1st time cooking christmas dinner

Orla K

I think I need help with timing the dinner. What has me nervous is my father said he would come over early and 'help'. I'm hoping my brothers and the present I got him will distract enough so he doesn't get in the way. What I'm planning on cooking is All the normal things veg, roast and mashed spuds, gravy, stuffing(outside the turkey), turkey, ham (par boiled then glazed and roast). I wouldn't be able to tell you what size the turkey and ham are but it's for six.

I can get bossy when I'm cooking, that won't go down well christmas day and if my father's in the kitchen as well as me being bossy, he'll be giving out and I'll be getting stressed. I need clear laid out plans so I can tell him I have everything undercontrol and so I don't forget anything.

As for the rest of the meal they'll be simple smoked salmon, sherry triffle(with half a bottle of sherry) and pudding. All I have to do there is dish them out and heat up the custard(which I might get my brother to do since he's the one who wants the custard)

antoniosicily

be the only person in the kitchen; in Italy we don't allow more than two people in the kitchen because people start chatting and disturbing who's cooking.

rockbeer

I'm no expert but it seems to me you've got to figure out how big that turkey is and make sure you give it long enough. Nothing else is critical, but get that wrong and you could be hours late. The alternative is killing people if you don't cook it properly. Start with the timing for that then plan everything else around it.

Alun

Get as much as humanely possible prepared the night before, or at the latest, very early on Christmas day to minimize the amount of 'helping' he can do

olaola

Get him in the night before peeling & chopping all the veg

Minder

Since the turkey can rest for up to 40 minutes under a foil covering, having the bird ready in time is your guide - you don't want greens and other veg sitting waiting for the bird to be done. Cooking times per pound or 500g vary depending on the weight of the bird - if you don't have a guide, shout and someone will post one - but find out the weight of the bird first.

Unless it is a monster, you will most likely have time to prep all the veg in the morning, then put the bird on. That will give you a couple of hours of less stressed kitchen pottering with sauces and courses before turning the heat up and bringing it all together.

One tip, if you have space, warm your plates before dishing up the food - it greatly helps with keeping everything warm.

cozmik

"Aim to prioritise on the night before and try to prep as much as you can in advance," Tom says. "Peel the potatoes and as many of the vegetables as possible and leave them covered in water. The trick is to leave the turkey out of the fridge overnight as this gives the meat a chance to relax and come to room temperature. Keeping the bird at room temperature cuts the cooking time and keeps the meat moist. A common mistake is to over-cook the turkey,"

Apparently, the national average time people cook their turkey is six hours, but Tom assures it really only needs to roast for half that time.

"I recommend that you cook it for 30 minutes per kilo. Start it cooking for the first half hour at 180C and then lower it to 170C for the remainder of the time.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article3051215.ece

Dave!

Does nobody else cook the bird the night before? My ma has always cooked it on Christmas eve (all bloody day), and then pretty much just carve and heat the next day. This leads to much picking at it prior to dinner time The kitchen is mad enough with all the veg, spuds, trifle, ham, and other craziness -- I can only imagine the pandomonium if the turkey had to be timed for then as well! :eek:

el dude

Will be my first Dinner too.

I'm going to be doing a roast beef, and a turkey. But both aren't going to fit in the oven. So what's the best way to go about doing things? Turkey the night before, reheat the next day?

CombatCow

OP check out this thread in the christmas forum....


[Advice] How should I cook my turkey for Christmas? Neven Maguire tells Boards.ie members

As olaola says, get him to peel some spuds or chop veg, then sit him infront of the tv with a whisky

CC

Orla K

CombatCow wrote: »

OP check out this thread in the christmas forum....


[Advice] How should I cook my turkey for Christmas? Neven Maguire tells Boards.ie members

As olaola says, get him to peel some spuds or chop veg, then sit him infront of the tv with a whisky

CC

This is a thead from last year. The dinner has been cooked and eaten. It turned out quite well and it was easy (can't figure out why people make a fuss)

CombatCow

Haha jasus, didnt notice that at all Least you have the experience now...

Orla K

I'm not cooking it this year. Only doing the ham because it was so good last time and Teresa doesn't have enough room in the oven.

The Black Oil

Dave! wrote: »

Does nobody else cook the bird the night before? My ma has always cooked it on Christmas eve (all bloody day), and then pretty much just carve and heat the next day. This leads to much picking at it prior to dinner time The kitchen is mad enough with all the veg, spuds, trifle, ham, and other craziness -- I can only imagine the pandomonium if the turkey had to be timed for then as well! :eek:

Yeah, we cook on the 24th..the whole thing takes so long and you end up exhausted. Better to get the show on the road rather than slaving over it on the 25th. Not sure what we're doing this year as we won't all be together as usual.

the beer revolu

I poached the turkey a la Richard Corrigan last year and it came out beautifully moist but cooked.

http://www.rte.ie/food/2008/1216/poachedturkey.html