When it comes to turkey and all the trimmings, our main concerns are whether there’s enough oven space for everything, and will we get food on the table before everyone is slightly sozzled and has started on the Quality Street.
But either because of or in spite of the challenges of this year, Christmas dinner deserves to be super-special. This is not – at this late stage – a guide to starting from scratch by trying to track down a rare organic Kelly Bronze turkey or sourcing an obscure Mexican ingredient. But there are plenty of professional tips and tricks to elevating your festive food to another level – which will excite your family’s taste buds and make life more fun and interesting for whoever is in the kitchen.
From Meedu Saad’s secret for sprout tops to livening up the accompanying vegetables in a way that cuts down cooking time to how to make your mince pies unmissable, read on…
Ravinder Bhogal’s zingy Christmas vegetables
To switch up my Christmas Day veg, I make a roasted vegetable salad with all the gorgeous seasonal veg – parsnips, beets, carrots, sprouts etc, and then I add chestnuts and panettone croutons. Pop all of the ingredients on a baking tray and pour over sage-and-garlic infused butter and parmesan, and then roast it. I then add these to salad leaves for a Christmassy take on panzanella. It’s a great way to give a refreshing edge to your Christmas dinner, plus it uses up any leftover panettone, which I seem to have in abundance over the Christmas period.
Ravinder Bhogal is the chef-patron of Jikoni, London W1
Johnnie Crowe’s way with giblets
I like to take the giblets of the goose and mince them into faggots to have alongside the bird. Mince all the liver, heart and gizzard and add browned onions, mace, nutmeg, minced bacon, prunes and sausage meat. Roll into little golfball-sized globes and stuff into the goose’s neck. They’re a delicious variation on pigs in blankets and use up the bits most people throw away!
Johnnie Crowe is executive head chef at Nest, Hackney and FENN, Fulham
Meedu Saad’s tip for sprout tops
Sprout tops are a great change to a Christmas classic! I stir fry them until they are slightly charred, and then finish with thinly sliced ginger, garlic, a pinch of sugar, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and toasted sesame seeds.
Meedu Saad is head chef at Kiln in London
Gary Lee’s speedy turkey tips
By removing the bones from the legs and taking them off the turkey to cook separately you’ll reduce your cooking time by a third. I always like to stuff and roll the legs too. This is perfect for anyone who’s not confident at carving or for smaller groups to save any food waste. Most butchers will be able to sell you just the legs so you don’t need to buy the whole bird.
Gary Lee is executive head chef of Joe Allen in London
