by When you think about it, Christmas dinner is an absurd idea. List the various aspects of the whole soup-to-nuts affair – from the cocktails and canapes to the 35 portions of the dinner itself, and then everything needed for the inevitable spread of the pudding – and you begin to understand. how many tasks we set ourselves each year. It seems that every dish needs a new pan or a slot in the oven that is so popular. And that’s before Aunty Shirley arrives with her mini Yorkshire pudding, which needs 15 minutes at 190C at a crucial point in the proceedings.
That is why we must, once again, say a Christmas prayer of thanksgiving for Nigella Lawson, and not just for her Coca Cola ham. She gave us special permission to take any appropriate shortcuts in preparing our Christmas feast, recognizing that our “seasonal sanity” might depend on cutting the odd corner. “It makes sense to take advantage of all the quality shortcuts you can take now, whether it’s pigs in blankets or brandy butter or gravy,” she says. “I keep my freezer full of chopped frozen lettuce, which I use instead of onions. They cook faster, taste sweeter and make life so much easier.”
Every family needs a Christmas Major. If you are, if you are in charge of everything from the shopping to the (careful) delegation, to managing the oven, to overseeing the gravy, why not do as Nigella says and give a few clever kitchen hacks for yourself. year. Stick to our experts’ Christmas shortcuts and the most discerning foodie at the table will have no trouble at all. Crucially, it will make your life a little easier and Lawson’s adage is very clear on this point: “Christmas is not improved because the cook is in a desperate state.” Too real.
Canapes
My colleague Ed Cumming has done some helpful fieldwork here. In a taste test of Christmas frozen food, he declared Booths brie de meaux and cranberry parcels the winner, especially when enhanced with extra cranberry sauce. Meanwhile, Iceland’s tempura king prawns were “hot, crispy and moreish”, while Tesco’s mini coquille saint jacques was awarded top marks. His advice when considering shop-bought purchases? “Go fishing.”
Grass boards are popular among experts. “I certainly wouldn’t be doing canapes,” says Tommy Banks, chef-owner of the Black Swan at Oldstead. Rather than feeling like we need to put together little things just because it’s Christmas, Banks feels that a beautiful table of cold things should do the trick, which is handy when you already have one eye on how much time will pass the parsnips go in. “Charcuterie is really good as a nibble. Put it out there and everyone enjoys it.”
And if you still want to do something that looks “from scratch” but is actually a huge cheat? Farokh Talati, head chef at St John Bread and Wine, reminds us to keep a box of pre-rolled puff pastry on hand. “Dijon mustard, grated cheese, cut it into strips, bake it in the oven. Fresh cheese soups.” They’ll be ready in the time it takes you to heat up a pre-made party food pack.
The main event
Do you know what you could do for yourself this Christmas? You could give yourself the gift if you don’t have to peel and cut four bags of potatoes. “Honestly, if the purpose of Christmas is to be with your friends and family, it doesn’t matter if your potatoes are pre-cut,” says Talati.
Frozen vegetables are a convenient way to free up fridge space. It also means you can buy it in advance and not worry about it being Christmas Day. “I would buy a load of frozen sprouts, frozen potatoes, the whole size,” says Talati, who feels the cooking method is the key. A pre-pruned frozen sprout can be glorious if handled properly, but fresh sprouts that you’ve spent all morning plucking from the stem, trimming and criss-crossing can be awful. “I like to boil them in salted water only until they are cooked but then in a separate pan I fry some onions, bacon or lardon. Then cut them in half and fry them with all that bacon, maybe some gravy to bring it together.”
Stuffing is ripe for a shortcut. Marcus Wareing once revealed that he swears by Paxo. It seems to be a universal chef hack, as created by Pip Lacey of Hicce Hart. “You can’t go wrong. Take Paxo – just the usual sage and onion – but then add your own nuts and bolts, whether it’s chestnuts or bacon.” A little lemon zest can be a nice addition, and maybe some of Nigella’s diced frozen salads, fried in butter.
The additions
You might think that a good stock or sauce is the calling card of any self-respecting cook, but many swear by buying it in. “Buy your gravy,” Lacey insists. “That’s one of those things at the end when all the time is time but then you’re cheating making gravy. These days, supermarkets make very good sauces. And if all else fails you have Bisto.”
Banks recommends TrueFoods stocks that can be added to meat juices along with other seasonings. “I agree with Nigella. Nobody in their right mind is lobbying at home at Christmas.” You could even go in and buy their gravy, which is so good you can “heat it up and it’s good to do”, says Banks. Or get a decent gravy in the supermarket and jazz it up.
Telegraph Magazine editor Lisa Markwell tips roast wings with shop-bought gravy on the go. As always, an extra splosh of this can liven up even a decidedly average gravy. Try madeira or port for sweetness and a little Marmite for savory depth.
Store-bought bread sauce is fine, says Markwell, if heated through “with cloves and extra cream” and checked for seasoning. Meanwhile, the Telegraph’s Xanthe Clay says Aldi’s cranberry sauce is the winner of the store-bought range on taste. Want to make a purchased cranberry sauce taste a little more homemade? Warm it up with a little orange peel and juice, a pinch of ground spice and a splash of red wine vinegar.
Sweet treats
Of all the elements of a Christmas dinner that make them buy-in, pud is certainly a no-brainer if for no other reason than everyone should have had too many cherries in by now. which he passes by to notice.
The fastest way to cheat is “so good it must be homemade”, says Talati Saint John, good panettone. “When I used to work for Angela Hartnett she would send in lots of panetones and we used to make the best bread and butter pudding out of it. Make a quick custard and just bake it in the oven. It’s very special.”
A trifle is an easy victory if assembled from ready-made objects. “I’ve made a really good Nigella recipe before at Christmas,” says Banks. “Everything is bought in: sponge fingers, custard, jelly, and then you just spice it up with a nice vermouth and it’s delicious.”
Lacey likes an ice cream bomb, made with “meringues, booze and cream”. Simply whip cream with icing sugar and some sort of Christmas alcohol like brandy, then fold through chopped store-bought meringue, freeze in a Pyrex bowl and turn out.
When it comes to pie pies, Clay recommends cutting your workload in half by buying jarred pies (her favorites are Morrisons or Tesco pies) and making your own pastry. “The right shortcut tastes much better than the stuff from the supermarket. […] In contrast, the pies I tried varied little from home-made in terms of ingredients.”
Or just cut your losses and buy a whole dessert. M&S gets an honorable mention from Cumming for their frozen Alaskan trifle cake, which he gave five stars. The Telegraph’s resident chocolate expert and author of Cake: A Slice of British Life, Andrew Baker, reports that M&S are also on a winner this year with their passion fruit and white chocolate yule log, which he declares is “absolutely appealing with a glorious taste ”, and the Belgian Aldi chocolate number is “very creamy, with a rich milky chocolate taste”.
You could spend Christmas Eve carefully rolling a jean sponge, or you could pop into the shops. The choice is yours.
