Does the thought of being prepared for Christmas Day dinner – and getting all the timings right – fill you with fear? Worry not, chef Charlie Hibbert explains how he’ll be doing it…
I think that people overcomplicate Christmas lunch and often what happens is that you become so frantic about getting everything ready on time that you end up spending your whole day in the kitchen, missing out on all the fun. I spend Christmas lunch with my wife and daughter, parents, siblings and endless dogs and high jinks are always top of the agenda.
My tip is less is definitely more. Don’t do 15 types of vegetables and ditch your starters – just have ‘nibbles’ with pre-lunch drinks. Remember too, that pre-making the pudding means little time spent on it on the day. Also, put someone in charge of drinks and have someone with you in the kitchen helping. Stick to what you know and it can’t go wrong!
I’ll be doing smoked mackerel paté with warm crusty bread for nibbles; roast goose with roasties, cranberry sauce, a gratin and Brussels, plus Granny Bertioli’s Christmas pudding and Grandma Hibbert’s brandy butter. Any more effort than this on the food and your day will feel like a double shift in a restaurant.
Assuming you’ll have lunch around 4pm, here’s how I’d do it…
OCTOBER
• Make your Christmas pudding (and cake if you’re having one) and then you can forget about it until Christmas Day.
BEGINNING OF DECEMBER
• Work out what you need by when and write your shopping and to do lists and a timetable for the day. Plus, do all your food and drinks orders.
23 DECEMBER (or thereabouts)
• Make the brandy butter and bread sauce – both will last well in the fridge until the day.
• Order in some chicken wings for gravy. The better quality they are (preferably free range), the better tasting the gravy will be. Roast them and any goose trimmings at around 180°C/Fan 160°C/ Gas 4 with some roughly chopped carrots, onions, celery and any other spare root veg for around an hour, until everything is caramelised. Put everything into a large pan and cover with cold water, a couple of bay leaves and handful of peppercorns. Deglaze the roasting pan and pour the juices into the pan. Simmer for an hour, squishing everything with a potato masher a few times during the process. When your stock tastes delicious, sieve and keep it in the fridge until Christmas Day.
CHRISTMAS EVE
• Make your smok
