If you’re anything like our Host with the Most Harry, you’ll know how helpful it can be to get all the Christmas dinner prep done in advance. After all, no one wants to spend Christmas morning chopping veg, stressing about cooking times or battling to fit all the food in the oven. That’s why Morrisons has put together a few tips to help you host a seamless dinner, leaving you with plenty of free time to spend with the people you love.
When planning your Christmas menu, don’t forget to consider how much room you have in your oven. Whether you’ve opted for a whole British turkey or any of the other meat, fish or vegan alternatives from Morrisons, you’ll soon realise that any festive centrepiece requires plenty of cooking space. The good news is your meat will stay warm for a surprisingly long time if you cover it with foil and a heavy kitchen towel, so you can always cook it a bit earlier and leave it to rest until you need it.
Plus, it’s worth remembering that you don’t have to roast everything. When it comes to your trimmings, you could save lots of space in your oven by sautéing your sprouts, air-frying your potatoes or slow-cooking your red cabbage, for instance.
Whatever your plans on Christmas Eve, make sure you set aside at least an hour or two for peeling and chopping your vegetables. From carrots, parsnips and potatoes to cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, Morrisons offers a huge variety of fresh British produce which can all easily be prepped the night before. You might even have some little helpers who can join you in the kitchen to speed things up.
Christmas Eve is also the best time to prep your turkey, whether you’re stuffing it, dry-brining it by rubbing salt into the skin or soaking it in a wet brine with your choice of seasonings. For some extra peace of mind, you could also write out some rough timings for the big day, so you know exactly what you’re making and how long each dish will take to cook.
Did you know you can prep some parts of your Christmas dinner weeks in advance? Simply pick up your vegetables, stuffing and sauces from Morrisons at the start of December, then prep them all so they’re ready to be cooked and stash them in your freezer. This is particularly helpful if you have Christmas Eve plans, as you’ll only have to defrost them the night before, instead of chopping everything from scratch.
If you want to be really organised, you could also pre-cook some dishes ahead of time and cook them from frozen on the day. Pre-cooked roast potatoes are always great to have in the freezer, as you can just throw them straight into the oven, instead of chopping and parboiling from scratch.
Claire’s six-year-old son Harry loves to help out in the kitchen when she’s doing her Christmas Eve prep.
“He also measures all the ingredients for the Yorkshire puddings and loves watching how high they rise in the oven. He’s my perfect little Christmas helper.”