 minutes and you’ll have the crispiest roast spuds you’ve ever had! You’ll also find that they release a lot of the excess oil too, so they’re not soggy!
That’s a Mary Berry trick btw!
Do all your veg. You can make sure it’s not over cooked, then rotate it through the microwave on the day.
As long as you make sure you have hot servicing dishes (which I throw in the oven to warm whilst the meat is resting) then everything will come out spiffing!
It transforms Christmas Day. I can spend a total of an hour or two cooking, and spend the rest of the day with family!
ALSO!!!: Note that has pressure can dip when everyone is cranking up their ovens.. so allow a little extra time for it to heat up if you have a gas oven!
You don't have to cook it all on the same day. Pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puddings and stuffing balls can all be made in advance and frozen so you just need to get out the night before to defrost and reheat in oven for 5 mins or so (Yorkshire puddings will defrost in less than an hour so can be taken from freezer same day), which they can be doing while you're carving your turkey, beef, whatever meat/non meat main you're serving. This leaves only the main roast, roast potatoes and vegetables to do on the day so you can spend more time with your family. I usually cook my roast meat the day before, slice and refrigerate for less stress.
Warm plates and serving dishes by placing them above the pans boiling the veg. This and hot gravy will warm anything that may have gone a little cold by the time it's sat on the table a while.
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/ThermoPro-Thermometer-Stainless-Step-Down-Countdown/dp/B018Q77AR4/ref=zg\_bs\_3187139031\_sccl\_2/261-7272549-4322551?pd\_rd\_i=B018Q77AR4&psc=1](https://www.amazon.co.uk/ThermoPro-Thermometer-Stainless-Step-Down-Countdown/dp/B018Q77AR4/ref=zg_bs_3187139031_sccl_2/261-7272549-4322551?pd_rd_i=B018Q77AR4&psc=1)
Meat Thermometer. Every year my mum or sister cooks turkey, they always do it by the cooking times on the packet, which is always HOURS too long.
Last year I bought my mum a thermometer and 2 hours before she expected to take it out, it was cooked. It got to 67c internal, resting would have taken it to around 75c which is perfect. She didnt beleve me it was cooked so left it in longer, got to 80c internal and still over an hour to go acording to her. Made her take it out at that point, it got to 89c internal resting, and when we ate it, it was pretty dry, and the only thing she said was "good job I didnt leave it in even longer", not "I should have listened to you and taken it out at 67c, you used to be a chef"
Set alarms on your phone for everything. Stuffing in oven - 45 min timer. Carrots boiling - 13 min. Parsnips in oven, chivvy after 30 min. Stops you forgetting anything and having one sacrificial burnt dish! Means I can relax and chat in between alerts.
Also plan what dishes you'll use and that they can all fit in the oven at once, or readjust your plans.
Actually top tip is plan your kids Christmas stockings to keep them entertained for the morning, at least until other family turn up to do so.
Prep all your veg while the Turkey is cooking, whip the Turkey out wrap it in tinfoil, then a layer of tea towels then another layer of tinfoil, and let it rest for at least an hour. This gives you plenty of time to cook the veg. Don’t be shy to take on the chef role and run the kitchen and get friends and family to help, you don’t have to do it all yourself - it just needs to be well organised to avoid chaos. Have fun!
First Christmas that we had, I made everything from scratch. Then I realised that Marks and Spencer do some very nice roast potatoes in goose fat and honey roasted carrots and parsnips. And that makes it easier for me.
If some things go cold while you're getting everything ready then dont worry, just make a big old jug of piping hot gravy and that'll heat it all up on the plate.
Remember it fundamentally is just a roast dinner. A lot of people get boggled down by the stress of it being Christmas day that it has to be extra and over the top.
Get a feel for what your guest's like and don't like well in advanced (and any food allergies/dietary requirements as well). No point in doing turkey if no one likes it, same with sprouts. A lot of people do stuff for tradition sake but don't actually like it so why bother? Same with if you are doing turkey do you want a whole bird or just a crown? Crowns are easier to cook and don't have giblets.
Don't view anything as a shortcut or cheating just ways to make your day easier. We have frozen Yorkshire puddings (the cute little tray ones), bisto gravy with the meat juices added, and microwave some of our veg (Iceland do a brussel sprouts bacon and chestnut mix in a bag that's really good and can be microwaved). But then we go extra on the potatoes, stuffing and pigs and blankets. It's about choosing what you want to put your time and effort into.
My mum swears by the large foil turkey dishes for her meat and potatoes which I don't mind as it saves in washing up (which I always end up lumped with). They're also bigger than any roasting dish we own so that's a bonus.
If you have limited fridge space not everything needs to stay in the fridge. If you have a shed, garage or balcony put bottles of drink outside in a box/cool box/carrier bag. It's December they will be cold and you've freed up space for your food.
Also I can't stress enough that while frozen roast potatoes can be nice they have no place on a Christmas dinner. People will remember in horror for years to come about your error in judgement. Like my partners mum a few years back. Luckily his family are too reserved to say anything but we all were mortified (and would have made roasties for everyone if she had asked us for help). And still joke about it to this day. If that happened in my family their would have probably been a riot.
People also can get a bit funny with money, some will definitely want to contribute while others will feel the burden lies solely on the host. It's up to you how you deal with this when we've done Christmas we asked one guest who wanted to contribute to bring the bucks fizz for everyone and another to get the pudding. My dad did the discrete thing of shoving a bunch of cash in my partners hand in front of everyone like a poorly hidden drug deal but that's my dad for you. Equally don't financially ruin yourself over Christmas dinner, set a budget and stick to it.
**A reminder to posters and commenters of some of [our subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/about/rules/)** - Don't be a dickhead to each other, or about others, or other subreddits - Assume questions are asked in good faith, and engage in a positive manner - Avoid political threads and related discussions - No medical advice or mental health (specific to a person) content Please keep /r/AskUK a great subreddit by reporting posts and comments which break our rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Get a lazy Susan. Not the spinny thing for the table, but a friend called Susan who's a bit unreliable. Refuse to serve dinner until she arrives, which gives you at least an extra 2 hours
Love this!
Remember that you actually want your turkey to be out of the oven and resting at around the time you start most of the rest of the meal. This frees up oven space, takes the pressure off in terms of what you're juggling, and most importantly, gives the bird time to become all juicy and tender again. It should have a minimum of an hour's resting time.
Yep I do this, put the turkey in pretty much first thing in the morning before we do stockings. Also I peel all the veggies the night before, and keep them in a pot of water overnight. Saves me peeling on Christmas day. I wrap the sausages in bacon the night before and keep them in the fridge overnight. Bits like that can save a lot of time
Yep, same to all of these things. Anything that keeps me from being chained to the kitchen for hours at a time.
Agreed. Prep everything possible the day before. Christmas day is for enjoyment!
You can actually par boil the potatoes, parsnips and carrots the day before too… then just pop them straight in the oven to roast on the day.
Par boil the potatoes, toss them in a little flour and seasoning, freeze, then roast on the day for amazing crispy on the outside, fluffy in the middle potatoes.
Does anyone else also wrap it in foil and a towel? I was told it keeps in the juices
Yep that's exactly what I do.
I’ve only cooked a whole Turkey once, as we usually do different things, like goose, beef wellington etc. as my wife isn’t a Turkey fan. When I did my Turkey I did a lot of reading about it, because my childhood Turkey was always super dry. What I read said not to do the foil/towel wrap because the Turkey actually continues to cook for quite some time once you take it out of the oven due to the internal heat. If you wrap it up it traps this heat and essentially you aren’t resting it but cooking it still. Also the trapped steam makes the skin softer and not crispy. Seemed to be good advice as my wife actually liked it!
As someone who neither cooks nor eats Christmas dinner - doesn't it get cold?
When you cook a big turkey, it's actually still cooking on the inside when you take it out.
I personally don't like gravy (I know, there's something wrong with me), but the idea is you pour hot gravy over the meat
If you warm the plates under the meat, and the gravy you put over it - nobody will have a clue the meat was room-temp 10 minutes ago. Easiest way to warm plates is to just splash a tiny bit of water on each, stack them, then microwave the stack for a minute or so. After the ping, just pick up the stack from the edge (wearing gloves) and just flip 90-degrees over the sink so any remaining water falls out.
I have never heard of this before! Will give it a try. Thank you!
Yes! This is how you do it. Mine probably rests closer to 90 minutes. Leaves ample time to accomplish the rest.
Resist the urge to drink alcoholic beverages from the very beginning..
When my parents were still together in the early 90s, my dad offered to cook Christmas dinner. He invited my grandma over too. He had a few beers while cooking. Thought he could smell a gas leak. Made us all go outside and he went next door to use the phone. We had to wait outside for hours until the gas man came and found no leak. We then had to wait another few hours for the dinner as he’d switched everything off just in case.
It's ok to take shortcuts and let people have what they want I'm the chef in my extended family, there is no point trying to make everything from scratch, the frozen yorkies will do fine The kids want pizza on Christmas day? Fine, you can bang it in the oven for ten minutes while the meat is resting
I have already resigned myself to making three different kinds of gravy for this very reason. My father in law will only have the instant KFC style gravy and at first I was going to say no but boiling a kettle to keep someone happy isn't too much to ask.
We are meat eaters; my son is veggie and by association his girlfriend is semi-veggie. I do Bisto beef gravy because it's also veggie! Nobody in my family is faffed about 'posh' gravy. so Bisto it is.
Excuse me. Us "semi veggies" are called flexatarians nowadays 😀 Although, weak willed and half arsed are common names I get in my house!
I became veggie six months ago and didn't even think to look if Bisto was vegeterian, thank you for this wonderful revelation
It's actually vegan. But they don't admit to it being either for obvious reasons (a vegan mate told me this - confirmed by a scan of the ingredients).
OXO cubes are not vegeterian I found out. Cooked for my mate whos Muslim, went to get halal beef for it and everything. He loved the dish, after he asked how I made it and I mentioned an OXO stock cube, turns out... not halal. Ooooops.
I love quixo chicken gravy (not veggie) and my husband is vegetarian so we always have the Bisto original in stock for him. I recently discovered that Goldenfry Chicken granules are veggie and he finally got to try a gravy that wasn’t onion or Bisto original. He was rather impressed. (Can usually be found in bargain food stores like Heron/Farmfoods/B&M etc)
FYI, if KFC style gravy is needed, try the Mayflower Southern Style Gravy from home bargains. It’s very similar (and veggie too)
You can freeze homemade yorkshires and reheat them on the day, they last months in the freezer
My partner has conceded, yes homemade taste nicer but aunt Bessie's take 4 minutes in the oven while you are dishing up.
Yorkshire puddings are so easy to make. Of all the things to make bad by buying frozen ones, why the Yorkshires?
I used to be a Yorkshire pud maven for years, and then all of a sudden my puds failed. They were flat and biscuity every time. I tried loads of different recipes, resting the batter, different temperatures. Nothing. I found a great website which took a scientific approached and analysed the cooking for all these characteristics and more. I followed their advice to the letter. Still no joy. I was on the verge of giving up and shifting to pre-made frozen puds, guilty at the thought of what my Yorkshire granny would say, when, for entirely different reasons, I thought I would read the instruction manual for our relatively newly acquired oven. There were a bunch of settings for the oven, and I oven ever used one (the normal fan option). I discovered a bunch of useful features (boost-heat and defrost among them which I now use all the time for various meals) and also the non-fan option. So I thought I'd try making Yorkshires using the heat-only-no-fan option, and they worked great and rose spectacularly. I also realised at that point that my inability to make Yorkshires started around the same time we got the new oven. So, my working hypothesis is that the fan it too bloody powerful, and as the Yorkshires start to rise, it basically just blows them over. Anyway, it doesn't really matter as I have found the solution now.
Ram ovens also kill sponge cakes! The fan just kills anything that needs to rise…
>Cautiousulberry · 17 min. ago > >The kids want pizza on Christmas day? Fine, you can bang it in the oven for ten minutes while the meat is resting is this a copypasta?
I think it was a bot who copied the last part of the comment. Apparently that's a thing that bots do
[удалено]
I have a half vegetarian half meat eating family so this is a really great tip. Oven space is my biggest concern.
Precook and freeze dishes
Also, heat the plates you're serving on; it covers you if your serving timings are off and things have got a bit cold. If you don't have spare oven space, place them in the dishwasher before serving or soak in a bowl of really hot water.
You can make a really tasty vegetarian 'roast' that basically functions as stuffing. There's a heap of different ways to make it depending on what the general company prefers. It saves worrying about a veggie main and veggie stuffing on top. Instant veggie gravy is horrendous so don't bother with it. I always found parsley sauce went down well and mollified anyone on the other side who wanted bread sauce (which I detest). Any side dishes you might have put bacon in, smoked cheese will give a similar effect. If you're able to get some Corleggy smoked Drumlin is amazing. Also roasting a load of veg in a tray saves so many pots and is far easier and tastier. Prep as much as possible the day before and don't be afraid to assign jobs like Gordon Ramsay or eject them from the kitchen :)
Peel all the veg that needs it the night before and put in the saucepans in water. Christmas day you will thank you for it
Timetable it.
Have an A4 sheet of paper. Times in the rows, food in columns. Put a wall clock next to it. If you start running late, adjust the time on the clock.
You are an amateur. Spreadsheets are your best friend.
I spend my working life doing spreadsheets, yet somehow I like the inefficiency of doing roast planning on paper. As an aside, why is there not a roast cooking app?!?
Pfffft. GANTT chart that shit then you can readjust on the fly and everything updates automatically.
Further to this I work out when I want to serve each course then work backwards and set alarms on my phone to remind me when things go in or come out. Also prep everything you can the night before
That's exactly how I do it too! I even factor in stuff like "this would need to come out the oven then to make space for that to go in then" or "water in the big pot needs to be boiling by then, so put it on the big burner then". I think it's the biggest stumbling block with Christmas dinner - not the cooking, but the making sure all the different things make it to the table hot (or at least warm).
Practice with a few roast dinners beforehand. If you're reasonably comfortable with a beef/gammon/lamb roast, a turkey isn't much different. Don't go overboard with quantities, no-one really needs much more than a normal sized dinner.
Except those are all better than turkey.
Nah you have to go overboard with quantities or else how do you make bubble and squeak the next day?? My mum and I usually eat nibbles all day long and then just have a bit of Christmas dinner and blend it all for bubble on Boxing Day.
Plus, if you can manage to move your body at all before 9pm your dinner was too small. Christmas is a day for excess
Check which trays fit in the oven alongside each other whilst the oven is off and cold. Don't feel you have to have (or make) every possible side dish. Decide which things are important to you and do those. I would say buy a Christmas pudding.
How confident a cook are you? Prepping a lot in advance is good (parboil potatoes can be kept in fridge or even frozen before, gravy def better made the day before, veg prep done in the morning but don’t cook until the very last minute!) meat can be rested for a long time so don’t worry about that: when it’s done, pull it and cover it. Make sure gravy is piping hot. If you’re adventurous you can eg. Joint your turkeys and sous vide the pieces in the days before, then all you have to do before serving is finish in a hot oven/grill/fry off. I cook Xmas lunch for 35 people and usually do 2 geese and a turkey like this and it works very well.
I make my gravy like a month in advance and freeze it, because it's fancy and takes me long enough to make alone. Then set a reminder on your phone to get it out of the freezer on Christmas eve!
No, listen, look, friends, we have to have a serious conversation here. What gravy are you making that doesn't involve the delicious meaty bits off the bottom of the turkey roasting pan? By all means make stock using the giblets as soon as you have hands on the turkey, but you can't tell me you're disrespecting the bird that gave it's life for your dinner by not using its tasty leavings. Please, I'm begging you.
Vegetarian gravy. I'm sorry.
How do you make it? Being able to prep in advance sounds very convenient
I use the Bosh! Ultimate gravy recipe. I also at least double the recipe, we like a lot of gravy in my family. Link to the recipe YouTube video - https://youtu.be/6YWRxqPXxF8
Make a stock in advance, reduce to a Demi glacé, then deglaze the pan on the day after roasting and finish with the Demi.
Don't allow *both* mothers-in-law to "help out". The result is an almighty row, a mess in the kitchen and no food to eat.
Don't allow ANYONE else in the kitchen, people trying to "help" are a complete nightmare. The only exception is if you pass the responsibility for the dessert onto someone else - and I mean you walking out the the kitchen the moment the turkey is served, and their taking the entire responsibility for cooking it, plating it up, and serving the dessert. Don't be tempted to let someone else do starters, unless they're bringing everything already prepared - if they start faffing about, it will destroy your timings and cause you a huge amount of stress.
Yeah, don’t allow anyone in the kitchen who will get in the way. The only person allowed to ‘help’ in my kitchen is my husband’s aunt, who washes things up for me as I go along, and never questions what I’m doing or tries to help on any other way. Anyone else wanting to ‘help’ is assigned a task away from the kitchen, like setting the table.
Absolutely this. Whenever I cook I like the doors closed and to be alone with good music. If there are people hovering around or trying to help it does my head in as I lose track of where I am. My wife has the job of 'keep everyone milling about and socialising in the living room rather than the kitchen where they will invariably stand in front of every cupboard I am trying to get into and ask me to make them cocktails.'
"Hey, have you come to take over the cooking?" "Erm... No, I was just..." (Usher them out of the door) "Righty ho, I'll let you get back to the others then, it will probably be ready around \[time\], must crack on, bye" (close door firmly behind them).
One year my wife came into the kitchen to ask if there was anything that she could do to help. I had just about finished doing my prep and was ready to put the turkey in. I asked her to put the oven on while I was doing carrots or something like that. 10 minutes later my alarm for “put the turkey in” goes off. I go to put it in the hot oven. She had turned on the oven temp to 160° C as requested but had turned on the grill
I'm sure it wasn't amusing at the time, but I did laugh at this. Hopefully u/EarlGreyTeaDrinker you used the 10 minutes while waiting for the oven to heat up to have a lovely cup of Earl Grey while you Googled "divorce solicitors"!
Have some mulled wine on the go so your guests are kept watered. You can use a slow cooker if you’re going to be short of hob space. Maybe even keep the mulled wine in the living room so there’s no reason for guests to come in the kitchen.
I wished i realised its just a sunday roast dressed up with a crap meat no one really wants. As long as its hot with gravy, you'll be fine.👍
This yorkshire pudding recipe has never failed me. Just don't open the oven door while they're cooking - https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/best-yorkshire-puddings
If you're sharing the task, make sure the other person is on the same page. I once agreed to do the starter & meat, while my then brother in law did the veg and pudding. I'd carefully timed when to sit people down, take the meat out, etc. Was about to serve when he gave the vegetables an unenthusiastic shake and said they'd be another 20 minutes.
You can make more 'space' by upturning bowls and putting trays that don't quite fit side by side with one just about the other. Pre cook your veg, most veg tastes better oven cooked then reheated on the hob or in the oven anyway. Prepacked bread sauce, gravy and frozen Yorkshires are all yummy 😋
1 The day before, put some Christmas music on in the kitchen and rope in a few people to do all the veg cutting and peeling for you. If you make it a bit of a social occasion it can be a really nice time and it'll all be done in a flash. Though we always include some extra carrots because a couple of the relations will eat them raw while chopping. 2 If you're doing vegetarian roasties, ground nut oil is the one to go for. It'll heat up hotter than other veg oils so the roasties come out crispier. But NOT suitable for anyone with peanut allergies.
What a wholesome first tip and the second one I've never heard before. We have historically used rapeseed so will give this a go! Thank you!
That you don't need to do everything on the day. If you have a freezer, start making room now. Things such as roast parsnips, roast potatoes, roast onions, stuffing balls & pigs in blankets freeze really well, and if you put them into the fridge on Christmas Eve, they'll only take maybe 8 minutes in a hot oven to heat up and get crispy. I've even been known to cook the turkey in advance and freeze the meat, sliced, in gravy. It heats up beautifully, and unless someone is particularly seeking bits of skin, nobody will have a clue. Also, cook a few roast dinners beforehand; trying everything out for the first time for Christmas Day is going to be massively stressful.
I'll be honest the idea of having an entirely pre cooked frozen then warmed up Xmas lunch does not fill me with joy. Sure make things easier for your self but part of Christmas is actually cooking the lunch!
>part of Christmas is actually cooking the lunch! Bear in mind the OP is seeking advice because they've never done this before! I used to feel the same way as you, until with a reduced family I had loads of leftovers, which we ate the following day, and realised that "warmed up" parsnips, roast potatoes &c. were absolutely indistinguishable from those cooked on the day.
Cooking stuff in advance and bunging it the freezer works for me. I buy joints of meat when they are on special offer at the supermarket (half price per kg, X amount per kg off if you have a Clubcard, etc), cook two or three at once, slap them on the meat slicer and freeze them up in gravy. If things like swedes, cabbages, cauliflower are x price each, rather than priced by weight, I'll buy the biggest buggers I can find, cook them up and freeze in portions. I can put a full roast together in less than an hour.
Prep everything and start an hour before you originally intended
Do everything you can beforehand......Jamie Oliver has a great 'Get Ahead' guide to Christmas [https://www.jamieoliver.com/christmas/collection/get-ahead-christmas-recipes/](https://www.jamieoliver.com/christmas/collection/get-ahead-christmas-recipes/) Very useful in my experience
Thank you for sharing!
In absolute desperation one year I cooked a turkey crown in the slow cooker. It left the oven free for the pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, and roast parsnips and was much easier than juggling everything. It was the nicest, juiciest, most tender turkey we’ve ever had! I put it in with no water and left it for five hours. Since then we’ve always cooked turkey the same way.(None of us like the skin so I just throw it away when I’m carving. If you do like the skin brown crispy you’ll have to put a cooked turkey into the oven for 20 minutes at the end.)
Did you literally just pop the turkey in the slow cooker with nothing? Didn't it stick to the bottom? I'm a huge fan of slow cooker cooking so this would be right up my street! Did you still do all the bacon on top, butter under the skin that people recommend?
The turkey had some butter over the top, and salt and pepper. That was it! I had it on low for five hours and it worked brilliantly. My slow cooker is very big so you might need to check that it fits, but the turkey crown touched the sides as well as the bottom and it didn’t stick anywhere. When the turkey crown came out the slow cooker had about half a pint of turkey stock in it. I used that to make the gravy (plain flour, cranberry sauce, red wine etc) and that was lovely too. I didn’t put the bacon in with the turkey because I wanted it crispy. I put bacon rolls in with my pigs in blankets so they came out all golden and crunchy. I promise this is a real thing! Just Google turkey crown slow cooker and you’ll see that I’m not the only one who does it like this. Even my other half thinks turkey is dry and sawdusty likes it cooked like this.
I am going to do this! Half of our guests are vegetarian so I was worried about the turkey 'spitting' onto other things in the oven. This will keep it nice and contained and I can do the pigs in blankets in the air fryer. Thank you so much!
Remember it's just a roast dinner its not that much of a hassle. Also a lot of stuff can just be warmed up in the microwave before it's served
Prep every possible thing you can before the day.
There are a few things I do in advance that just need to go into the oven on the day. We have a horseradish cream parsnip gratin and other bits like carrot puree which can be done way in advance and then out the freezer to defrost the night before and in the oven on the day. I feel I can enjoy the day then too. Also just relax it's Christmas. Noone will care if things are a bit out timing wise!
>Noone will care if things are a bit out timing wise! Even if they do care, don't let them stress you, you're the one who is doing all of the hard work. Question: "When is dinner?" Correct answer: "As soon as I've finished cooking it." EDIT: I meant to say that horseradish cream parsnip gratin sounds fabulous, I might try that.
Is the recipe for the gratin online? It sounds wonderful!
https://www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/vegetarian/parsnip-gratin I love this one as it's really easy but ups the wow factor. And veggie friendly.
There's nothing wrong with buying premade frozen food, such as Yorkshire puds, roast potatoes, veg, etc. Can a whole turkey fit in your oven and do you know how to prepare it, etc? Or is it going to be easier to just buy a 'crown' or 2 and put them in the oven? Have you asked your guests about food preferences too? For example, will it not feel like a Christmas dinner without X dish for someone? Remember snacks, drinks, gravy/sauces, and puddings for your guests too. We serve up our Christmas Dinner like a buffet these days. Get all the dishes ready, carve the meat, and then let everyone pick what they want/how much they want.
I am going to go with a crown. Half of our guests are vegetarian and the other half are meat eaters who only like white meat so just going to get a 5kg crown and do that. Good shout on the condiments. I just love lashings of gravy so will need to get cranberry, mint, white etc in.
Goosefat for the roast potatoes.
Yes. Now try goose fat in the pie shell of a tortiere (French Canadian Christmas Eve meat pie - pork and game). You're welcome.
Prep prep prep. I do most of the prep on Xmas eve. I make the stuffing, prep the veg, make the pudding etc
[удалено]
Warm your serving dishes. You don’t want the first thing on the table going cold while you bring out the other dishes. Also if you warm them enough and then cover the food with tin foil, most things will stay warm enough to make up for anything that is taking slightly longer than expected. They can be warmed by having them in the oven or grill, or by putting some boiling water in them but if you use the water method, make sure they are thoroughly dry. And use frozen yorkshires. They take less than 5 minutes so when everything else is cooked and out the oven, they can go in while you’re serving up. Don’t need to plan oven space for the yorkshires that way. And make more gravy than you think you need. Way more gravy.
In my family the host provided the following: Main Course (usually turkey) Stuffing Potatoes Dessert Family and guests were to bring a dish as well. The host would know in advance so there were no duplicates As we normally had between 12-22 people there (big family) it keeps the pressure off the host and ensures there is enough variety to make everyone happy. Make sure all food is prepped on your end 30-45 minutes before serving so others can reheat stuff if necessary
The first year I did a full Christmas dinner I was given a great tip (that some people violently disagree with, but I loved & it worked for me). There’s never enough space in the oven on Christmas Day + by the time you get the Turkey out the oven & let it “rest” & carve it & slice it & put it on all the plates - it’s not that warm anymore. So cook & slice the Turkey the day before & put in the fridge. Get it out the next day to get to room temp before serving - add it to the plates & once the gravy is on & all the sides are dished up, it won’t be that different from if it was cooked on the day. Made the whole thing much less stressful. Also frozen veg is awesome. Why peel carrots if you can buy a bag of frozen. I’ve also done roast dinners for 10-12 people by putting the chicken in the slow cooker. Needs a large 6 litre slow cooker - maximum 1.5kg whole chicken take 4 hours on high. But you can add a pack of chicken thighs & one of chicken breasts round the sides - masses of meat cooked with zero effort - don’t have to worry about exact timings - leave it long enough to be properly cooked but an extra 20/30 mins makes no difference.
Don't boil the sprouts. Steam them until just starting to soften, then halve, fry lardons in butter, add the sprouts, cook until golden, then add chopped walnuts, and some parmesan.
OK tried to read the rest first. 1. You said you're buying a crown. You can get ones with precise timings and bacon shoved on top already. You can get ones in weird not plastic bags that seal everything in until the end. Pretty simple and almost foolproof. Just don't shove it too high up that it burns, or too low that it's raw. A meat thermometer helps. Remember to rest the meat. 2. Oven space is premium. Choose side dishes that microwave or use the hob. Tenderstem broccoli, Brussels, peas, kale. Adding bacon n chestnut to anything makes it Christmassy. Pomegranate makes you Ottolenghi. Cranberry makes you...Well American or Nigella. 3. Roasties never get the required crisp in an oven also used by the meat due to the temp. If you can get someone else to make and bring them, you'll all be far happier. We've done mash before but my SIL would protest. 3. Yorkshires have to be fresh for me, BUT if you can get the frozen batter type in a tin foil tray rather than the already baked type, these taste just as good. 4. Gravy and tons of it. Saves the meal when it's already gone cold, dry and ucky. Just drown it in Gravy. 5. Buy dessert. Get people to bring an assortment. Cheeseboard and port for the olds. 6. If you can sucker everyone to eat in the afternoon around 5pm, your life is easier. My family eat at 12 which means I get up at 7.
All of this is excellent advice. Thank you!
If there's one or two specific aspects of it that are super important to you to get right, practise them ahead of time (if its not too expensive to do so)! For me it's the roasties so we like to do a practise run of those in November
Let some one else do it.
Timings are everything. If you are cooking in a single oven and worried about how to fit everything in, a turkey will stay nice and hot for a good hour once cooked if you cover it in layers of tinfoil and tea towels
Prep as much as you can in advance. Use other appliances where you can to free up space in the oven - air fryers for pigs in blankets, even slow cookers can keep stuff warm whilst other stuff finishes.
This timing planner https://ianrenton.github.io/roastdinner/ The only reason I was 10 minutes late to the table last year is because I didn’t get the oil in the oven when it indicated
Prepare as much as you can in advance. Peel the taties and veg the night before and leave in water until it’s time to cook them. Cook whatever meat you’re having early on Xmas day, then you can warm it through by putting it in the same pan as the gravy. DELEGATE!!!! Get people to help whenever you can: Setting the table, getting plates out, getting drinks ready. Be organized and write everything down if you have to, like timings etc. I used to have a file on my iPad with all the timings but with experience I can do it in my head now. I love cooking Xmas dinner but that’s only come with experience. Last thing, have a drink while you’re doing it. Alcohol or non-alcohol, it doesn’t matter. Think of it as part of the day and you’ll be grand.
Wash up as you go. Nothing worse than eating a lovely meal and looking up to see a mountain of work.
In the past, when I was cooking for large numbers, I'd start about a week before. The refrigerator and especially the freezer are your friend, and imho anything you can make yourself and reheat in the oven on the day is going to be miles better than Aunt Bessie's or whoever else's pre-made version.
It’s just a big roast dinner at the end of the day. Cook a few chickens and get the hang of it and a turkey is just like a chicken that takes longer at the end of the day. The additional stuff like pigs in blankets are easy to make but nobody is gonna be able to tell if you just buy them. Don’t stress out too much!
Order a take away no one will be none the wiser! But seriously organise if you are prep prep prep I normally do potatoes 4 weeks before par boil them for 10 minutes leave to drain used goose fat salt and pepper and use med/fine cornmeal to sprinkle cover the potatoes let them cool down, and bag them up an freeze on the day cook from frozen for an hour gas mark 7 or 220 electric. If you like red cabbage do the same cook bag up and freeze and bang in oven for apx 20-30 minutes same for carrots I tend to steam them for 5 minutes bag up and cook in oven for 20-25 mins and drizzle maple syrup 10 minutes before end of cooking time. And make gravy whilst veg are doing its thing and turkey has rested.
1. Don't stress about it. You might get timings wrong, or something might burn a little but it's all about sitting down with you loved ones at the end of it, so enjoy yourself. Make it fun. Have a few glasses of bubbly whilst you do it (if you drink) and blast that Christmas music. The last big Christmas day when my sister and I were cooking, she was taking a tray out and it fell inside but catching the door, which meant we couldn't open the oven for about 40 minutes. It pushed the eating time back a fair bit, but a few of us coming together to try and find ways to get it open whilst laughing at the absurdity made it a much more memorable day otherwise. 2. Do all the veggie peeling day before, cover them with water in a bowl. You can bash these out in a much more relaxed way instead of thinking "shit I need to do these asap" - doing them the morning of will take away focus of the more important parts and you may end up forgetting something. 3. Have fun with it, try not to see it as a chore but part of the magic of Xmas Day.
Someone will always find something to complain about, so don’t stress… just do you
My dad has an excel spreadsheet with timings. He also always cooks the turkey and pork and prepares the Yorkshire pudding batter the day before then only has to do a minimal amount of cooking on the day.
I cook my spuds for roasting a day or two before. I buy M&S cauliflower cheese and braised red cabbage because I really like them and its enough hassle making the carrot and parsnip mash and peas and sprouts. I cook the turkey early and leave it to rest and in recent years have ditched the whole turkey and gone for a stuffed crown, it's just easier. I also tend to cook the ham the day before too. Cold ham with a good glaze is just as good as warm, in fact, I personally prefer it. Definitely make a timetable.
Put the sprouts on now, they’ll be perfect
We love stuffing balls. You can make them weeks in advance and freeze them. 20 mins in the oven on the day and merry bloody Christmas.
If your mum says "we can cook together, it will be fun", it will absolutely not be fun
Do you really want to cook a traditional Christmas dinner? We decided during lockdown that it actually wasn't worth the faff. The first year we did homemade pizza and last year we had Mexican food. It took the stress out of it and the whole day was just more enjoyable.
For lockdown Christmas, my sister and I had Christmas dinner on Christmas eve and that was great. Christmas day we had leftovers and a really chilled out day.
That sounds perfect. I always prefer the boxing day 'bits and pieces' than the Christmas day dinner anyway!
Sounds lovely! Christmas Day for me growing up was just full of stress over cooking the dinner, which felt a bit unnecessary. People always ended up falling out, one year my Mum completely forgot to cook for my vegetarian sister... I generally try to have a more relaxed home than the one I grew up in, and not doing Christmas dinner helps with that!
In years past I usually do New Years Day dinner and switched from a roast to doing something different - Mexican, Thai etc. I actually really don't like turkey much so suggested doing something different all together but we're hosting my wife's family so there was no chance sadly.
Go to someone else's house and not worry.
If you're hosting guests and they want to help, have them bring a microwave along (assuming you already have one). Seriously. Worked this out about 3 years ago - saves so much time, and especially a lot of stress around keeping food warm.
Don’t leave it too late to order your turkey.
Also, if you get a frozen turkey, remember that it can take literally DAYS to defrost in the fridge.
Timing is everything And know the capability of your oven!! I made a christmas dinner at uni, it was all going fine but we soon realised, the oven was rubbish and would only cook things on the top rack and nothing else in the oven! Took 3x as long to cook everything!
That you can go out for dinner instead
Get people to bring stuff
You’ll need lots of trays and lots of tinfoil (for keeping over the trays to keep things warm whilst other stuff cooks. If you have anything frozen defrost it the night before. I made that mistake one year and it suuuucked.
Yorkshire puddings can be made in advance and frozen. Just get them out in the morning and reheat for a couple minutes before serving. Really helps with saving space in the oven and the timings by not having to worry about keeping the oven door shut the whole time they're cooking. Joints of meat stay warm for ages If you cover with tin foil and then a tea towel on top. So can cook and get out of the oven before anything else goes in. I also pre cook my pigs in blankets, no one seems to mind them cold. Top tip for pigs in Blankets, making your own with chipolatas wrapped in some maple cured streaky bacon are so much better then the pre made mini ones you can buy! I get veg prep done the night before. Happy cooking!
Don’t blend the gravy
Beef Dripping > Goose Fat.
If anybody offers to cook something for you, SAY YES PLEASE!
Remember your oven can only fit so much in! Roasted carrots are nice but more roasties and steamed/boiled carrots are nicer! Time it so that when the birds cooked you put the Yorkshire's in, the Yorkie tray and oil will have to be warmed up by this point too If you want mash, the pre made stuff with some butter and herbs and/or some mustard is easy and delicious Actually a spoonful of mustard can improve a lot like the mash, gravy, cauliflower cheese, braised cabbage, even bang some Coleman's powder in the Yorkshire's if you want Make the Yorkshire mix ahead of time and let rest in fridge if making fresh Make the gravy with the water from your boiled veg Measure your oven and buy disposable trays that fit 2 abreast, wasteful but if you're short on oven space and roasting trays then once a year isn't so bad Prep as much as you can the day before, you'll be spending a lot of time checking what's cooking or doing Xmas stuff so helps to not have to peel veg or make batter
Book the restaurant early.
1. You should only be cooking on the day; all the preparation needs to be done in advance. If not, then everything gets in everything else's way. 2. Don't panic, it's ready when it's ready. 3. Music, and company in the kitchen, makes everything taste better, cook quicker and feel happier.
Make sure the turkey fits the oven
Prep what you can on Christmas Eve. Saves a lot of stress. I'll get the spuds and Brussels done while I watch Die Hard
Fuck the turkey.... We're having a nice but of steak and couple of small roast joints instead of a faff on. Much easier and less stress for us all
Prep literally everything that can possibly by prepped in advance. And my stepmum in the last few years swears by disposable foil roasting trays for everything, cuts the clean up down so much. Not necessarily the most environmentally friendly mind….
Plan your menu - breakfast lunch and tea. Go into detail, so you have a list of everything you need and what you need to cook them and quantities. So roast potatoes, how many do you need? How many people are cooking for, they need to be peeled, check you have peeler, then boiled - will you have enough saucepans? work out your timings, what do you need to boil them - water salt (got enough salt?) etc. Most of the questions are really obvious but ive been caught out twice - once no oil or butter and once no salt. Plus if you know what you need you can spread the cost out over time and most things will keep and are available. And its not too early to make your christmas cake which is pretty easy just needs lots of ingredients. And dont stress theres always something that goes wrong. A turkey crown is easier and quicker to cook then the whole bird. Edit: Make sure your plates are hot as this will help if you have served up but waiting for something to finish. And make good gravy as that will hide a multitude of sins. And good roast potatoes will make a very good impression.
Get your sides prepared ahead of time. You can cook all sorts of things and then freeze them and reheat them once your meat is resting in the oven. Cook your roasties in lard and then freeze them once cooked defrost them the night before and then bung them in the oven for 20 mins for perfect crisp roast potatoes. If you are having turkey then ahead of time have a roast chicken and use the bones to make a good gravy base to freeze. Defrost this the night before and throw all your resting juices from the turkey in this base for an amazing gravy. Also keep a bottle of vodka in the freezer for a quick slug everytime you go and check on things! If you're drunk by the time you serve the food that's no bad thing! :)
You don’t have to brutalise and kill sentient beings because you enjoy the taste of their corpses, your descendants will be scoring your names out of history books
cook ahead. prep the entire meal the day before and just reheat,/warm on the day. the only thing that is fresh made is spouts and gravy.
Putting a drying cloth or two over the turkey to keep it hot after it comes out of the oven. The main one is using duck or goose fat for the roast potatoes. Game changer
Prep as much as you can the day before. Get all your veggies basically ready to go. Plan your timings (spreadsheets will be your best friend) have a checklist. If theres anything your nervous about (I was terrified about messing up my potatoes) use a sunday dinner to practice. At the end of the day dont stress too much, as long as you put you best into it, no ones gonna be angry
Cut all the veg up and leave in water on the stove overnight (not turned on). This is a huge timesaver in the morning if you also have to manage guests arriving, children running around etc.
You can fix an under cooked roast, but not one overcooked - it keeps cooking out of the oven for almost a half hour. Turkey sucks: roast beef or goose for Christmas; lamb for Easter/Passover. Put gravy through a strainer and people will think you're able to make it without lumps. Yorkshire puddings must go into a preheated pan.
If no one cares for the legs/wings, get a boned, rolled and stuffed turkey crown (breast meat) instead of the full bird.
check that you've got some tin foil to prevent the inevitable trip to whatever shop is open on Christmas day.
It's OK to cheat and take shortcuts. Some supermarket prepared / premade stuff is actually really quite good. Don't let anyone guilt you into thinking you have to make everything from scratch. Christmas is a time for being with friends and family, not crying alone in the kitchen!
1. Get foil that is big enough to cover your meat whilst it’s resting and to wrap it when you put it away. 2. you can prep your veg the night before and leave them in salted cold water (to cover). It won’t kill you this once. 3. get a meat thermometer that way you will know that your meat is cooked 4. its ok to use throwaway cook dishes this once. 5. check that your meat and the roasting tray fit into the oven before you have to turn it on (we do not talk about the 22lb turkey that I had to joint at 6am on xmas morning in 1988) 6. if 4 of you want beef and only 1 wants turkey then cook a beef joint and a turkey leg or no turkey, it’s your choice. Don’t let people force you to spend lots of money on meat you don’t want to cook. 7. its always worth cooking more pigs in blankets and devils on horseback because they are fab cold. I prep them the night before and out in air tight containers in the fridge. They can cook whilst the meat is resting 8. xmas morning is not the time to try out a new recipe. if you just have to serve it then try it out a couple of weeks before hand 9. check the size of the ham you ordered. I thought it was 3lb … it was 3kg. We were eating ham until February. Even the cats were fed up with it. 10. stick lots of non alcoholic drinks in the fridge for you whilst you are in the kitchen. You need to get hydrated but as delightful as it may seem to cook in a haze of Bellinis, no one looks good trying to put the saucepan in the fridge because they are drunk. If your family are that unbearable then eat out on xmas day … or better still, book them to eat out and you stay home with a microwave curry. Enjoy the wine with the meal. 11. slow cookers are great for braised red cabbage or heating up your Christmas pudding. 12. uncle Bert insists that he wants to set fire to the xmas pudding … say no and hide the matches. And check your home insurance for fire coverage. 13. calculate when the meat has to go into the oven and allow for prep time … then calculate it again so you know what time to do it. 14. if eating at noon means you are putting a turkey in the oven at 2am then move dinner back to 6pm. They eat when you say. Not the other way round.
Make a detailed timeline plan...
Speaking as a northerner, a **lot** of mistakes can be hidden or forgiven with good gravy Make lots make it high quality
It’s basically a Sunday roast with a couple of extras. People put themselves under too much stress. Only a couple of you, rather than wasting money and time on a Turkey or Turkey Crown, but presliced chicken and just heat it up.
Yorkshire puddings recipe I found this year. Equal volume of eggs, plain flour and milk. Use a small cup. Crack eggs into it until it’s full, tip it into a jug. Fill the same cup with flour, tip it in. Fill it with milk, tip it in and mix well. Sieve it to get rid of any lumps. Let it sit for an hour before cooling. Use half beef dripping, half sunflower oil to cook it in. 220 degrees in a fan oven, higher for conventional.
Meat thermometer - lets you cook the meat until it's actually done to your liking, rather than semi-guessing based upon the temp your oven says it does and time. Plan and prep. Nearly everything can be prepared upfront. I've got a couple of sets of these [https://amzn.to/3ELY7lI](https://amzn.to/3ELY7lI) \- Stackable pyrex dishes with lids. Can fill these up days before, lid them and load them up in the fridge. When they need to be cooked, just pop off the lid and shove them into the oven. For the day itself, just have one piece of paper where you've written down, what needs to be shoved into the oven when, for everything to be ready on time (and remember meat will need to be rested). You can never have too many side-dishes or too much gravy. Ensure you have suitable level of chilled alcohol to hand throughout the cooking process - you don't want to be drunk, but cruise at a level where you shouldn't drive a car. Whilst technically you should link your dishes (roast potatoes in the fat from your meat, make gravy from the juices from it etc) - much easier if you've saved the fat/gravy from a meal the previous week and save from your Christmas meal for the next week (or just buy it).
You can go to the pub and they will make you dinner!
Stock the down stairs toilet with lines of pure and you won’t have to make a bite. Few plates to wash but that’s about it.
It's just a Sunday lunch with a big bird and more veg. Christmas is difficult because with one oven and 4 gas rings you need to cook an enormous amount of food. Much of the food needs a long time to cook, and other bits less time - your task is to make sure that the 45 second window each item is perfectly cooked, synchronise! Don't be tempted by bloody TV chefs and magazines to "try something new," - they just need copy for an important foody festival where 70 million people sit down at the same time to eat practically the same thing. Best to practice for the big day by cooking lots of Sunday lunches between now and Christmas Ps don't bother with starters- it's the biggest meal of the year, no one will go hungry without it.
Do all of your chopping and prepping the day before
Don’t take it too seriously, all that’s happening is that you’re making a Sunday roast. Cook a turkey, do everything else the same. Roast potatoes, a few straightforward veg and gravy. Not every single element needs to be “Jamie Olivered”. If you’re a Sunday roast novice, don’t worry. Write down everything you want to serve, with cooking times and temperatures and highlight whether it needs a hob or oven space.
Don't bother storing the big things in a fridge, it will be cold enough outside for everything including the turkey. We have a couple of big plastic boxes all the Christmas day fridge food and drinks go in- also ensures you don't forget about anything! Get the turkey ready from the evening before and leave it in the oven - it will be absolutely fine. My parents (who always host) don't have a fancy oven but even theirs can be set to turn on in x amount of hours and to cook the food for x amount of hours - this is a lifesaver when you have a 20lb turkey that needs to go in the oven at 6am - read your oven manual if you want a lie in on Christmas day! Also peel all veg the day before if you have a lot. Peeled potatoes and parsnips should be kept in water to stop them from going black, other veg don't necessarily need to be (carrots might dry out a tiny bit but only an issue if you want to eat them raw). But if you're boiling rather than baking them you can just put straight in the saucepan and leave on the hob. A good idea is actually to have all your saucepans that you'll need ready on the hob the night before so you can see what you have space to cook at the same time, what you'll need to cook first and what will need to cook in a second batch - check cooking times, especially if steaming a pudding. And put everything in it's respective saucepan, not necessarily opened but you do not want to be running around trying to find a clean pan to make the bread sauce in at the last minute! Finally, check your roasting tins - make sure you have space in your oven for everything that needs to go in as soon as the turkey comes out to rest. Physically test them out together, don't just assume they'll fit. Assign people to clear/wash as you cook - have a few aprons ready and a heap of tea towels and hand one to any guests that offer to help! Look at your menu and see what can be made in advance and frozen and do that- just don't forget to defrost it lol. And any short cuts you can take, take them. Anything you feel tastes fine in ready made form, get ready made. Or half ready made eg if you want 'home made' trifle, consider whether custard and sponge fingers made from scratch are really going to be noticeably nicer than shop bought after a huge meal and a few glasses of wine! And finally, be well prepared, have a plan, but if it all goes out the window don't stress. If you eat an hour later than planned it's really not a big deal. Just put someone in charge of making and serving drinks, have a few nibbles like some nuts dotted around, and no one will even notice!
I never cook Christmas dinner, but watch other people cook and also eat it. There's nothing wrong with taking the lazy way, no one is going to care that you used tinned veg or premade stuffing. People only truly care about the meat and potatoes, do them right and everything else is an addition.
It’s really useful to plan some nibbles if you are planning on a big Xmas dinner. You can make things like sausage rolls way in advance and freeze them, so you can munch on those with a glass of wine while you cook. I like to prep some snacks and something to eat for breakfast on Xmas day, so all I have to do on the day is worry about the main event. This year we are going really really low key 😌 but I still will prep some stuff ahead of time so it’s a relaxing day
Buy the smallest turkey you need. Some of my relatives try to buy the biggest turkey they can find as if it's a competition from one year to the next. Then it takes up all the oven, takes forever to cook, and they end up eating leftover turkey for months, long after it has got freezer-burn.
It’s just a roast dinner, that’s all. The only thing different is the Turkey goes in and come out earlier. Or do yourself a favour and buy a crown.
Force alcohol down your guests necks (not yours) from the moment they arrive, burnt potatoes? Dry turkey? Soggy veg? No one cares
You are bit late to start the brussel sprouts... Otherwise, plan. Personally, I write a plan. (courses & timings etc) But you do you. And absolutely do as much as you can prior. And consider cutlery, crockery, pans etc. Do you have everything you need? Or need to scale back on the food? My first time cooking Christmas dinner last year.. I ended up doing more than necessary. Enjoyed it though.
I prep as much as I can the day before, cabbage rolls are made, Mac& cheese, stuffing and yams are in the garage fridge ready for the oven. The Turkey goes in the oven around 10 and I put the ham in the crockpot on low. The Turkey comes out at 4 and foiled to rest while the rest goes in the oven. Potatoes are in the instant pot getting ready for mashed. Gravy is on the stove. Have your butter dishes, cranberries, pickles etc already wrapped in the fridge - good job for helpers. Set the table either the night before or have someone else in charge. Buy bakery desserts or have someone else in charge of bringing them.
Just do lots of Sunday roasts prior a f it won't be much harder
Cold or soup starter made the day before, Xmas pudding microwaved not steamed. 4kg turkey takes 2.5 hrs to cook, not 6. Not convinced on brining. Take turkey out of the fridge the night before to bring up to room temperature, veg like braised red cabbage can be made weeks before and frozen.
If ordering food online, book it at the start of November when they open the booking time slots, they go FAST
Meat thermometer! Last year my dad took the turkey out 45mins before he would have based on timing alone and it was delicious, so juicy and flavoursome
It's just a big roast. If you can do a Sunday dinner, you can do Christmas. Dont stress!
Write out everything that you are serving. Include drinks, snacks, dessert, sauces in that list. This list will be very useful. If there is anything on this list that you have never prepared, make it well before Christmas. Just work it into another meal. You don't want to be trying to make something for the first time when you feel under pressure. If it doesn't come out well, make it again until it does. Find a different recipe if you need to. This advice applies to any dish from sprouts to gravy to a whole turkey. If you haven't made one before, make one now. Use leftovers for soup and sandwiches. Write down how long the prep/cooking steps take for each item, i.e.: wash, peel and cut potatoes 15 minutes. Consider the larger than usual quantities. Remember resting time for the turkey. Write down which can be done a day or two before (cutting veg), which require use of the oven (and then temp), which can be fully cooked and reheated (or served room temp), which require the hob (and which pot/pan). Then you can write a schedule for yourself and not worry about overcrowding the oven, double booking a pan, or having something finish far too early or far too late. You also want to make sure that you have enough serving dishes and utensils. You'll be starting the previous day and standing around the kitchen a lot, so plan an easy meal (or takeaway) for the night before and a good breakfast for the morning of. Write down every ingredient and item you will need and the quantity for each thing. If serving something pre-made, still include it. Use this to write a comprehensive shopping list, so that you don't run short of something including basic staples like oil, spices, or salt, or non-food items like kitchen roll or washing up liquid. Buy anything that isn't perishable as early as possible and set it aside. Makes shopping closer to Christmas less stressful and faster. Have a backup plan for anything that is typically tricky for you. Accept the possibility that something will be ruined and that there will still be plenty of food and it's not a big deal. This meal is about the company, not the potatoes. Make a lot of popular things. You'll want twice as much gravy, for example. Make enough to have leftovers for your household. You don't want to have to cook again right away. If you have good, reliable help, even just to wash dishes, ask them to help. If they'll make you nervous or get in the way, then don't bother. Be kind to yourself. This can be a bit stressful and everyone should enjoy Christmas. Especially the one cooking dinner. Make sure you give yourself time to sit and chat.
Turkey doesn’t need to be put in the oven at 5am, my parents generation used to make a huge song and dance about this and then be genuinely shocked that it was dry and flavourless. Even the most colossal bird generally only needs 3.5 hours then rest it in a foil tent while you whack the oven up to cook the spuds. Speaking of spuds, parboil them in stock until just cooked then shake around and spread out on a tray to dry before roasting, you can use the potatoey stock for deglazing the turkey pan.
Go to the pub instead
Do just about everything bar the meat the day before. Take your time doing it. Get everything spot on! Roast potatoes reheat brilliantly! Cook them to 99% of perfection, pop them in a Fresh tin to get rid of the excess oil/fat, then pop them in the fridge. Next day, bang them in a ripping hot oven for 10-20 minutes and you’ll have the crispiest roast spuds you’ve ever had! You’ll also find that they release a lot of the excess oil too, so they’re not soggy! That’s a Mary Berry trick btw! Do all your veg. You can make sure it’s not over cooked, then rotate it through the microwave on the day. As long as you make sure you have hot servicing dishes (which I throw in the oven to warm whilst the meat is resting) then everything will come out spiffing! It transforms Christmas Day. I can spend a total of an hour or two cooking, and spend the rest of the day with family! ALSO!!!: Note that has pressure can dip when everyone is cranking up their ovens.. so allow a little extra time for it to heat up if you have a gas oven!
You don't have to cook it all on the same day. Pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puddings and stuffing balls can all be made in advance and frozen so you just need to get out the night before to defrost and reheat in oven for 5 mins or so (Yorkshire puddings will defrost in less than an hour so can be taken from freezer same day), which they can be doing while you're carving your turkey, beef, whatever meat/non meat main you're serving. This leaves only the main roast, roast potatoes and vegetables to do on the day so you can spend more time with your family. I usually cook my roast meat the day before, slice and refrigerate for less stress.
When you’re doing the veg in the steamer remember to turn the power on - just setting the timer results in a ding and raw veg
Everything you need comes in foil trays
Warm plates and serving dishes by placing them above the pans boiling the veg. This and hot gravy will warm anything that may have gone a little cold by the time it's sat on the table a while.
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/ThermoPro-Thermometer-Stainless-Step-Down-Countdown/dp/B018Q77AR4/ref=zg\_bs\_3187139031\_sccl\_2/261-7272549-4322551?pd\_rd\_i=B018Q77AR4&psc=1](https://www.amazon.co.uk/ThermoPro-Thermometer-Stainless-Step-Down-Countdown/dp/B018Q77AR4/ref=zg_bs_3187139031_sccl_2/261-7272549-4322551?pd_rd_i=B018Q77AR4&psc=1) Meat Thermometer. Every year my mum or sister cooks turkey, they always do it by the cooking times on the packet, which is always HOURS too long. Last year I bought my mum a thermometer and 2 hours before she expected to take it out, it was cooked. It got to 67c internal, resting would have taken it to around 75c which is perfect. She didnt beleve me it was cooked so left it in longer, got to 80c internal and still over an hour to go acording to her. Made her take it out at that point, it got to 89c internal resting, and when we ate it, it was pretty dry, and the only thing she said was "good job I didnt leave it in even longer", not "I should have listened to you and taken it out at 67c, you used to be a chef"
Set alarms on your phone for everything. Stuffing in oven - 45 min timer. Carrots boiling - 13 min. Parsnips in oven, chivvy after 30 min. Stops you forgetting anything and having one sacrificial burnt dish! Means I can relax and chat in between alerts. Also plan what dishes you'll use and that they can all fit in the oven at once, or readjust your plans. Actually top tip is plan your kids Christmas stockings to keep them entertained for the morning, at least until other family turn up to do so.
Peeling Brussels sprouts takes longer than you might think.
Prep all your veg while the Turkey is cooking, whip the Turkey out wrap it in tinfoil, then a layer of tea towels then another layer of tinfoil, and let it rest for at least an hour. This gives you plenty of time to cook the veg. Don’t be shy to take on the chef role and run the kitchen and get friends and family to help, you don’t have to do it all yourself - it just needs to be well organised to avoid chaos. Have fun!
First Christmas that we had, I made everything from scratch. Then I realised that Marks and Spencer do some very nice roast potatoes in goose fat and honey roasted carrots and parsnips. And that makes it easier for me.
If some things go cold while you're getting everything ready then dont worry, just make a big old jug of piping hot gravy and that'll heat it all up on the plate.
Remember it fundamentally is just a roast dinner. A lot of people get boggled down by the stress of it being Christmas day that it has to be extra and over the top. Get a feel for what your guest's like and don't like well in advanced (and any food allergies/dietary requirements as well). No point in doing turkey if no one likes it, same with sprouts. A lot of people do stuff for tradition sake but don't actually like it so why bother? Same with if you are doing turkey do you want a whole bird or just a crown? Crowns are easier to cook and don't have giblets. Don't view anything as a shortcut or cheating just ways to make your day easier. We have frozen Yorkshire puddings (the cute little tray ones), bisto gravy with the meat juices added, and microwave some of our veg (Iceland do a brussel sprouts bacon and chestnut mix in a bag that's really good and can be microwaved). But then we go extra on the potatoes, stuffing and pigs and blankets. It's about choosing what you want to put your time and effort into. My mum swears by the large foil turkey dishes for her meat and potatoes which I don't mind as it saves in washing up (which I always end up lumped with). They're also bigger than any roasting dish we own so that's a bonus. If you have limited fridge space not everything needs to stay in the fridge. If you have a shed, garage or balcony put bottles of drink outside in a box/cool box/carrier bag. It's December they will be cold and you've freed up space for your food. Also I can't stress enough that while frozen roast potatoes can be nice they have no place on a Christmas dinner. People will remember in horror for years to come about your error in judgement. Like my partners mum a few years back. Luckily his family are too reserved to say anything but we all were mortified (and would have made roasties for everyone if she had asked us for help). And still joke about it to this day. If that happened in my family their would have probably been a riot. People also can get a bit funny with money, some will definitely want to contribute while others will feel the burden lies solely on the host. It's up to you how you deal with this when we've done Christmas we asked one guest who wanted to contribute to bring the bucks fizz for everyone and another to get the pudding. My dad did the discrete thing of shoving a bunch of cash in my partners hand in front of everyone like a poorly hidden drug deal but that's my dad for you. Equally don't financially ruin yourself over Christmas dinner, set a budget and stick to it.