Help! Christmas dinner for mother in law!!!

Lmnover

Hi
i have just found out that i am cooking my first Christmas dinner which will be for 8 people including my mother in law who is an amazing cook! I have never cooked a chicken before never mind a turkey. I really want to make this special (and eadiable) is there a set of instructions for what to buy, how to cook etc....
havent a clue what to cook as starters or dessert and dont want to buy something pre made. any advice would be massively appreciated!!!!!

biko

First of all, keep it simple! Don't try to impress by doing lots of things at once.
Do a turkey with filling and potatoes. Peas/carrots from bags or tins heated. Stuffing can be made a few days beforehand, some people prefer it then.
Get quality gravy. Gravy is your friend

Keep the starter and dessert cold. This will ease the pressure and you can make them earlier in the day. Maybe just some hot sauce on the dessert that you can microwave ready.

As long as it's edible she'll love it, I'm sure.

A guide from the Mirror with times

Ellechim

I would say that you can't really beat Delia Smith's instructions - she even has the timing of what to do when in her Xmas cooking cookbook.

Keep it very simple: the following I think is really effective:

Starter: Good smoked Salmon on buttered brown bread with plenty of slices of lemon - if you want to get fancy you can snip a few chives or dill over them. you can arrange a platter in advance - cut the bread into triangles and arrange them around the edge of a large plate and then get some ready sliced smoked salmon and roll and arrange in the centre. You simply put it in the centre of the table and everyone helps themselves.

Main: Turkey with sage and onion stuffing, brussel sprouts, roast potatoes, and if you want to push out the boat I also serve carrot and parsnip which has been steamed, then mashed together with butter/salt/pepper. Gravy is essential. Delia has recipes for all of these.

If you are not used to making roast spuds or gravy have a go now over the next few weeks and if you really aren't getting anywhere with it then the ready made stuff in Marks & Spencer is fantastic - you can easily put it into your own baking tray, etc and serve as your own, just hide the wrappers!

As for dessert: christmas pudding (again Delia's recipe) and I usually also make a trifle. Follow Delia's pudding recipe: it is basically weighing ingredients, putting in a bowl, mixing and then steaming. For the trifle: each family has their own recipe, here's mine: take some trifle sponges, split and make sandwiches with some raspberry or strawberry jam. Place in a trifle dish. Take a tin of fruit cocktail and strain out the juice from the fruit - scatter the fruit over/between the sponges. Get 1 or 2 fruit jellies (depending on the size of your dish) and make up following the instructions on the pack, however, substitute the cold water for the strained juice and add a good slosh of booze (sherry or whisky) to it. Pour the jelly liquid over the sponges and leave overnight to set. If you want to push out the boat you could then put a layer of custard (M&S readymade) over the top and sprinkle the top with a crumbled flake. Serve with whipped cream.

I am making Xmas lunch for my in-laws too this year. Rememver, if you sprinkle chopped parsley over most things it looks much better! However I can't recommend Delia's Xmas book highly enough. BTW, there is also a recipe in there for a chocolate torte - I have made it in the past using the best dark chocolate I could lay my hands on and people are still talking abotu it and it is mega mega easy - you don't even have to line the cake tin with paper, just use cling film....

Best of luck! try not to panic - you have time to try some of the recipes in advance before then.

The other thing with mother in laws is that they do have tons of experinece in these things so it may well be a way to build a bond with her to ask for help....

Doug Cartel

Try cooking a chicken between now and then. Roasts are actually pretty easy once you get used to the procedure. The main way people go wrong is that they'll have one thing ready and another not cooked at all. Make sure you know how long everything will take to cook, make a plan and stick to it. Look up some recipes on the internet, but remember to keep it basic. Just concentrate on getting the meat and spuds right, and everyone will be happy. Oh yeah, one other thing. If you get a frozen turkey, don't forget it will take ages to defrost, so get it out of the freezer in plenty of time.

olaola

And remember - you can cook the turkey early. And just let it sit on the counter under tin foil for at least an hour, so you're not rushing to get it out of the oven.

Have your ham boiled the night before and put the glaze on early in the morning. So you can just chuck it in the oven when you need it.

Prep all the veg the night before.

Make the stuffing the night before too, but don't put the onion in until you're about to stuff the turkey.

Keep the fat & water from all your veg/meats for your gravy.

Clean as you go! I know it's a pain, but when everything is neat, you don't seem in such a tizzy! (Or get someone to do this for you)

IcedJade

Have a look on Marks and Spencers online. You can order almost everything you need. Just cook it to instructions. You can have it delivered too.

Eoineo

It's all in the preparation.
Here's my timetable for Christmas Eve/Day and maybe it might help you?

Christmas Eve
Peel spuds & put a piece of coal in the pot of cold water with the spuds - stops them going black believe it or not
Peel & baton carrots into another pot of cold water.
Peel & cross the sprouts - no need to soak.
Boil the ham either in plain water with a spoon of wholegrain mustard or in Coke.
Boil up the giblets (make sure to get the neck) with a carrot, onion studded with a clove or 2, bay leaf & some celery. Strain after about 2 hours and leave to cool. You use this for your gravy the following day.

Christmas Morning
Make the stuffing. Saute onions in a good hunk of butter then stir in breadcrumbs with as many fresh herbs as you like - parsley is a must imho, grate the rind of a lemon in as well if you're a lemon lover. Salt and pepper to taste.
Either stuff the turkey or leave to one side to cook in the oven later.
Turkey into the oven.
An hour before dinner take the turkey out. Warm the stock from the day before. Stick your veg on the boil. Put the roasting juices into a saucepan, add flour - cook out the flour. Once the flour is cooked through add the stock bit by bit until you get the consistency you want. Salt and pepper to taste.

Suggested cold starters:
Smoked salmon on brown bread
Melon
Half grapefruit with demerara sugar on top & bang it under the grill for a minute to get it warm.

My best quick and simple desert is to buy some frozen Vol Au Vent cases. Stick them in the oven when you start to eat, grab them out when they are cooked. Buy a carton of M&S winter fruit compote & heat in the microwave. Fill the vol au vent cases with whipped cream - add brandy & icing sugar for a christmas twist. Spoon the warm compote over and serve.

Best of luck!

boodlesdoodles

I have to agree with previous poster that Delia is queen when it comes to Christmas recipes. There are usually a load of Christmas cookery programmes on various channels between now and the big event.

My advice would be firstly to do as much as you can on Christmas Eve.

- Soak your ham night before Christmas eve and change the water a couple of times. Then cook it Christmas Eve and that means boiling it and baking it. I smother the boiled ham in a blend of English, Dijon & wholegrain mustards and honey. I then sprinkle on very finely crushed Marietta or Rich Tea biscuits (family trad). Don't wait until Christmas day to roast it, the oven will be full enough.

- Get your spuds ready, peel and halve or quarter them and let them soak overnight in water ready for roasting.

- Get your veg done. Either just do the prep on them or par cook them ready to be finished off with the main meal.

- Get your stuffings done

The more you do the night before the more relaxed the day will be. I can't recommend Delia enough and she has a new updated version of her original Christmas cookery book out. She's easy to follow and when I started cooking she was my bible so much so my book is stained and full of crumbs