Saturday, 29 May 2021

Christmas Dinner in June – Decide on your menu

Okey dokey, what follows is a template showing what I'll be serving, as is usual the world is your lobster, mine is meant to be a guide and hopefully jog your memory too for your own family favourites :


*Roast potatoes

*Roast parsnips – available all year

*Lemon glazed roasted carrots


*these three veggies can be prepped and part

roasted ahead so that you've, say, 30 minutes or so

to finish on the day


**Cauliflower cheese


**Chestnut and Apple Roast


**these two dishes can be either made ahead

and frozen or, as above, part cooked, leaving a finish

time of 30 minutes


Petit pois


Redcurrant jelly – available all year and

much nicer than Cranberry Sauce – no bits!


Yorkshire Puddings – prep your batter

the day before and fridge – take it out to allow

to come to room temperature 2 hours before required


Gallons of gravy


I've got crunch, sweetness, bright vibrant colours and a creamy cheesy cauliflower dish.

The potatoes, parsnips and carrots are peeled and chopped to a similar size and part roasted the day before, then covered and fridged. I par boil my potatoes, drain, add a tablespoon of semolina then shake well so that they are coated. Cover your roasting pan generously with rapeseed oil, heat in the oven until hot, then carefully add the par boiled coated potatoes. Bake in a pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for 30 minutes – turn the potatoes after 15 so that they are evenly roasted. Remove from the oven, cover and set aside to cool.

For the cauliflower cheese I steam a whole head of cauliflower, minus its leaves and then set it aside on a tray lined with layers of kitchen roll. This allows all the moisture to drain away from the cauliflower, ready to finish later on. I make the mornay sauce then cover and set aside until required – once again this can be prepped ahead and fridged. I grate Parmesan cheese in readiness to garnish the cauliflower dish and plan to be generous and sprinkle liberally!

Now for the Chestnut and Apple Roast ...

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