Do-Ahead Christmas Dinner: 10 Tips for Preparing your Food Early
We all know the feeling. It’s Christmas Day, but rather than enjoying a glass of wine or catching up with family, you’re peeling carrots, boiling brussels and hoping you’ll have time to get the bread sauce out of your hair before the turkey needs basting. Dinner will, of course, taste delicious- but by the time you sit down to it, you’ll be so exhausted you’ll barely have the strength to pull a cracker.
With a little pre-planning, such chaos can be a ghost of Christmas past. At the end of the day, remember, Christmas dinner is just a roast – and there’s plenty of elements in a roast that can be prepared days, if not weeks, ahead.
1. Gravy
You can make a tasty Christmas gravy long before the main event. Simply freeze it in a container, and defrost on the day. You can add the juices from your Christmas turkey to it before serving.
2. Stuffing
Stuffing freezes well – you can even freeze it in an oven dish, so once it’s defrosted, you can pop the dish straight into the oven. Some people go so far as to cook the stuffing before freezing, so on the day it only requires warming up: a good idea when oven space is at a premium.
3. Red cabbage
4. Brussel sprouts
Save time by using what chefs call “blanching and refreshing” – boil the sprouts, drop them in cold water to stop the cooking process, then the next day just reheat them in a pan or in the microwave. You can do this with most other vegetables too.
5. Potatoes
6. Turkey
7. Bread sauce
Nobody wants to be faffing around with sauces on Christmas Day. Bread sauce freezes well, but it also keeps for a surprisingly long time in the fridge – just make it a few days before, and you won’t even need to defrost it. Cranberry sauce can also be made ahead.
8. Parsnips
You can boil your parsnips and keep them in the fridge for up to a day before, to cut down on the cooking time on Christmas Day. Alternatively, you could freeze them.
9. Yorkshire puddings
10. Desserts
Christmas pudding, of course, can be made months ahead: simply steam it for a few hours on Christmas Day till reheated. Make sure any other desserts are simple and don’t require oven space. Cold desserts that can be made ahead and served straight away, like a chocolate mousse or a frozen dessert, are ideal.