SO your turkey is ordered, if not in the fridge already, the Christmas pudding is bought, if not homemade, and all the decorations are arranged and twinkling away festively.
Yes, only two days to go and what you haven’t done by now, you haven’t done, so there’s no point in worrying about it!
Having said that, I think Christmas Eve is traditionally when a large proportion of menfolk start their Christmas shopping. Probably enough said about that though, so I’ll get back to food matters with a few get-ahead tips.
Sausages and bacon rolls can be cooked any time between now and the big day, drained on kitchen towel, put into an ovenproof serving dish, cooled, covered and refrigerated, and then re-heated for 5-10 minutes, or until sizzling in a hot oven, just before eating.
Potatoes can be peeled a day in advance and kept somewhere cool-ish submerged in water. Which reminds me – if I don’t have fridge space for the turkey, I keep it in the boot of the car which acts as the perfect rodent-free outdoor fridge, and for all manner of other things as well; all those extra panic stocking-up things that we can’t resist buying. In fact anything goes really, although best to avoid anything sloppy in case you forget to do your best driving whilst the car is doubling up as a fridge.
Back to the potatoes; they can be par-boiled (for 10 minutes precisely) then roughed up in a colander and spread out in a roasting tin any time on the day of eating or even the day before, ready just to pop into the oven to cook with a little oil, an hour or so before required. I have experimented at length (oh dear, how sad that sounds, but true I’m afraid) and find they work just as well without heating the oil up first which is very handy for getting ahead.
Bread sauce, too, can be made now and then cooked on the day, as can stuffing.
A good get-ahead dessert to have up your sleeve is ice-cream and it doesn’t get much more festive than delicious prune and Armagnac ice-cream.
‘Prune’ doesn’t exactly conjure up romantic, mouth-watering tastes but believe you me, this is far more delicious than the sum of its parts might sound – all smooth, creamy, sticky and a little bit alcoholic. (Brandy is fine to use instead of Armagnac if that is what you’ve got.)
This is a nice and easy old-fashioned-style ice cream that is richer and creamier than the custard-based ones.
To make life easy when entertaining, I like to pre-scoop balls of ice cream and pile them up in a pretty bowl and freeze, ready just to take out of the freezer to serve when required.
Serve with Christmas pudding, mince pies or on its own.
:: Click here to see the recipe for prune and armagnac ice cream
