Top 10 Tips
For the perfect 'stress free'
Christmas Dinner

Tip 1

Kill The
Germs

Remember safety first! This is vital to avoid feeling worse for wear on Boxing Day. The last thing you want to do is make yourself and heaven forbid your loved ones ill. Remember the 4 C’s!

1. Cleaning
2. Cooking
3. Chilling
4. Cross-contamination

Clean, clean and more cleaning. Make sure all surfaces you intend to work from are squeaky clean. Use a good quality anti-bacterial spray. Check all your utensils, serving dishes and cloths are spotless. Finally remember to keep them hands clean especially after handling raw meat, this is paramount.

Tip 2

You'll Need
A Fridge

Prepare your fridge before you go shopping. There is nothing worse than having to fight your way in the supermarket and coming home to an already full fridge. Take out anything that doesn’t have to belong in there such as jars, drinks, and vegetables. Chances are our beautiful British winter weather will provide you with a glorious readymade chilled room such as a shed, garage or outhouse. Make use of it and store all the above in there. Trust me it will make life a lot easier and save important space for the stuff that needs to be kept cold. If you need to get the drinks chilled, make use of an ice bath with water and freezer packs or ice from the freezer.

Check your fridge is cold enough. This is something that is always overlooked at home. It’s important that foods you are supposed to keep in a fridge are below °5c. Look online or in store for a fridge thermometer. Knowing your fridge is running its best will keep your foods fresher for longer and save money.

Tip 3

Ice For
The Veg

In at number 3 is my top tip of the day that is guaranteed to save you more time in the kitchen. Get those veggies cooked in advance! Blanching is just a ‘cheffy’ term for cooking something just shy of doneness. Just imagine, the turkey is cooked, potatoes are roasting you have a hundred things on your mind. The sprouts are overcooking into a dull tasteless mess and you haven’t even sorted the gravy. Fear not. In the morning or even the night before, bring a pan of water up to a rolling boil and have a bowl ready filled with iced water. Drop the vegetables into the boiling water and stay with them. Test each vegetable you are cooking to your preferred doneness. Scoop out and pop into the iced water. The iced water halts the cooking process and avoids overcooking.

Continue with the other vegetables until you are finished. Save the water you have cooked the vegetables in for the gravy. Meanwhile drain the vegetables and put straight into a serving dish, cover with cling film and put in the fridge. When it’s time to reheat you have a couple of options. Don’t be embarrassed to make use of the microwave. The water in the vegetables essentially steams the vegetables already in the serving dish that is covered with cling film. Brush on a little butter and season to serve. The other option is to bring a little butter and water to a simmer in a pan and drop in the vegetables. Reheat until hot and season. Why stop here? Part-boil your potatoes and parsnips ready for roasting by blanching those off a little earlier than normal. Again save the water to make tastier gravy. All this will save you valuable time I promise.

Tip 4

Fall In Love
With The Butcher

Make friends with a local butcher. Order your turkey in advance and ask him if you can pick it up the day before or even better on the morning you need to cook it. This saves on valuable room in your fridge. It’s also good to support local businesses so let’s make it a good Christmas for him too.

Tip 5

Don't Bath
The Bird

I beg you PLEASE DO NOT WASH your turkey or any other poultry for that matter. Remember it’s the heat that kills bacteria and not water. All you end up doing is spreading the bacteria around the kitchen in the form of micro droplets of water onto ready-to-eat foods and surfaces causing cross- contamination. If you need to store your turkey in the fridge then put it at the BOTTOM. This again avoids the risk of cross-contamination of drips onto ready-to-eat foods.

Tip 6

All About
Sausage & Legs

How to prepare the turkey? I prefer to take off the legs, stuff them and cook them separately to the breast. Cooking a full bird is far harder to get right. The legs stay juicy as well as the breast meat. I hear you shouting ‘how do I do that, I’m not a chef?’ Remember your new friend the butcher? Ask him kindly to whip off the legs and de-bone them for you. A neat little trick is to ask him for some of his finest sausage meat while you are there, mix in a few dried cranberries, a little fresh sage and pre-cooked onion and put this inside the two de-boned legs. Roll each leg into a sausage shape, wrap tightly in some buttered baking paper and foil and cook. Viola, stuffing and leg meat in one with no bones! This leaves you with a turkey crown of pure meat and no messing about.

Tip 7

Spice Up
Your Stuffing

If you are a fan of the good old traditional sage and onion stuffing then it’s a good idea to cook this separate to the bird. It will cook the bird more easily and evenly. A stuffed turkey will take longer to cook and may not be cooked thoroughly. Remember cooking your turkey at the right temperature and for the correct length of time will ensure that any nasty bacteria are killed. Spice up the Paxo by adding some dried fruits like apricot or apple or what about a nutty stuffing such as hazelnut, pine nuts or chestnuts? The list is endless.

Tip 8

Let's Get
Cooking

Cooking your turkey is a daunting experience. The question most people ask ‘how long’? Let’s look at some suggestions. Always check the recommended cooking times on the packaging. If you don’t have any instructions to work from then here is a general guide, in an oven preheated to 180°c, 350°f or Gas Mark 4. You can:

• allow 45 minutes per kg plus 20 minutes for a turkey that weighs under 4.5kg
• allow 40 minutes per kg for a turkey that’s between 4.5kg and 6.5kg
• allow 35 minutes per kg for a turkey weighing more than 6.5kg

The cooking times above are based on an unstuffed bird. Some ovens, such as fan-assisted ovens, might cook the bird more quickly. Check the guidance on the packaging and the manufacturer’s handbook for your oven if you can.

Cover your turkey with foil during cooking and uncover for the last 30 minutes to brown the skin. To stop the meat drying out, baste it every hour during cooking.

Tip 9

Stab It With
A Probe

If you are not sure the bird is cooked thoroughly temperature probes are great! ‘The juices run clear’ suggestion can sometimes be misleading. A probe is used to check the internal temperature of meat. If you’re using one, you should check the temperature of the thickest part of the bird, between the breast and the thigh. This needs to reach a temperature of 75°c and stays at that for 30 seconds. Remember to wipe the temperature probe clean after each use to avoid cross-contamination!

Tip 10

Put Your
Feet Up

So you are full from the mighty feast and you just want to have a snooze and watch a good film. Don’t relax just yet and remember them leftovers!

Cool any leftovers at room temperature, then cover them and ensure that they go in the fridge or freezer within one-two hours. If you have a lot of one type of food, splitting it into smaller portions will help it to cool quickly. It also means you can freeze and defrost only what you need for future dishes. Always reheat leftovers until steaming hot, bring out the probe again and check if it has reached a temperature of 75°c. If you are in Scotland, the local authorities recommend a temperature of 82°c. Check out recommendations where you live from the food government websites or the local councils website.

Merry Christmas

And
Finally...

I hope I have given you some inspiration for a stress free day in the kitchen. I appreciate the average kitchen at home hasn’t got the resources we have here on the Northern Belle but if you exercise care, good planning and patience you will be rewarded with a more enjoyable time cooking.

Now it’s time to relax. All the planning and hard work has paid off. Pour yourself another drink and enjoy the rest of the festive period.