On The Side #10 | The Christmas trimmings
The last word
If it were up to me, the traditional Christmas meal would be a suet pastry-topped pie, a big pile of buttery and heavily peppered seasonal greens, a bucket of (also buttery) mashed potato, and a jug of extra gravy for good measure.
The pie filling would be interchangeable. But always rich — comforting yet celebratory. I imagine some families would go with beef or venison, others might prefer pheasant and bacon, rabbit, guinea fowl or good old chicken. It wouldn’t matter. Because, crucially, that pie filling would have been cooked a day or two in advance, the suet pastry speedily rolled on Christmas Eve, and the pie put in the oven whenever everyone wanted to spend an uninterrupted hour getting some fresh air, having a gift swap, or swigging a magnum of Champagne.
What to note about those sides? Well, there’s only two of them.
Compare that to what we actually have. By my reckoning (as you’ll see below), even on the most considered and well-balanced dining tables, there’ll be 4-5 vegetable dishes and 3-5 festive trimmings. I do actually love them all. But, also: it’s insane.
You know what’s also insane? The annual coverage of Christmas options and, in particular, the continual drive for twists and reinvention.
The thing is, it’s just a roast dinner.
And the only complicating factor for you, the cook, is that you’re probably cooking for more people than usual, which increases the workload and, more significantly, stretches the capacity of your oven.
My advice?
(a) remember your massive hunk of meat should rest for at least 45 minutes. Which leaves plenty of time and oven space to finish/cook most of the other bits.
(b) go middle of the road. Don’t put a twist or garnish on every single thing; there’s already lots going on. In fact, I think only two of the vegetable dishes should be ‘stars’. Most likely two from sprouts, carrots and your third root vegetable (parsnip or squash).
(c) chill out. It’s just a roast.
‘Too many Christmas recipes’ is it? Why add to them here, then?
I’m as guilty as anyone, with at least a dozen sets of Christmas meal menus and side selections featured in various publications over the last decade. I hope to do more!
In my defence, where possible I’ve tried to at least sneak in the points made above. And now feels like as good a time as any to streamline my thoughts on one page.
So I’m posting this a one-stop-shop for the Christmas sides and trimmings. Which, for all my moaning, are the best thing about the meal, the things we return to for seconds and leftovers, and the thing that make the meal ‘Christmassy’.
Below, then, some go-to methods/recipes for:
roast potatoes;
bread sauce;
cranberry sauce;
breadcrumb-based stuffing;
chestnut and sausage meat stuffing balls;
pigs in blankets.
And multiple (but considered) recipes/options for
carrots;
sprouts;
a third root vegetable;
a second green vegetable.
With a gentle reminder that, of those last four things, you should only bother making two of them ‘special’.
A note about the centrepiece
Weirdly, though we have this ‘traditional meal’, the centrepiece seems remarkably open to interpretation.
First thing to say is that you should just do you.
The second is that this flexibility is proof, it it were needed, that the sides and trimmings are the most enjoyable, the most festive and, therefore, the most important thing about the meal.
Which is also a kind of caveat, in that I think the key Christmas trimmings are best suited to the once-feathered animal centrepiece. (Turkey, really. Duck, goose or a very slow grown chicken if only a handful of people.)
A 2-3 forerib of beef is blooming special, sure. And if that’s your tradition or craving then stick to it. I’m just not convinced the festive bits go that well with it.
Some people do roast pork, don’t they? Again, keep doing it… Lovely stuff. You just need other sides to the ones offered below.
Finally, although it’s a good ‘second joint’ option, IMO glazed ham ought to have its own moment to shine. Christmas Eve or Boxing Day, I guess. There’s something coming for that later this month (including the red cabbage and boulangere potatoes that go with it).
Right, enough waffle. I hope you find this set of recipes useful.
Whether you use them or not, remember: it’s just a roast.
See you next week, Ed.
The sides and trimmings team sheet
Here’s how I think it works best:
Vegetables for all meats: roast potatoes; carrots; sprouts; maybe one other green vegetable; possibly one other root vegetable (possibly mashed/puréed).
Trimmings for turkey, goose and duck: bread sauce; pigs in blankets; 1 x breadcrumb-based stuffing and/or 1 x sausage meat and chestnut-based stuffing; cranberry sauce.
Vegetables and trimming swaps for goose and duck: braised red cabbage instead of a second green vegetable; apple sauce, instead of cranberry sauce; plus a port-based gravy.
Vegetables and trimmings for beef: braised red cabbage instead of a second green vegetable; cauliflower cheese instead of bread sauce; creamed horseradish instead of cranberry sauce; Yorkshire puddings.
SO 4-5 vegetables alongside your roast meat; then 3-5 festive/centre-piece specific trimmings.
For both cooking logistics and to ensure an enjoyable plate of food, when planning what and how you will cook, you should keep in mind the need for a balance of roast, boiled/steamed, and creamy/puréed.
Also, to repeat, while you do need to bear in mind the capacity of your oven, hob space and so on, it’s also important to remember that you should be resting the main joint for 45-60 minutes, and the vast majority of sides and trimming cooking time can be done over that period or in advance.
Sidenote: preparation
On which note, If you’re feeding a significant number of people (8 or more), or if you want to do as little as possible on the day, then the following things can be done in advance*:
If you want, on Christmas Eve, or early Christmas morning, you should peel and cut/shred all the vegetables, bag them and refrigerate.
You could also: par-boil the potatoes, leave to cool, bag or box them and refrigerate. Also, par-boil the carrots, depending on ultimate recipe (see below), but that might also mean that, really, you’re doubling-up of effort when they can simply sit in a pan of boiling water at the end of the cooking process.
Make the cranberry sauce.
Prepare pigs in blankets.
Prepare the stuffing mixes (don’t add the eggs yet, although leave unbroken eggs in the mixing bowls so you don’t forget).
Steep the milk being used for the bread sauce. This means closer to meal time all you need to do is add the breadcrumbs, simmer for a bit and finish with cream. (You could fully prepare the bread sauce in advance, but while it’s excellent cold on Boxing Day cold, it’s never quite as good reheated).
Chill out.
*NB. to my mind the obsession with preparing the Christmas lunch/dinner ‘in advance’ plays a big role in making the meal a bigger deal than it has to be, and extending the ‘stress’ and effort beyond a day. But anyway…
The Christmas vegetables
Roast potatoes
As I wrote in this year’s OcadoLife magazine, despite the protestations in all those ‘top chef guides to Christmas’, the key to roast potatoes, is not actually the fat you use (although yes beef dripping and goose fat are delicious), nor the shape you cut them, nor spending an age getting the oil hot in the tray (that’s a wasted effort).
Rather it’s the attention to detail on the less exciting things.
As in, it’s about: seasoning the potatoes when parboiling (salty water, rosemary, garlic), not when they’re in the oven; allowing them to cool before roasting – even for a day or two in the fridge if you like to get ahead; using large low-sided tins (note plural) with plenty of space for the air to circulate around the spuds; and (CRUCIALLY) giving the potatoes plenty of time and TLC in the second half of their roasting process, turning them a few times to ensure all sides and edges are golden and crispy.
For 8
1.6 kg Maris Piper potatoes (or King Edward), peeled and cut into 5cm halves/quarters/thirds (depending on the size of the original potato)
3 garlic cloves, bashed, plus a few extra for roasting
3 rosemary sprigs, plus extra for roasting
3 tsp fine table salt
5-6 tbsp vegetable oil (or 2 tbsp vegetable oil plus 3 of either beef dripping or goose fat)
2 pinches sea salt flakes, to finish
Put the potatoes in a large pan of cold water. Add the garlic, rosemary and fine salt; bring to the boil. Simmer for 10-15 mins until you can push a fork almost to the middle of one, with a little resistance. Strain; cool in the colander, then shake to rough up the edges. If making ahead, chill in an airtight container until needed. (You can even freeze them if you need fridge space.)
With the oven at 200C*, tip the potatoes into a roasting tin. Arrange in a single layer (use 2 tins if needed) with the extra garlic and rosemary. Drizzle with oil; turn to coat and place cut-side down.
Roast for longer than you think! 1 hr might be enough. But, more likely, PROPERLY golden and crispy all-over potatoes will want 1hr 15 mins. In the last half of that time, turn each potato a couple of times, so every edge gets a chance to cook directly on and the hot metal. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes; serve immediately (don’t cover with foil or leave in a warming oven, as that hard earned crispy edge will go soggy).
* If the oven is slightly lower (i.e. 180C) at the start when your joint is in, that’s fine. Just move the potatoes to the top of the oven and crank the temperature up when the meat is resting.
The rest of the recipes (multiple carrots, sprouts, other greens, other roots, 2x stuffings, pigs in blankets, bread sauce, cranberry sauce …) are for paid supporters of Rocket & Squash, A Cook’s Digest.
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Carrots
Of course there are tens of ace ways to cook and garnish carrots. But it’s best to limit your choice to one of three potential styles of Christmas carrots: