Christmas Dinner - Top Tips & Prep Lists - Chef Style
Cooking in everyday situations can be a really daunting and overwhelming task but add on the expectations of friends, families, guests and maybe even a bit of oneupmanship and it can really feel like an uphill struggle. Sprinkle all that with a little dash of Christmas Day and it’s possibly a one way ticket to stress town! The last thing you need on the big day! The best food will always come from the least stressful kitchens, despite what you might see on the telly. Behind the scenes, its quick moving, but its fast and its SUPER organised!
I wanted to throw something out there to see if it might help some people get a little more organised on the big day. Hopefully take some stress out of your day and allow you to enjoy the entire process a little better!
This is just a little insight into how a Chef might organise themselves and approach Christmas dinner! It’s about tips, tricks and A PREP LIST! Not everyone loves sitting down and planning things but having this approach towards Christmas Dinner will seriously lift the stress and will almost certainly make the whole process more enjoyable! Especially if you’re not feeling too confident!
I have stuck a link down at the bottom of this waffle that will take you straight to a sort of spreadsheet/check sheet that you can download if you want…..so if you’re not into my waffle, head straight down there but if you want a little more of an insight, keep reading………
I obviously have no idea what’s on your Christmas menu so I am sorting throwing out what I think appears on most tables on Christmas Day but please feel free to adapt this, change it, tweak it, add to it. Whatever you need to do! The principles behind it are the same, whatever you’re planning on cooking and I’m hopefully going to explain how I’ve come to this as well so you can always have a go at writing your own prep list!
The best prep lists aren’t necessarily just a list of jobs but its also about time management - starting at the time you want to the food to be ready and working backwards to work out how to fit all the jobs into the time you have!
You’ll end up with almost like a script to follow - then all you have to do is stick to it, and you’re off and running with ease! It takes away all of the thinking and frees you up to concentrate on the actual cooking and getting that right!
The idea behind all this is quite simple, it’s just about getting in front and staying in front! I find people often pile too much pressure on themselves on the actual day, they try to do too much, they get too overwhelmed and it all goes wrong pretty quickly!
A few other things to consider when it comes to approaching Christmas Dinner:
ALIGN YOUR SKILLS WITH EXPECTATIONS - remember you aren’t Gordon Ramsey! Acknowledge your own skills and standards, shoot for the stars, but don’t push yourself too far. Keep it simple, keep it delicious!
ASSESS YOUR EQUIPMENT - I don’t mean giving the equipment a quick once over or a service, I mean assess what you have to cook with. Single vs Double Oven, Hostess Trolley for warming, Air Fryer - think about what can go in what equipment and HOW MUCH WILL FIT - remember for a lot of us the turkey is going to fill that oven for most of the morning so nothing else will be roasted. How many trays or shelves can you fit in? Are your roasting dishes shallow enough to maximise what’s going in there? Can you borrow anything from friends and family for the day? So many people don’t plan their meals with this in mind and end up holding 3 baking trays, staring at an already full oven, no idea how to get it all cooked!
LOVE THE TIN FOIL - this has to be your best friend. Wrap everything in it, use it to keep stuff warm if you’re oven is packed and you’re cooking in batches!
REST THE BIRD FOR LONG ENOUGH - most medium turkeys will keep warm after roasting for up to 90 minutes. - use that to you’re advantage, you can use that time to cook almost everything else!
PIPING HOT GRAVY - hot gravy can hide a multitude of sins - everything else can be merely warm or even room temperature. A splash of hot gravy and all of a sudden it comes back to life!
SACK OFF TRADITIONS - I get it, Christmas is about nostalgia and tradition and its fun to get involved in it all, but don’t cook something just for tradition if no-one actually likes it. Whether it’s sprouts, Christmas pudding or even the Turkey; don’t get sucked into thinking there are rules when it comes to Christmas dinner!
THE FOOD ISN’T IMPORTANT - take the pressure off yourself, at the end of the day, it’s just a meal. Sitting around the table and sharing is way more important than what you’re actually cooking and eating. If things go wrong, laugh about it, make a joke about it - it really doesn’t matter that much!
OK, back to the prep list……..
I start with thinking about absolutely every single job that I could get done the day before…..to the finest detail. We are talking about vegetable prep, sauce making, traying up things ready for the oven, bowling things up, slicing stuff ready…….all this kind of jazz can be done on CHRISTMAS EVE………it might seem like a you’re sucking out all the fun of Christmas Eve but by spending some time in the kitchen and putting in a few hours graft on Christmas Eve will make all the difference on the big day and will free you up to actually enjoy yourself!
MY CHRISTMAS EVE or even CHRISTMAS EVE EVE…..breaking the back of the work:
PREP, CHOP & PEEL ALL VEGETABLES:
POTATOES - peeled, chopped AND PAR BOILED; CARROTS & PARSNIPS - peeled, chopped and stored in cold water overnight (somewhere cool, ideally a fridge); SPROUTS - peeled and halved or with a cross in the bottom like the good old days, RED CABBAGE - sliced and braised, ready for reheating
CAULIFLOWER CHEESE - fully made up, in the fridge, ready for the oven
STUFFING - made in a roasting dish or balled and trayed up ready to go in the oven
PIGS IN BLANKETS - Tray up in the fridge, ready to go straight in the oven
BREAD SAUCE/CRANBERRY SAUCE - made AND BOWLED UP ready for the table. Nothing better than just peeling off the clingers and whacking it down ready!…..and any other cold table sauces you might be serving
YORKSHIRE PUDDING MIX - made and resting in the fridge - I know its controversial for a Christmas Dinner but I bloody love them!
CHRISTMAS PUDDING & SAUCES - like the main event, bowl up any cold sauces, have them ready to go straight on the table! If you’re making custard from scratch, Christmas Eve is the perfect time to do it!
CHEESE BOARD & CRACKERS - unwrap all the cheese, arrange on the board with all the other gubbins you might have with it, cover and leave in your fridge, ready to go straight out. Get the crackers in a bowl or on a board ready and cover those too
STARTERS - choose something cold, you can make it on xmas eve and have it ready to go! Think prawn cocktail, smoked salmon, that kind of vibe - tray up slices of salmon, bowl up the prawn cocktail - all ready to go!
Granted, this is a pretty big day of prep, but it makes all the difference when it comes to the big day and is 100% worth it!
THE BIG DAY:
Always start your prep list with the service time, the deadline, what time you need the food on the table!
If I have told people lunch is at 2pm………..my target service time is 1.30pm! That means starters can go out in advance, everything will be ready before you sit down to eat them and it gives you 30 minutes grace or anything that goes wrong, if it’s all going to plan, you can always slow down and have another Sherry and enjoy the peace if you like! Then its about working backwards - then start thinking of the big jobs…..
THE BIRD - work out your cooking times, for most people, the bird is going to take 3-4 hours (depending on size) in the oven before resting - so remember, you have UP TO 90 MINUTES RESTING TIME if you don’t leave it near an open door or window, so my target time to get the bird cooked and out the oven is 12pm - so the time I need to get it in the oven (lets say its going to take me 3 hours) is 9am. Just to complicate things earlier, you want your bird to be as close to room temp as possible so take it out the fridge at least 1 hour before cooking!
With having smashed out so much prep on Xmas Eve, it gives you so much leeway for the actual day, its largely reheating and cooking - all of which can be done in the turkey resting time - 60-90 minutes is enough to get everything else cooked/warmed up!
The only thing I would make ahead of the turkey are the yorkies, you need a clear oven for these monsters. I would get them in around 8.30 to have them cooked and ready, then they only need a flash in the oven before service - magic!
My Christmas Day now looks like a way more manageable:
8am PRE-HEAT OVEN FOR YORKIES - TAKE TURKEY OUT OF FRIDGE AND UNWRAP!
8.15am - COOK YORKIES
9am - TURKEY IN
12pm - TURKEY OUT AND RESTING
12pm - HEAT OIL FOR ROAST POTATOES
12.15pm - ROAST POTATOES & CAULIFLOWER CHEESE IN OVEN
12.30pm - STUFFING/PIGS IN BLANKETS IN OVEN
1pm - ROAST SPROUTS/PARSNIPS/CARROTS IN OVEN
1pm - BOIL ANY VEG, REHEAT RED CABBAGE, BUTTER BREAD FOR STARTERS
1.15pm - STARTERS & ALL COLD SAUCES GO ON THE TABLE
1.15pm - REHEAT YORKIES & ANYTHING ELSE THAT NEEDS A QUICK FLASH, MAKE GRAVY
1.30pm - DOUBLE CHECK EVERYTHING
2pm - TAKE ALL THE MAINS TO THE TABLE, NOT FORGETTING ALL THE SAUCES YOU BOWLED UP THE DAY BEFORE!
DOWNLOAD YOUR CHRISTMAS PREP LIST HERE
Happy Cooking!
Have The Most Amazing Christmas!
All The Love,
Steve xxx
