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This Christmas menu and timeplan is from the December 2009 issue of delicious. magazine. Some of these recipes can made in advance then frozen, to minimise stress over the festive period.
First, follow our pre-preparation plan and shopping list to get ahead with your menus for a Christmas breakfast, Christmas lunch, and Boxing Day. This timeplan is just for the Christmas Day lunch menu; it serves 8 people, to be served at 2pm. See below for the Breakfast and Boxing Day menus.
To be prepared and frozen a few weeks in advance
This is a Christmas pudding to boast about. Absolutely crammed with dried fruits, nuts, apples and even Grand Marnier, it is a really special pudding.
We recommend that you make this mincemeat in advance so that it develops a good depth of flavour.
Katie Bishop's Christmas cake is a festive treat and can be made weeks in advance.
To be prepared and frozen a few days in advance
These sausages are best served at Christmas lunch with the stuffing-filled roasted red onions. Can be frozen.
These classic roast potatoes are perfect sides for your Christmas lunch and can be frozen ahead to make your life easier.
These sweet glazed vegetables are a notable accompaniment to a Christmas lunch. Even better, they can be frozen in advance.
A turkey roast isn't complete with cranberry sauce, and home-made is infinitely better. For ease, this recipe can be prepared ahead and frozen.
Bread sauce is a delicious addition to a poultry roast or Christmas lunch and can be frozen in advance. Try making with half brown breadcrumbs for a nutty taste.
Christmas isn't Christmas without mince pies and this foolproof mince pies recipe is your friend. These nibbles can be frozen.
Christmas Eve
Defrost the bacon-wrapped sausages and the cranberry and bread sauces that you pre-prepared; Make the boozy chocolate and cherry trifle and the brandy butter; Decorate the Christmas cake.
This trifle is a very creative pud, and one that looks lovely on the dinner table. It's boozy too, so one for the adults!
This sweet take on brandy butter is a delight. Don't serve your Christmas pud or mince pies without it!
9am
Preheat the oven and make the stuffing; Make the buttered chestnuts and stuff the turkey; Prepare the red onions.
The quintessential Christmas turkey roast. For tips on roasting and carving, see our turkey guide.
This recipe for stuffed red onions may sound fiddly, but it’s actually very simple.
9.30am
Cook the puff pastry for the starter and make the filling for the starter.
This is an ideal Christmas lunch starter. Get ahead by baking the pastry squares and preparing the crab mixture in advance.
10am
Put the turkey in the oven; Roast the red onions for 20 minutes.
10.30am-1pm
Relax and enjoy Christmas morning!
1pm
Make lemon crumbs for the sprouts.
Crunchy lemony crumbs add flavour to a traditional sprout recipe. This dish can be frozen ahead.
1.15pm
Put the pre-prepared frozen spuds in the oven; Stuff the red onions; Put the Christmas pudding on to reheat.
1.30pm
Remove the turkey from the oven to rest; Turn the oven up for the roast veg.
1.40pm
Put the stuffed onions in the oven; Put the wrapped sausages in the oven; Put the pre-prepared frozen carrots and parsnips in the oven.
1.45pm
Assemble the starter.
2pm
Serve the starter.
2.15pm
Make the gravy; Reheat the frozen sprouts in lemon crumbs; Reheat the bread and cranberry sauces.
If you're having a roast or Christmas lunch, you've just got to have home-made gravy.
2.30pm
Serve the turkey and all the trimmings.
After your main meal
Cook the mince pies from frozen. Serve the puds.
Christmas breakfast & Boxing Day menus
This light and tasty Christmas breakfast menu will satisfy family and friends until the big lunch. Some of it can be made ahead so you're not stuck in the kitchen missing the festivities.
Boxing Day is about downtime, feeling relaxed, going for a long walk then coming back to a lunch that's virtually cooked itself, like this menu, which is a buffet-style meal that's ideal for family or guests.
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