Don't you just hate leaving all that cooking until the last minute? I would far rather be with my family watching the kids open their presents, especially on Christmas Day instead of on my own slaving away in the kitchen away from all the fun.
So I thought you might like my top time saving cooking tips.
You can make your stuffing well before Christmas day and freeze it up to 6 months in advance. The same goes for the "pigs in blankets" - chipolata sausages wrapped in bacon. Just defrost the night before in the fridge, or if you want to stuff the turkey at the neck end, defrost the stuffing on the 23rd December, stuff the neck of the bird on Christmas eve and then pop in the fridge all ready to cook the next day.
I like to thread my sausages onto long barbeque skewers, wooden or metal, it doesn't matter. Then, when you want to cook them, just place on top of the bird or on top of your tin of roasting potatoes, cook on one side until browned then flip over the whole skewer to cook on the other side - really simple and saves space in the oven (also gives extra flavour to whatever is cooking underneath)
Vegetables
Don't leave cooking your vegetables until the last minute. Cook in the morning or even the night before until nearly done, drain, plunge into ice cold water and then place in a serving dish, cover with cling film and refridgerate until needed. When time to serve, just pop the dish in the microwave until piping hot, season with a little salt and pepper and top with a knob of butter if desired and you are ready to go.
I do, however cook my potatoes and parsnips for roasting on the actual day, but I peel them the night before and place in a bowl covered with cold water.
Gravy
Stock for the gravy can be made up to 2 days in advance, get the giblets out of the bird, rinse and place in a saucepan with an onion studded with a couple of cloves, 3 - 4 peppercorns, a few stalks of parsley, celery stick, carrot and a bay leaf. Cover with cold water, bring to the boil, skim any foam off the top and cook for about 1 1/2 hours, leave to cool, strain and put in a jug in the fridge ready to add to the roasting tin that the turkey has been in.
Salmon Blinis
Instead of giving people a first course, I like to serve something simple such as salmon with blinis, you can make them first thing in the morning and then hand them out with an apperitif before the main meal.
Mince Pies
Similarly you can make ahead and freeze your mince pies, I prefer to cook them before freezing but you don't have to, you can easily cook from frozen. If you cook before freezing, just take out the amount of pies you need, defrost for a couple of hours, warm in the oven and sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.
I also save time by not giving my mince pies a pastry lid, instead I use a streusel topping recipe I found from Mary Berry at Home,
it is so easy to make and you just sprinkle it onto the pies, whether they are individual or a large (and of course you can do this with any sort of sweet filling),the advantage of using this streusel topping is there is no rolling and cutting out of the pastry and if there is any left over you simply put it in a container and freeze, when you need it just take out and sprinkle the frozen mix onto the pies and cook.
I hope you give at least one of these tips a go and make your Holiday a relaxing and enjoyable occasion.
What are your tips for saving time at Christmas? I would love to hear them.
More Cooking Tips
Great Salmon Recipes Home
Have A Great Cooking Tip?
Do you have a great cooking tip? It doesn't have to be about fish, it can be about any type of food or maybe you have a great time saving idea? Just send it in and it will appear on our website.
