If you want to cook your Christmas roast as well as our Host with the Most Matthew, the first step is always choosing the best meat. Fortunately, Morrisons has a wide variety of high-quality, 100% British meats courtesy of its skilled Market Street butchers, plus delicious fish and meat-free alternatives that are ideal for wowing your guests on the big day. Not sure which one to choose? Here are the supermarket’s top six centrepieces for 2023, and a few tips for making them even more impressive.
The traditional choice is always the most popular, which is why Morrisons offers whole British turkeys in various sizes, so you can cook it however you like. Slow-cooking is great for getting the most tender, juiciest meat, and you can even crisp up the skin in the oven at the end, if you like. Alternatively, if you’re doing a classic roast, you could easily elevate it with a homemade sage and onion stuffing, a bed of caramelised shallots and some rashers of crispy bacon across the top.
You can’t beat a bit of pork and crackling, and the Market Street Pork Loin Joint from Morrisons is a brilliant way to enjoy it on Christmas Day. If you’ve ever cooked a pork roast before, you’ll know the key to cracking crackling is to cook it at a really high heat for around 30 minutes at the start. If you have time, it also helps to rub a mix of regular table salt and salt flakes into the skin. Do this two hours before cooking, then leave it uncovered in the fridge to draw out all the moisture for an even more satisfying crunch.
Roast beef is always a crowd-pleaser for a Sunday lunch, so why not enjoy it on Christmas Day? The Market Street Beef Roasting Joint from Morrisons is unbelievably easy to prepare – you just need to rub the meat generously with salt and pepper before roasting it. Once it’s cooked, leave it to rest for around 30 minutes before carving it into thin, succulent slices. And don’t forget to reserve the meat juices, so you can use them to make a rich beef gravy.
A proper British Lamb Leg Roast from Morrisons is a great option for impressing your guests, especially when flavoured with garlic and rosemary. Simply make small incisions across the meat, around 5cm deep, and push a small sprig of rosemary and a slice of garlic into each one. Try cooking it until it’s slightly pink in the middle and golden around the edge, then serve with a zingy mint sauce to cut through the fattiness of the lamb.
A true showstopper, choose a whole salmon from Morrisons if you’re looking to mix up your usual Christmas dinner. It tastes delicious simply flavoured with white wine, lemon and fresh herbs, then served on a platter with buttery new potatoes and all your favourite vegetables. If you’re unsure how to prepare a whole fish for cooking, the Morrisons Market Street fishmongers can also fillet and debone your salmon for you in store, so you won’t have to worry about doing it yourself on the day.
Of course, many of us will have vegetarian and vegan guests at our Christmas dinner tables this year, so Morrisons also offers a Plant Revolution No Turkey Roast Crown. Made from wheat, soy and pea protein, it comes topped with a flavour-packed parsley and sage melt and a crunchy horseradish and herb crumb. Not only is it ready to cook without any prep, but it tastes so good that even the meat-eaters will want to try some. And there’s plenty more where that came from, as Morrisons has lots of other meat-free options available in-store and online.
Charlie’s husband Matthew works offshore, so he can’t always spend Christmas with his family. But he loves cooking Christmas dinner and is well known for his delicious centrepieces.
“One time, he cooked the turkeys for our family of 15 on his barbecue on Christmas morning!”