Listed below are my six highest tricks to make Christmas cooking simpler so you possibly can keep away from being caught within the kitchen at festive gatherings! What number of of those do you already know?
I may write fairly a prolonged listing of tricks to make Christmas cooking stress free. However I made a decision to maintain it brief and to the purpose, supplying you with simply my six highest suggestions that can make the most important affect on easing your workload on the day-of.
So with out additional ado, right here they’re!
My highest tricks to make Christmas cooking simpler
-
Select a good menu that’s heavy on make-ahead / prepare-ahead meals.
-
Make glazed ham the day earlier than. It reheats 100% completely.
-
Make-ahead mashed potato casserole moderately than plain mash.(No you possibly can’t simply microwave mash!)
-
Present-off salads – how I put together elements forward so I can put collectively assertion salads in mere minutes.
-
Making whipped cream forward of time with out deflating or weeping
-
Freezing cheesecakes and truffles – what, you by no means knew you could possibly freeze cheesecakes??
1. Selecting a sensible menu
I’ve at all times loved the problem of developing with the “excellent” menu for gatherings. It began as a poverty-stricken uni pupil who liked good meals however couldn’t afford to eat at good eating places.
As a substitute, I taught myself methods to prepare dinner and hosted dinner events. I secretly received such a thrill out of developing with the “excellent” menu for gathering. And I nonetheless do.🤭 #NerdAlert!
In my world, the Good Menu for particular events means:
-
Spectacular – scrumptious (after all) and attention-grabbing. I’m not going to sugar-coat it, ego has every little thing to do with this.
-
Minimise time within the kitchen on the day-of
-
Most prepare-ahead components and/or make-ahead then reheats completely
And if proper now, you’re considering cease chattering, and simply inform me your finest make-ahead Christmas menu – I’ll! However not on this put up. My subsequent put up (coming this weekend) goes to include a listing of reader favourites and MY favorite make-ahead Christmas recipes. From starters to mains sides to dessert! I feel there will likely be some new discoveries on that listing for you. 😊
2. Make your glazed ham the day earlier than
For years, I’ve been making my glazed ham the day earlier than serving then simply reheating it on the day of. It comes out 100% completely. The glaze is simply pretty much as good as freshly made and the ham flesh doesn’t dry out in any respect, due to all that salt curing that locks in juices!
Writing out the steps to share all my suggestions received a bit lengthy to have on this put up, so I created a separate put up about methods to make Glazed Ham the day earlier than. In abstract:
-
Make glazed ham of selection. Recommendations: my favorite Maple Glazed Ham or basic Brown Sugar Glazed Ham.
-
Cool and refrigerate in a single day within the roasting pan.
-
Reheat in a average oven. And voila! Shiny, glazed perfection, similar to it’s freshly made!
3. Make-ahead mashed potato casserole
Each menu wants a starch. The straightforward fall-back is a basket of retailer purchased bread. However creamy sizzling mash is so nostalgic and excellent for vacation spreads!
Nonetheless, serving up an enormous bowl of creamy, piping sizzling mashed potato on demand is simpler stated than completed. Can’t make it at this time and microwave it tomorrow. It turns horridly gluey! However who needs to make it recent on the day, and dealing with huge mounds of steaming sizzling potato when everyone else is sitting round sipping bubbly? NOBODY!
The answer? Mashed Potato Casserole. Creamy mashed potato topped with cheese and bacon, it is a sensible and extremely scrumptious option to put together mash the day earlier than. Simply assemble at this time and bake tomorrow!
(Comfort apart, including cheese and bacon to mash is a dream come true for cheese-loving-carb monsters like myself. 😂)
4. Day-before stabilised whipped cream
Think about a world the place you’re making a recent cream-decorated dessert for 30 folks and all you must do is seize a piping bag full of whipped cream that you simply ready the day earlier than? Dream no extra. Welcome to the magical world of make-ahead whipped cream!
Mascarpone is the key
Whipped cream that’s made so it gained’t deflate or soften in a single day is named stabilised whipped cream. There’s varied methods to do it however I feel the most effective, tastiest and best is utilizing mascarpone. That is an Italian cream utilized in Tiramisu that fluffs up like whipping cream if you beat it however corporations up like cream cheese within the fridge so it holds the whipped kind.
Find out how to make it – Cream to mascarpone ratio of three:1, simply beat it with the cream, sugar, vanilla and no matter different flavourings your recipe requires and also you’ll find yourself with stabilised whipped cream. Full recipe instructions are in my Whipped Cream recipe!
Find out how to use stabilised cream
-
See my Whipped Cream recipe for full instructions for methods to retailer and use stabilised whipped cream
-
It may be piped / unfold onto truffles, cupcakes and many others forward of time and it’ll maintain its whipped kind.
-
It may also be saved in whipped kind able to pipe, unfold or dollop onto truffles on the day of.
PRO TIP: Whether or not piping into swirls utilizing a piping tip, spreading or dolloping, I extremely suggest utilizing a piping bag. It’s simply a lot quicker to disperse than utilizing spoons!
5. Put together forward salad elements
Get all of the components that may be completed forward reduce, measured, grated, peeled, shaved and ready then able to toss collectively salads on demand!
Getting ready elements of a salad forward is a route I recommend in all my “show-off” salads to make issues simpler on the day of serving. This follow truly has a correct title within the culinary world – mise en place. It’s a French phrase that interprets to “put in place” and is a method cooks use to assemble meals so rapidly and effortlessly.
I felt sooooo professional when Chef JB defined this to me. Who knew, all this time I’ve been training mise en place! Thoughts you, I nonetheless can’t pronounce it. However is appears I follow it! 😂
Issues you are able to do forward
-
Shake dressing in a jar and preserve within the fridge
-
Measure, put together and retailer in containers – salad toppings like grated parmesan, nuts (uncooked, roasted, candied), croutons, crushed wasabi peas (rainbow quinoa salad!), crispy fried shallots – to call a couple of of my favorite toppings!
-
Choose herbs saved entire – like coriander/cilantro leaves, parsley, dill sprigs. Retailer in containers lined with paper towel within the fridge. (Chopped herbs are finest day on the day – see subsequent part.)
-
Wash, dry and chop your leafy greens then retailer in freezer baggage within the fridge. Fill the luggage with air then tie as much as preserve them further perky – it acts like a vegetable crisper!
-
Pomegranate seeds – bash them out then retailer in a container.
-
Crumble feta (regulars know I really like my feta on salads!) – crumble forward and retailer in a container.
-
Make pickles like my favorite straightforward pickled purple onion. Retailer within the vinegar – it should preserve for weeks!
-
Measure out and weigh greens and different components that should be reduce recent on the day-of. Retailer in containers within the fridge.
-
Cook dinner starches that can maintain in a single day, like quinoa, pearl couscous, rice, cauliflower rice, couscous. Don’t costume as it should take up the dressing and bloat.
Salad elements I don’t do forward
-
Any juicy greens that must be reduce recent, like tomatoes, cucumbers.
-
Recent mozzarella (which options in particular salads like Prosciutto Peach Salad)
-
Chopping herbs – for finest recent flavour. Apart from parsley which I nearly at all times do forward!
-
NEVER costume your salad till simply earlier than serving until a recipe very particularly says to take action forward – which is just about solely Coleslaw and Potato Salad!
5. Freeze cheesecakes and truffles
Undecorated plain sponge truffles freeze completely for as much as 3 months, and cheesecakes too! Think about having the ability to pull out a like-freshly-made cake and enhance on demand with whipped cream you made the evening earlier than – how straightforward it that??!!
Freezing truffles
I freeze undecorated truffles obsessively. Partly as a result of I make so many in the midst of day-to-day recipe testing (it’s my job!) and partly as a result of I prefer to have a stash on standby. Tremendous helpful for busy festive season!
Works finest for – plain sponge truffles just like the reader favorite Vanilla Cake, super-easy chocolate cake, Black Forest Cake. Embellish with that whipped cream you made yesterday – see tip #1!! 😇
Find out how to freeze – Wrap in parchment/baking paper (insurance coverage functions, so that you don’t lose the pores and skin if it will get cheesy when thawing). Cling wrap, then put it in a ziplock bag or container. NEVER simply cling wrap as a result of it loses its capability to stay to itself. The cling wrap will loosen, the cake will take up freezer smells and uncovered components will get freezer burn.
Find out how to thaw – Thaw frozen truffles within the fridge in a single day or on the counter for 1 hour. Then enhance per recipe.
Freezing not really useful for truffles with fruit items in them (like blueberry cake, strawberry cake) and gluten free truffles (like Flourless Chocolate Cake, Orange Cake, Hazelnut Cake). Simply involved they’re just a little too moist and dense for freezing.
Freezing cheesecakes
A helpful discovery once I was testing the now notorious Lemon Cheesecake in my cookbook – you possibly can freeze cheesecakes!
Freezing is not going to work for all cheesecakes. It can work for traditional cheesecakes made with simply cream cheese and bitter cream, no add-ins like ricotta or fruit. Listed below are some examples:
Find out how to freeze – As with the truffles, place parchment/baking paper on the highest and backside, wrap in cling wrap then retailer in a ziplock bag or container within the freezer for as much as 3 months. For mini cheesecakes, I freeze in a single layer till agency then stack in containers with paper in between.
Thaw – Unwrap and place on paper towels (to soak up extra moisture from the biscuit base so it doesn’t go soggy). Cowl with recent paper and cling wrap then thaw in a single day within the fridge. I exploit recent cling wrap and paper because the used ones from the freezer generally is a bit moist from freezer icicles. If the floor of the cheesecake is a bit moist, simply place a sheet of paper towel or a clear tea towel on prime to soak up extra moisture.
High quality – Cheesecake is at its finest within the first 24 hours after making it as a result of the biscuit base continues to be just a little crisp. After 24 hours, the bottom (and sides, in case your cheesecake has biscuit partitions) will get just a little softer because of moisture absorption. And that is what thawed cheesecake is like – the cheesecake filling is ideal, the bottom is softer. Flavour retention is 100%!
Don’t freeze – Ricotta cheesecakes, gelatine-based cheesecakes (like Nutella Cheesecake, Mango cheesecake), cheesecakes with fruit inside or on prime (simply unsure how the fruit will thaw) and no-bake cheesecakes (untested).
Inform me what number of you already knew!
And there you may have it. My 5 finest get-ahead “secret” tricks to allow you to swan by way of Christmas feasting just like the poised home goddess you’re!
Inform me, how most of the above do you repeatedly use? Something new you realized? I hope you discovered them helpful! – Nagi x
PS Be aware using the phrase “you” and “poised”. That phrase isn’t used to explain me, irrespective of how a lot I prep forward. See? That is me in prep-ahead state. It’s at all times the darn icing sugar!!!
Subsequent put up to be revealed this weekend: My favorite prepare-ahead recipes I exploit for Christmas!
Lifetime of Dozer
Dozer urgent the The Button to pick the winners of the cookbook and Japanese knife giveaway! (In case you missed out, comply with alongside on Instagram and/or Fb for some extra enjoyable giveaways developing!).