Your Get Organised Christmas Cooking Tips
These are my favourite tips for getting the Christmas dinner together. The biggest problem most people have is that their oven isn’t big enough for all the stuff planned so I get ahead and get as much done in advance as possible.
Make your cooking timings list, working back from the time you want to serve your first course. Remember to factor in Turkey Resting time!
Blanch your Green Veg and Freeze – Take out Christmas Morning, I have done mangetout and fine beans, I will reheat by frying some finely chopped shallot and pancetta cubes then tossing through the beans until they are heated.
Boil or Steam your carrots and parsnips, season and mash them then freeze when they are cool. Take out Christmas Eve and simply reheat when needed.
Par boil your potatoes (8 minutes), drain, toss in duck fat and polenta or other seasonings of choice, open freeze then pack into bags and store in the freezer. Cook from frozen for an hour in more hot duck fat.
Prepare your gravy in advance, freeze and remove Christmas eve, store in the fridge, when needed bring to the boil, add in your turkey juices, and some cranberry sauce for sweetness and keep hot. See Jamie Oliver for this great recipe or the M&S Turkey gravy is highly recommended.
When you Turkey is cooked, rest and keep hot by wrapping in Tin Foil, cover with some tea cloths and it will stay nice and warm while you get everything ready.