Hello again dear friends! Hope everyone is doing well. Just wondering how you guys prepare for Christmas since it's less than a week away. Mr. Anne and I will be spending Christmas as a married couple for the first time! Though my husband is born Filipino, he is British in his ways. I just want to make him feel the Christmas spirit (in a British kind of way), now that I am here. Any suggestions what are the usual food preparations done here?
Hi Anne! My partners family usually have this Christmas dinner tradition and they serve prawn salad or chicken liver parfait, roast chicken with stuffings, roasted potatoes cooked in goose/duck fat, sausages wrap in bacon and steamed veggies. Sometimes it's accompanied by baked cauliflower and cheese, and Christmas pudding for dessert. You could do variations as well like roasted Turkey, lamb and pork. Usually stores such as Morrisons, Tesco, Lidl and M&S has free brochures that gives you menu ideas. Don't forget the gravy for the roast and Christmas crackers as well. Then after that, its time to open the gifts!!!! Now I miss christmas in England. : (
For me the non-negotiables are: Some sort of roast animal Gallons of gravy Yorkshire pudding (buy the frozen ones that come in metal pastry cases and rise in the oven) Bacon-wrapped chipolatas Roast potatoes cooked in goose/duck fat as mentioned What you roast depends on a. your budget and b. how many you’re feeding. If it’s just the two of you then duck, chicken or pork shouldn’t be too expensive and will feed both of you. This year my kids are with their mama so we have a similar dinner on the 31st instead. We’re having roast pheasant and partridge with a sauce/gravy that I’ve yet to decide on. We’ll also have Brussels sprouts cooked with bacon and pearl onions and also green beans. There are loads of good Youtube videos with recipes and cooking techniques so decide what the main elements should be and have a browse. Also feel welcome to ask on here – I’m sure many will be happy to help.
We prefer chicken as turkey is too dry for us. My wife does a roast all in the same cooking tray in the oven with vegetables (carrots, sprouts, onions, potatoes etc.) and the bird. She saw it made like this on the TV and it was a revelation to us.
We're going to have honey roast belly pork, carrots boiled with aniseed, stuffed peppers and new potatoes. Guess who watched a cooking show on telly today.
