by If you think about it, Christmas dinner is an absurd idea. Make a list of all the elements that make up the whole nut soup thing (from the cocktails and hors d’oeuvres to the 35 parts of the dinner itself, followed by everything needed for the inevitable preparation of the puddings) and it will begin to dawn on you. account. the task we set ourselves every year. Every dish seems to require a new pan or a highly coveted slot in the oven. And that’s before Aunt Shirley arrives with her mini bite of Yorkshire pudding, which needs 15 minutes at 190C at a crucial point in the process.
That’s why we must, once again, say a silent Christmas prayer of thanks for Nigella Lawson, and not just for her Coca Cola ham. She has granted us special dispensation to take whatever shortcuts we see fit in preparing our Christmas feast, recognizing that our “seasonal sanity” may depend on cutting corners. “It makes sense to take advantage of all the high-quality shortcuts you can take now, whether it’s pigs in blankets or brandy, butter or gravy,” she says. “I keep my freezer stocked with frozen chopped shallots, which I use instead of onions. “They cook faster, taste sweeter, and make life so much easier.”
Every home needs a Christmas Major General. If that’s you, if you’re in charge of everything from shopping to (careful) delegation, operating the oven and supervising the sauce, why not do as Nigella says and treat yourself to some clever kitchen hacks ? year. Follow our experts’ Christmas shortcuts and even the most discerning table enthusiast won’t bat an eyelid. Fundamentally, it will make your life a little easier and Lawson’s lore is very clear on this point: “No Christmas has been made better because the cook is in a state of festering resentment.” Too true.
Canapes
My colleague Ed Cumming has done some useful groundwork here. In a frozen Christmas meal taste test, he declared Booths’ brie de meaux and cranberry packets a win, particularly when enhanced with extra cranberry sauce. Meanwhile, Iceland’s tempura prawns were “spicy, crunchy and tasty”, while Tesco’s mini coquille saint jacques got top marks. Her advice from him when considering purchasing store-bought canapes? “Keep the fish.”
Grazing boards are popular among experts. “I definitely wouldn’t do canapes,” says Tommy Banks, chef and owner of Black Swan in Oldstead. Instead of feeling like we need to make delicate snacks just because it’s Christmas, Banks thinks a beautiful board of cold things should do the trick, which is helpful when you already know what time the parsnips need to come in. “The charcuterie is really bite-sized good. Just post it and everyone will enjoy it.”
What if you still want to make something that looks like “from scratch” but is actually a great hack? 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 into strips and bake in the oven. “Fresh cheese straws.” They’ll be ready in the time it takes you to heat up a package of ready-made party food.
The main event
Do you know what you could do for yourself this Christmas? You could give yourself the gift of not having to peel and cut four bags of potatoes. “Honestly, if the goal of Christmas is to be with your friends and family, it shouldn’t matter if your potatoes are pre-cut,” Talati says.
Opting for frozen vegetables is a practical way to free up space in the refrigerator. It also means you can buy it in advance and not worry that it will be past its prime on Christmas Day. “I would buy a bunch of frozen sprouts, frozen potatoes and everything,” says Talati, who believes the key is in the cooking method. A previously trimmed frozen sprout can be glorious if treated correctly, while fresh sprouts that you’ve spent all morning cutting, trimming, and lovingly crossing the stem can be terrible. “I would just boil them in salted water until they were cooked through, but then in a separate pan I would fry some onions, a little bacon or lard. Then cut them in half and fry them with all that bacon, maybe a little sauce to bind it together.”
The filling is ready for a shortcut. Marcus Wareing once revealed that he trusts Paxo. He seems to be a universal chef trick, as demonstrated by Hicce Hart’s Pip Lacey. “You can’t go wrong. Take Paxo, just the normal sage and onion, but then add your own details, whether it’s chestnuts or bacon.” A little lemon zest can be a nice addition, and perhaps some of Nigella’s diced frozen shallots, fried in butter.
the extras
You might think that a good broth or sauce is the calling card of any chef worth their salt, but many of them swear by buying it. “Buy your sauce,” Lacey urges. “That’s one of the things at the end where everything is timed but then you’re playing around making a sauce. Nowadays, supermarkets make really good sauces. And if all else fails, you have Bisto.”
Banks suggest TrueFoods broths that can be added to meat juices along with other flavorings. “I agree with Nigella. “No one in their right mind makes stock at home at Christmas.” You could even go all out and buy her sauce, which is so good you can just “heat it up and it’s ready,” says Banks. Or get a decent sauce from the supermarket and jazz it up.
Telegraph Magazine editor Lisa Markwell adds grilled wing tips to a store-bought sauce as it heats. As always, an extra splash of this or that can liven up even a decidedly average sauce. Try madeira or port for sweetness and a little Marmite for savory depth.
Store-bought bread sauce is fine, Markwell says, if you heat it “with extra cloves and cream” and check the seasoning. Meanwhile, the Telegraph’s Xanthe Clay says Aldi’s cranberry sauce wins in flavor among store-bought options. Do you want the cranberry sauce you bought to taste a little more homemade? Simply heat it up with a little orange zest and juice, a pinch of ground allspice, and a splash of red wine vinegar.
Sweets
Of all the Christmas dinner items that lend themselves to purchase, pudding is surely a no-brainer, if only because everyone should have had too many sherry by the time they realize it.
The quickest route to a trick “so good it must be homemade”, says St John’s Talati, is a good panettone. “When she worked for Angela Hartnett, she would get a lot of panettone and we would turn it into the best bread and butter pudding. Make a quick custard and bake it in the oven. “It’s pretty special.”
Trifle is an easy win if assembled from pre-made things. “There’s a really good Nigella recipe I’ve made before at Christmas,” says Banks. “You buy everything: biscuits, custard, gelatin and then you season it with a good vermouth and it’s delicious.”
Lacey likes ice cream bombs, made with “meringues, alcohol and cream.” She simply whips the cream with powdered sugar and some type of Christmas spirit like brandy, then folds it in store-bought crumbled meringue, freezes it in a Pyrex container, and unmolds.
When it comes to mince pies, Clay recommends halving your workload by buying jarred mince (his preference is Morrisons or Tesco mince) but making your own dough. “The right shortcrust pastry tastes noticeably better than the one from the supermarket. […] On the contrary, the picadillos I tried only varied a little from the homemade ones in terms of ingredients.”
Or just cut your losses and buy a full dessert. M&S receives an honorable mention from Cumming for its frozen Alaskan cupcake, which it awarded five stars. The Telegraph’s resident chocolate expert and author of Cake: A Slice of British Life, Andrew Baker, reports that M&S was also a winner this year with its passion fruit and white chocolate Yule log, which he says is “extremely attractive and with a glorious flavour”, while Aldi’s Belgian chocolate is “very creamy, with a rich milk chocolate flavour”.
You could spend Christmas Eve painstakingly rolling a Genoese sponge or go shopping. The choice is yours.
