Your Step By Step Guide & Recipes For A Stress Free Christmas Dinner

Christmas is always a big tradition in the Gorman household. It’s really all centred around the kids. After santa, we usually have pancakes with blueberries, mascarpone and wild honey. This pretty much leads us right up to mid morning and then prep for Christmas lunch begins.

The key to Christmas lunch, or dinner if you prefer to eat later, is preparation. Don’t panic if things start to slip away from your time plan. My Christmas day check list and easy recipes help you serve up a feast fit for a king without too much stress.

On the menu I have roast turkey crown with boned and stuffed legs, duck fat and rosemary roasties, lemon and pancetta Brussels sprouts, homemade cranberry and redcurrant sauce, and finally, slow cooked red cabbage with star anise and apples. 

Your Christmas Dinner Check List

Christmas Eve

• Peel potatoes.
• Peel and trim sprouts.
• Make the stuffing.
• Stuff turkey legs.
• Prepare and wrap turkey.
• Prepare cranberry and red currant sauce – 15 minute job!

Christmas Day 

For a christmas lunch…

• 11am preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade or gas 6.
• 11:30 place wrapped turkey crown in the oven.
• 12pm place stuffed turkey legs in the oven.
• 12:20pm begin the slow cooked red cabbage with red onion and star anise.
• 3pm start the roast potatoes.
• 3:30pm remove turkey from oven and leave to rest.
• 3:30pm cook off the lemon and pancetta Brussels sprouts.

Q Cafe Company Top Tip – As all the elements of your Christmas dinner begin to come together don’t panic! Turn your oven down to 70 degrees centigrade and use it as a warming cabinet.

Recipes for Christmas Eve 

Roast Turkey Crown with Boned and Stuffed Legs

Turkey Prep

• 1 large oven ready turkey – Ask your butcher to remove the legs and debone.
• Melt 400g of butter.
• Add 3 chopped springs of thyme, 3 lemons zest and juice, cracked black pepper and sea salt.
• Steep a muslin cloth in the butter mixture for 1 hour.
• Then wrap the crown of turkey with the muslin cloth.
• Place the bird in the fridge ready to cook on christmas day:
• Place the bird in the fridge ready to cook on christmas day!
• Don’t worry if the muslin cloth begins to become very dark whilst in the oven. Your turkey should remain moist and delicious underneath.

Stuffing Prep

Ingredients

• 500g fresh breadcrumbs
• 200g butter
• 4 diced shallots
• 150g dried cranberries, chopped
• 150g roast pine nuts
• 80g chopped parsley
• 80g chopped rosemary
• 3tbsp dijon mustard
• 2tbsp honey

Method

• Melt butter, saute shallots and rosemary.
• Add mustard, honey and breadcrumbs.
• Finish with roast pine nuts, parsley and seasoning.

Turkey Legs Prep

• Lay boned turkey legs flat out on the table, skin side down.
• Place a line of stuffing along the middle and fold over neatly into a cylindrical shape.
• Wrap stuffed leg in parchment paper, twisting the side of the parchment. Follow with a second layer using tin foil. This will keep your stuffed turkey leg in a cylindrical shape. It will also prevent the stuffing from leaking.
• Placed stuffed legs in the fridge and cook on Christmas day:
  • Roast in the oven for approx. 2 hours.
  • When ready, remove from tin foil and parchment paper.
  • Brush the turkey leg with some melted butter and place back in the oven for 10-15 mins. This will allow it to colour and crisp up.
  • Leave to rest 20-30 minutes and then slice.

Cranberry and Red Current Sauce

Ingredients

• 400g dried cranberries
• 200g redcurrants
• 80g muscovado sugar
• 200lm water
• 1/2 lemon juiced

Method

• Add all ingredients into a saucepan and reduce on a medium to low heat for approx. 15 minutes until ingredients come together in a jam-like consistency.

Recipes for Christmas Day

Lemon and Pancetta Brussles Sprouts

• Trim and cut sprouts lengthways.
• Heat a little olive oil in the pan.
• Caramelise the sprouts by placing them face down on the pan for approx. 5 mins on each side.
• Separately, crisp up the diced pancetta, adding butter and lemon zest. Finish with some chopped tarragon.
• Toss everything together and serve.

Duck Fat and Rosemary Roasties

• Par boil medium potatoes (peeled and halved) for 6-8 minutes. Drain well and leave to dry.
• Heat some duck fat in a roasting pan.
• Add the potatoes to the roasting pan.
• Shake the potatoes around the roasting dish to roughen up the edges. This will give them a nice crispy surface when cooked.
• Cook for 30-40 minutes until crispy.
• Season well with sea salt and freshly chopped rosemary.

Slow Cooked Red Cabbage with Star Anise and Apples

Ingredients

• 20g butter
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 red cabbage, cored and shredded
• 3 shallots, diced
• 2 pink lady apples, diced
• 70g brown sugar
• 50g raisins
• 100ml red wine
• 40ml red wine vinegar
• 2 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Sea salt, cracked black pepper

Method

• Heat the butter and oil in a saucepan over a medium heat.
• Add the cabbage and shallots
• Sauté for five minutes until soft.
• Add the remaining ingredients and season well.
• Cover with a lid and cook over a low heat for 2-3 hours.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all at The Q Cafe Company! 

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