Christmas Dinner (preparing in advance)

louise3965 · 10 December 2009 at 3:04PM

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

The meringe will keep in an airtight container (done that with them myself) but I wouldn't put the cream on until the day you want to use it as the cream and fruit sort of dissolve the meringe a bit and will make it soggy.

Was going to do a trifle and a chocolate log, but now you lot have got me wanting pavlova as well lol.

ali x

Yeah I will do a trifle too but fancy a meringue as well! Think I will put mango and passionfruit on it though. Will give it a go but blooming proper airtight boxes are as rare as rocking house sh$t in our house :rotfl:

waddy80 · 10 December 2009 at 9:31PM

On christmas day I will be cooking for 10. I used to work in catering and my record was cooking christmas dinner for 232 (not on christmas day, but still christmas dinner), so really I should be ok! It hasn't stopped me panicing though,

Well so far in the freezer I have:

Pigs in blanket (yellow sticker from tesco 25p a pack!)
Parsnips these were yellow stickered aswell. I blanched these and then stired in a mix of honey, mustard and goosefat. I then froze them on a tray and they are now sitting happily in a couple of chinese containers.
Carrots. Blanched and then frozen.

I'm off next week so I am planning to get everything else done:
Gravy, I'm going to try Jamie olivers recipie which uses chicken wings etc,
Sprouts. Again I will blanche and freeze.
Roasts spuds
Stuffing balls - I will make up packet stuffing (my HM stuffing was not good last time I tried it!)
Mince pies. I have made my own mince meat, and I'm going to make some pies and freeze.
Starter / buffet stuff - Some little tart things from delia's new book which freeze well. Cheese straws etc etc.

However before I do anything else I MUST defrost both of my freezers. I have left them for far too long and I'm sure I could fit so much more in them if I did!

bbsparkles · 10 December 2009 at 10:15PM

I am in the same boat as a lot others and have an 8 to cook for/small oven scenario. I was contemplating what could be prepped in advance and was very pleased to find this thread.

But I was wondering if there would be much difference between veg pre-prepared by me and frozen, and veg (frozen sprouts for example) bought ready frozen from the supermarket? I find that ready frozen veg doesn't have the right texture to me, so I'm wondering if my own home-frozen version will be any better. Does anyone know if home prepped and frozen comes out any better than shop-frozen?

ALIBOBSY · 11 December 2009 at 12:54AM

louise3965 wrote: »

Yeah I will do a trifle too but fancy a meringue as well! Think I will put mango and passionfruit on it though. Will give it a go but blooming proper airtight boxes are as rare as rocking house sh$t in our house :rotfl:

You might get away with just wrapping it in clingfilm or in a "normal" container perhaps.
I think the important bit is to not add the cream and fruit till the last minute.
Have made lemon merange pie and the merange was fine just covered in the fridge for a couple of days.
Maybe the merange just goes a bit chewer?

In fact thinking about it those packs of merange nests in the shops aren't in airtight wrapping so unless they add something extra to make it keep longer may be ok.

Smoother it in whipped cream and fruit and no one will notice anyway lol.

ali x

ALIBOBSY · 11 December 2009 at 12:57AM

bbsparkles wrote: »

I am in the same boat as a lot others and have an 8 to cook for/small oven scenario. I was contemplating what could be prepped in advance and was very pleased to find this thread.

But I was wondering if there would be much difference between veg pre-prepared by me and frozen, and veg (frozen sprouts for example) bought ready frozen from the supermarket? I find that ready frozen veg doesn't have the right texture to me, so I'm wondering if my own home-frozen version will be any better. Does anyone know if home prepped and frozen comes out any better than shop-frozen?

I found my blanched home frozen brocolli and sprouts came out much nicer than the shop bought ones. Perhaps because I only blanched them for a short while and they were only frozen for up to about 6 weeks max?
I them steamed them from frozen.

Rather than freeze everything most of the veg could be done the day before and chilled in the fridge if you prefer. I may end up with so much in the freezer than I end up doing this. Going to have a shuffle of the freezers this weekend to see how much space I really have.

ali x

bbsparkles · 11 December 2009 at 8:56AM

Thanks. I just didn't want to go to all the effort of prepping and freezing only to find that the end result is no better than shop bought. Thanks again, I feel a mammoth cooking session coming on!

Shortie · 11 December 2009 at 11:09AM

Thank you everyone :T

Inspired by reading this thread last night I have this morning cooked my stuffing . in 4 foil pie trays ready for Christmas day (and boxing day... I didn't realise just HOW much stuff was in two Paxo sachets :eek::rotfl:). I know stuffing doesn't take long but it's one less job to worry about and one less bowl to clean up on Christmas day too

I'll also be having a go at the part cooked roasties... I might make and freeze some today to test out recooking over the weekend...

And, for the first time ever, I've decided to use disposable roasting dishes... okay I hate waste but it means there will be no soaking roasting tins to stare at. Plus out kitchen/dining room (they're in the same room) will look less cluttered, much more quickly in prep to sit down and eat without having to stare at the dirty old tins!

:T:j

kippers · 16 December 2009 at 8:12PM

Hope this hasn't been posted before (i'm not very good at using ths search facility).

I was just wondering what 'old style' ways you use to get ahead for christmas dinner. I saw on Jamie Olivers christmas program last night that he makes the gravy a few days before and then just adds the stock to the turkey juices after the Turkey is cooked.

These are some of my ways to get ahead:

1)I always prepare all my veg the day before. I leave the prepared carrots and parsnips in water in the fridge and the peeled potatoes in water in the fridge if they fit. I prepare any brussells, cabbage, swede etc and leave in food bags in the fridge too.

2)If i have a frozen Turkey I always make sure it is defrosted and washed and prepared by christmas eve morning. My sister once had a frozen turkey that she discovered that it had 'gone off' on christmas day and stunk when she went to wash it....at least this way you can always still buy a fresh one on christmas eve.

3)I wash and prepare my Turkey and cover with loose foil and pop in the fridge until morning when it will be ready to take out, leave for half and hour at room temperature before putting in the oven as it is.

4)I always set the christmas day dining table the evening before so it's one less thing to do.

5)I make sure wine is in the fridge the night before and my saucepans are out on the oven to pop my veg into.

I would love to hear if any of you 'oldstylers' have any ways to get ahead for christmas dinner.

purpleivy · 16 December 2009 at 8:20PM

I pray for cold weather over Christmas, as this means that I have extra 'fridge space' i.e. the cellar!!!

If you are trying to get ahead, then veg will sit in any cool space, e.g cellar, garage, porch. Save the fridge for dodgy stuff like meat and don't over pack it, as it means that it can't keep at a good working temperature.

Penelope_Penguin · 16 December 2009 at 8:21PM

kippers wrote: »

Hope this hasn't been posted before (i'm not very good at using ths search facility).

It has

Christmas dinner (preparing in advance). I'll add this thread to that one later to keep ideas together

Penny. x

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Christmas Dinner (preparing in advance)

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