Perfect Guide to Preparing Christmas Dinner

1. Perfect Guide to Preparing Christmas Dinner

2. Contents Setting the Table Mulled Wine Recipe Starter Options Turkey Crispy Roast Potatoes Vegetables Pigs in Blankets Stuffing Gravy 1 2 3 4 - 6 7 8 - 9 10 11 - 12 13

3. Setting the Table Setting the table for Christmas means bringing out all the stops, wash off your finest cutlery and wipe down your best wine glasses. The trick to having a table that makes an impact, is to have a colour scheme. A crisp, white tablecloth will not only make any colour pop but will make cleaning up any spills easy at the end of the meal. If you can't settle on a particular colour, then you may find it easier to choose a theme instead such as rustic or glitz & glam, this will help you choose suitable table settings. Once you have chosen your colour scheme, you can accessorise your table with candles, napkins, place mats and any decorations you choose. Christmas crackers are a great way to add some colour into a plain table. You can make placecards or even dot around Christmas tree decorations. Have a centrepiece. Creating a centrepiece which spans the length of your table will create the illusion of the table being longer and can make it look less cluttered. If you have a runner on your table then arrange your centrepiece along this. Large candles and flowers are easy to use as decorations and ribbons, berries, or lights can be added to bring in more colour. 1

4. Mulled Wine Recipe Ingredients 1 Bottle Red Wine 1 Stick of Cinnamon 1 Orange (Rind) 200g Caster Sugar 6 Cloves 1 Whole Nutmeg Method Step one: Put sugar, cinnamon, cloves, orange rind, and about 10 gratings of nutmeg in a pan Step two: Add in just enough red wine to cover the sugar and let simmer until the sugar has dissolved and a thick syrup has formed Step 3: Turn the heat down and add in the rest of the wine, continue to heat until the wine is warm. Strain and serve. 2

5. Starter Options Baked Camembert Baked Brie Prawn Cocktail Spicy Parsnip Soup Chestnut and Butternut Squash Soup Stuffed Mushrooms Chicken Liver Pate Cheese Soufflés Pigs in Blankets Cranberry Filo Parcels Lobster Bisque Ricotta and Spinach Tartlets Goat Cheese and Cranberry Strudel Crispy Garlic Mushrooms 3

6. Turkey Preparing the turkey for Christmas has gotten a bad reputation over the years. With people stressing about how they are going to juggle all of the steps whilst others worry that the meat is going to be dry. Relax and follow these steps for succulent turkey meat on Christmas day. Herb Butter The herb butter is going to be used throughout the whole process of preparing the turkey so you need to ensure it's as flavourful as can be. Ingredients: 375g Room Temperature Butter 2 Lemons (Juice & Zest) 3 Cloves of Garlic Small Bunch of Parsely 1 tbsp Olive Oil Salt & Pepper Crush the cloves of garlic, juice and zest the lemons, and chop the parsely. Add the butter to a large bowl, season with the salt and pepper and mix with the oil. Add in the lemon juice and zest, garlic, and parsely and mix well. 4

7. Turkey Whether you decide to prepare your turkey on Christmas Day morning or the night before is completely your choice. You may find it easier the night before if you have lots of excited children running around, but the steps remain the same. Ingredients Turkey around 5kg Salt & Pepper 2 Onions 1 Lemon 1 Bulb of Garlic Pack of Steaky Bacon 6 Bay Leaves Olive Oil Step 1: Preheat the oven to 220C either before you start preparing, or before you put the turkey in the next day. Step 2: Season the turkey cavity with salt and pepper. Remove the skin from the onion and half it along with the lemon and garlic bulb; stuff these into the turkey along with 2 bay leaves. Step 3: Loosen the skin around the whole bird by sliding your hand between the skin and the meat. Be sure not to break the skin and don't forget about the skin on the legs. 5

8. Turkey Step 4 : Smooth half of the herb butter under the loosened skin and even out from outside the skin. Put the remaining bay leaves under the skin. Step 5: Place the turkey into a large roasting dish and spread over the second half of the herb butter, season, and drizzle over some olive oil. (If preparing for the next day, cover with foil and refridgerate.) Step 6: Place the turkey in the hot oven and baste after 15 minutes, laying over the bacon rashers to cover the breast. Baste again and turn the heat down to 180C. Cook for 2 1/2 hours, 30 minutes for every kg and baste occasionally. Step 7: 30 minutes before the cooking time, stick a skewer in the largest part of the leg, if the juices are pink, cook for a further 15 minutes and test again until juices are clear. This is to ensure you don't overcook the bird, when the juices run clear, leave it to rest for 45 minutes. 6

9. Crispy Roast Potatoes For the ultimate roast potatoes on Christmas Day, goose fat is the secret. Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside; roast potatoes anyone can make. All you will need for these extra special roast potatoes is the standard potatoes you would usually use, we recommend Maris Piper, a tablespoon of flour, and 2 tablespoons of duck or goose fat. It is important to parboil your potatoes, so peels and chop them and boil in a large pan for around 5 minutes. Whilst this is happening, put your fat into a roasting tin and into a hot oven. Drain your potatoes and toss in the colander to create coarser edges. Lightly coat the potatoes in the flour and pour them into the roasting tin. Be careful of the fat spitting and roll the potatoes around to be sure they are fully coated in the fat. If you want added flavour you can add in a couple of crushed garlic cloves, some rosemary, or a simple seasoning of salt. Cook for around 45 minutes, taking them out occasionally to shake. Once they are golden and crisp, they are ready to be served. 7

10. Vegetables With such a variety of options available for vegetables at Christmas, it can be easy to go overboard and have a plate that's half full, before anything else has managed to make it's way on. So what vegetables should you cook? It's engrained into us that we have to have sprouts at Christmas, like them or not, but nothing else is set in stone. Some people think having broccoli with Christmas dinner is perfectly acceptable, whilst others think it's frankly obsurd. Carrots, parsnips, cabbage, peas, broccoli, sprouts, green beans, the list goes on of what vegetables you can serve but add some variety to them. Garlic, herbs, and even bacon are great ways to mix up your vegetables and even tempt the kids. Roast vegetables are an easy and tasty way to cook a variety of vegetables, for example why not try honey roast carrots and parsnips. Simply peel and chop your carrots and parsnips, keeping them in long strips, place in a roasting tray, season, and thoroughly coat with honey. If you want, you can add other flavour combinations such as onion and garlic, roast as usual and serve. 8

11. Vegetables Brussels Sprouts with Smokey Bacon Let's face it, brussels sprouts aren't the highlight of anyone's Christmas Dinner. However, you can forget the idea of having to force everyone to have some sprouts on their plate, this alternative way of cooking sprouts will have everyone wanting more. All you will need for these delicious brussels sprout is a pack of ordinary sprouts, smokey bacon, and seasoning. Boil your sprouts as usual for around 4 minutes in salted water. Cool and thinly slice, in the meantime cook your smokey bacon until crispy. Once cooked, add the sliced sprouts and the bacon into a bowl and season well with crushed black pepper. You can add in some crushed walnuts for some added crunch if it takes your fancy. 9

12. Pigs in Blankets Pigs in Blankets can vary depending on your favourite type of sausage, chipolatas are most commonly used due to their thin shape but any of your favourites can be used. Make sure you make plenty of these beauties as they are sure to go fast, all you have to do is wrap your favourite choice of bacon, be that smokey, streaky, or regular, around the sausages and you are good to go. Place them on a baking tray and cook until thoroughly cooked and crispy. For extra flavour you can add in some woody herbs to the pan such as rosemary. You won't need to season with salt as the bacon will provide this for you. As well as serving these alongside your Christmas Dinner, they also make great snacks, simply dot around the dining room with some cocktail sticks for everyone to nibble on. Alternatively, you can serve these as a starter. 10

13. Stuffing Stuffing gets its name from originally being cooked inside the cavity of the roast turkey, chicken, etc. but this method of cooking has been disputed in recent years. Where some chefs belive cooking stuffing inside of meats allows the more flavour from the meat to soak into the stuffing, others believe that cooking at the same time and temperature will cause one to always be over or undercooked. As an alternative, rolling into balls and cooking on a tray or baking in a small dish seperately, will allow the stuffing to cook evenly and thoroughly. To make preperation easier on Christmas Day you can make your stuffing the day before, cover in cling film, and keep in the fridge until you are ready to cook them the next day. Put the packet mix away and get ready to make the best stuffing you can for arguably the biggest meal of the year. Below is our basic recipe for sausage meat stuffing, into this feel free to add other ingredients to the mix such as nuts, cranberries, or pine kernals. 11

14. Stuffing When it comes to Christmas stuffing, every recipe should start with sausage meat, along with a handful of breadcrumbs and a mixture of herbs, you are good to go. Ingredients: 500g Good Quality Sausage Meat 100g Fresh Breadcrumbs 1 Large Onion 1 Crushed Garlic Cloves 2 tbsp Sage 2 tbsp Parsley Mix all of the ingredients together and bake for 30 minutes at 200C. As previously mentioned, you can add a variety of other ingredients to this basic stuffing mix. 12

15. Gravy Don’t waste all of the flavourful juices from your Christmas roast turkey, instead make them into a wonderful gravy for everyone to enjoy over their dinner. This gravy is a quick and easy recipe to knock up just before dinner is served. Once you have removed your turkey from the roasting pan, skim off as much fat as you can and discard, lightly sprinkle over flour and mix in well. Alternatively, mix 2 tbsp of cornstarch with a small amount of water until mixed well and then add this to the meat juices. With your roasting tray over the heat, stir constantly for a few minutes until it is smooth. Move into a saucepan and add in broth or stock of your choice, cook until the gravy thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Be sure to taste your gravy for if you need to add any additional seasoning. For a more festive touch, you can add in 2 tbsp of redcurrant jelly and a dash of port. 13

16. Thank You For Reading! Merry Christmas! Unit 9 Heapham Road Industrial Estate, Sandars Road, Heapham Road Industrial Estate, Gainsborough DN21 1RZ