Christmas day should be spent relaxing, enjoying company and enjoying food – and that shouldn’t be any different if you’re the one cooking.
But the pressure of cooking a perfect Christmas dinner for your family can prove incredibly stressful.
Dry turkey, soft roast potatoes, bland gravy and boring veg can diminish the time and effort spent in the kitchen on Christmas morning and ruin the rest of the day.
So why not take all the pressure off yourself and follow these simple recipes courtesy of some of the country’s best chefs?
Turkey & gravy – Gordon Ramsey‘s roasted turkey
The two game-changers. The mark of a good Christmas dinner is a beautifully cooked turkey and a flavoursome gravy, so who better to trust than Gordon Ramsey?
In this recipe, the Hell’s Kitchen host stuffs and bastes his turkey with a lemon, parsley and garlic butter, before layering on some bacon to protect the bird and start flavouring the base for the gravy.
There are instructions on cooking time for your turkey based on weight, including a 20-minute blast at high-heat for colour and a long-rest to get the turkey moist and tender.
Then, as the turkey sits, he uses the cooking juices, the bacon, bits of the meat and the roasted veg plus a host of other ingredients to create the perfect gravy to compliment the meat.
Roast potatoes – Jamie Oliver’s perfect roast potatoes
Next up, for the king of side dishes, we go to the king of Christmas cooking: Jamie Oliver.
The channel 4 chef has been mastering the art of the roast potato for years and this video provides a step-by-step process with some genius tips to maximise crunch along the way.
Start by par boiling the potatoes to soften the edges before ‘chuffing’ them up to create those crunchy edges.
Along the way there’s some top-tips including using a potato masher, adding herbs half-way through and even using a little vinegar.
They all add up to make the crunchiest, fluffiest, perfect roast potatoes.
Vegetable #1 – Jamie’s ‘brussels in a hustle‘
Jamie Oliver’s second appearance in the perfect Christmas dinner comes courtesy of This Morning and his delicious and simple ‘Brussels in a Hustle’ recipe.
Gone are the days of boiled, bland sprouts that no one really likes. Jamie’s quick and easy recipe packs flavour – a food processor helps massively but isn’t essential.
He fries shredded butter, oil, shredded onion and sage before chucking in the finely shredded sprouts and frying for just a few minutes.
The difference maker is Worcestershire sauce; a lot of it.
This can even be done the day before and reheated in a frying pan 10 minutes before you serve.
Vegetable #2 – Waitrose’s honey glazed carrots & parsnips
Perfect for sprout lovers or haters, as an addition or an alternative, this roasted root veg dish courtesy of Waitrose is a beautifully festive option.
And it’s so simple: just peel and slice your carrots and parsnips, mix together some wholegrain mustard, loads of honey and a little olive oil then drizzle that over the veg and chuck it in the oven.
Leftovers – John Torode’s festive toasties
The Masterchef judge’s leftover recipes are perfect for a lazy Boxing day and make use of all the leftovers you’re likely to have at your disposal.
There’s a pigs in blankets and stuffing toastie with cranberry sauce, a ham and turkey rarebit toastie and even a desert toastie with apple and mince pie filling and custard on the side.
This clip isn’t just for the recipes either, it’s full of general toastie tips and multiple ways of cooking them.
Cocktails – Twisted Bar’s 9 Christmas party cocktails
And of course, there’s always scope for a few good festive cocktails, so the guys at Twisted Bar have been so kind as to create nine cocktails in one video.
There’s a cranberry mimosa, prosecco punch, blood orange negroni and a coffee old fashioned.
There really is something for everyone and they have look delicious.
