There’s a lot of pressure to get everything right at Christmas, especially when it comes to the food you put on the table. Su Carroll talked to top chefs in Cornwall to get some expert advice…
One thing we don’t want on Christmas Day is to be stuck in the kitchen, sweating over a hot turkey. It’s fraught with danger – too much to cook at the same time, high expectations of a special meal, lots of extra guests and the distraction of present opening. It’s enough to have you reaching for the cooking sherry.
Rose, 35, worked in a few professional kitchens before moving back home to Cornwall. As a child she was always cooking for her busy family – dad was Playschool presenter Brian Cant and mum was screenwriter Cherry Britton, daughter of actor Tony and sister of TV presenter and author Fern.
‘My dad had a heart bypass when I was 11 or 12 and I wanted to cook nice things for him that were healthy,’ explains the mum of two. Food was at the heart of Christmas for the Cant family and Rose has been in the kitchen on the big day since her teens. It’s the small things that make a difference, she says.
‘People get so worried about Christmas dinner. It’s just a roast with some embellishment. I like to put some fruit into the stuffing – I love roast grapes with some salt, pepper and balsamic. Or Yorkshire puddings with Brie and cranberry.
‘I start getting ready in the autumn – making breadcrumbs for the freezer, freezing cheese sauces, gravy. You can get stuff together without breaking the bank. I make all the little trimmings that are such a faff in advance – cheesy leeks, cranberry sauce, sausage rolls and a Mac and Cheese for Christmas Eve. On the day I put butter under the skin of the turkey and sit it on veg with a whole bottle of wine and wrap it tightly with foil. You are practically steaming it.
‘Leftovers are wonderful – pies and soups and something we make in my family called hodge podge which is leftovers mashed down and served with gravy.’
‘Until I was seven, we always had Christmases with my mum’s dad, and it was traditionally British. He died when I was six-and-a-half and we started to have Christmas on our own, just the four of us. We experimented over the years with different meats but now I’ve come back to a traditional turkey. I love to have cauliflower cheese, roast carrots with cumin seeds and honey, fresh turmeric root – just chuck it in with carrots. You can add a little of acid here and there – lemon or red wine vinegar.’
‘I have four children between seven and 13 so we have a big walk on Christmas morning then it’s back for turkey and all the trimmings – brussels sprouts with bacon, parsnips and Delia Smith’s Christmas cake. Have a plan and do what you can in advance, then it’s almost just a question of assembly on the day. We are lucky in that our table is in the kitchen, so nobody is missing out. Write down your itinerary and timings and set timers.’
‘I’m one of five and at Christmas there would be around 30 people there. The more the merrier,’ he says. ‘Being Catholic we’d go to midnight mass and my mum would make little canapes – cocktail sausages, sausage rolls, chicken satay. Christmas dinner would be roast but we’d have a buffet of salads, barbecue food, oysters and a huge platter of watermelon and pineapple.’
Family Christmases in the UK, where his son Joe was born, became more traditional.
‘We start with champagne or Bucks Fizz with blinis,’ says Jude. ‘For a traditional Christmas we’re talking pigs in blankets and bread sauce. I love bread sauce and I’ll have it with all birds. I infuse it with spices and a studded onion.
‘On Christmas Day we will have a salad starter, a warming soup, then the turkey. I always brine the turkey because it keeps it moist and it’s more forgiving. I put a sage and garlic butter under the skin and I take off the legs and debone them with an apricot, sausagemeat and sage stuffing. Pudding is sticky toffee pudding with a miso caramel sauce.
‘You can do so much in advance, even two or three days for fresh stuff. Professional chefs are always prepping way in advance.’
‘I like looking after people,’ he says. ‘I’ve never missed Christmas Day at work, with my work family. We will have a big staff breakfast with Mimosas and a Secret Santa at The Tartan Fox where we are doing three courses with snacks, and we’ve put a grotto in the barn with all you can eat and drink Port and cheese.’
The key is organisation, says Adam, 36. ‘Do everything the day before with the exception of your protein. Brine your turkey beforehand, take the legs off and don’t overcook it. Invest in a thermometer and take it out when it reaches 64C – when you rest it, it will go up to 80C because it carries on cooking.’
The ultimate dessert, says Adam, is trifle… ‘We always eat it with a steak knife and spoon!,’ he laughs. ‘One Christmas my mum made the custard with too much powder and it was solid as a rock. We had to slice it so we use knives every year.’
Plan ahead. Get a notebook and write lists - what you plan to eat and when over all the days of the festive season. Make a timetable for the day, back timing from when you want everyone to sit down. Try and cook everything at the same temperature. You can leave a cooked turkey to rest while you roast all your veg. Write shopping lists that cover bits and bobs you can buy ahead of time like cheese biscuits and dry goods all the way up to a list of fresh foods for the days before Christmas.
Your freezer is your friend – for stocks and gravies, homemade pigs in blankets (which kids love to make), quick puddings and sauces. Rose Cant blitzes bits of leftover bread (which can be stale) weeks in advance and puts it in her freezer in a bag for stuffings and gratin toppings. Put veg trimmings in a bag too – perfect for stock.
Don’t refuse any offers of help! Veg can be prepped the day before, and after Christmas Eve dinner you can lay the table for the following day so that it looks pretty and festive.
Love your leftovers! The website lovefoodhatewaste.com is packed with tips and ideas. Think about portion control before you start to avoid excessive waste. But if there are leftovers, there are lots of recipes to inspire you – turkey and cranberry pasties anyone? Remember to cool food quickly and store properly. Don’t sit staring at the turkey carcass – pick all the meat off after dinner then it’s ready for use, or can be frozen.
