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A festive feast

Conrad Astley
16/12/2005

With less than two weeks to go, the daunting Christmas dinner is beginning to loom. But don't panic! Chef Dave Ross, who cooks for Manchester United stars, told Conrad Astley that preparation is everything.

THE CHRISTMAS dinner is the fly in the festive ointment as far as most of us are concerned.

In an age when the most complicated dish many people prepare comes out of a packet, the stress of cooking a full turkey with all the trimmings is something that could ruin anyone's Christmas Day.

But according to top chef Dave Ross, a traditional Christmas dinner needn't be the hassle everyone thinks it is.

And Dave, who has run the Top Table catering firm with business partner Annette Glynn for 15 years - cooking for celebrity clients including Manchester United players - even suggests it could be fun.

He treats the preparation as a family event, with his seven and 12-year-old children taking part.

The chef said: "Christmas dinner is one of the things a whole family can get involved in - the kids can do the veg.

"People moan about doing the Christmas dinner, we've got a perception that it's a pain but you can treat it as part of the day."

He stressed preparation is the key to ensuring a successful Christmas dinner is dished up.

Preperation will ensure that you're not running around like a headless chicken when everyone else is busy opening their presents.

For example, the vegetables can be prepared on Christmas Eve.

Parsnips, carrots and swede can be washed, peeled, and cut into chunky 1in cubes, before being sautéed in a pan - lightly fried with olive oil and brown sugar for a few minutes until they are slightly coloured.

This seals in the flavour, and they can then be left overnight in the fridge before being roasted the following day.

He added choosing the right turkey was also vital to getting it right and it was important to ask for a turkey crown - without the legs.

This is easier to prepare, as the legs take longer to cook, meaning the rest of the bird will be dry by the time they are finished.

Birds should also be bought fresh - meaning they need to be ordered from a butcher a week earlier and arranged to be delivered on Christmas Eve, or the day before.

Dave said: "You can buy crowns from supermarkets, but I always prefer to go to the local butcher.

"I've nothing against the big supermarkets, but with a butcher you get a one-to-one level of service, you get to talk to someone that can advise you about the meat, and they use local produce.

"I'd always prefer to buy a fresh turkey from a quality butcher."

Buying fresh also has the advantage that you don't need to worry about defrosting the bird.

Dave said a 10lb turkey would be more than adequate for a family of four - possibly leaving some scraps for sandwiches.

As it takes 25 minutes to cook each pound, the oven should be turned on four and a half hours before serving - leaving enough time for it to pre-heat.

The puddings - Christmas pudding, cheeses, and mince pies - can easily be bought from supermarkets.

Brandy butter, to be served with the mince pies, can be made days earlier using a simple recipe mixing icing sugar, butter and brandy.

But it is much easier to buy this!

Perfect timing

Serve at 2pm, with optional starter of baked asparagus tips wrapped in oak smoked salmon, with white wine sauce. Desserts may include shop-bought Christmas pudding, followed by mince pies with brandy butter, and local cheeses.

Christmas Eve preparation

For the starter, blanch asparagus tips in boiling salted water for three minutes, refresh in cold water, and wrap salmon strips around four tips, before wrapping in cling film and refrigerating.

For the sauce, quickly fry a finely chopped onion in butter until soft, add quarter bottle of dry white wine, reduce by half, add pint of double cream and cook. Refrigerate.

Peel, wash and chop veg, fry in olive oil. Cool and refrigerate.

Peel and trim sprouts and blanch in boiling salted water. Refresh and refrigerate.

Peel and cut potatoes for roasting. Refrigerate in cold water.

Wrap streaky bacon around chipolata sausages.

Make stuffing. Use Paxo sage and onion but optionally add finely chopped onion, sultanas, sliced apple, stock cube, and knob of butter.

Make brandy butter, mixing equal amounts of butter and icing sugar with brandy to taste. Place in freezer.

Christmas Day timings

9am - Preheat oven to 180c. Prepare the turkey by cleaning out the cavity, removing giblets, and washing.

9.30am - Put turkey in oven. Can brush it with melted butter and seasoning, and layer with streaky bacon to keep moist (timing is for 10lb bird).

12pm - Lay table and open red wine to breathe.

1pm - Put roast potatoes, stuffing, vegetables with chopped red onions, sausages and bacon in the oven.

1.30pm - Take turkey out of oven. Check it is cooked by inserting long thin knife into thickest part - juices should be clear, not pink. Bird should stand for half an hour before carving. Make gravy using excess juices from turkey. Dip brussel sprouts in boiling water, bake starter for about 10 minutes and warm white wine sauce, adding finely chopped dill. Check Christmas pudding instructions and microwave.

2pm - Carve turkey and serve.

Mince pies are the must-have item on any Christmas shopping list - but can prove disappointing if they're not just right. The Metromagazine team generously taste-tested a selection of mince pies to see which ones should be chosen for your festive spread.

Mr Kipling's Exceedingly Good Mince Pies

54p each

First reaction is "Oh no!" this is not right, but stick with it as this has a taste that grows on you. The pastry is a little dry, so wash it down with a sherry, and the mincemeat is a little bland. The taste remains flat - I always find that a good mince pie comes up and grabs you straight away, this one never does.

Delifrance

50p each

WHEN I bit into the Delifrance mince pie I wanted to weep because it was so delicious.

These are a traditional mince pie of the sort that makes you wish you still had a granny. They look a bit shabby - as homemade often does - but appearances are truly deceptive.

The mince is tender and juicy and wrapped in the finest, delicate pastry. As I enjoyed mine with a cup of tea, I realised they would also be perfect with cream or a glass of sherry.

Admittedly, an ugly greasy circle was left on the paperbag from the pie inside. But it's the time of year to increase your fat intake in a bid to keep warm - at least it is as far as I'm concerned.

So tuck in!

Philpott's

65p each

Philpotts' offerings are everything you want from a mince pie.

While some inferior shop-bought versions leave you wondering "where's the mince?" that question just doesn't come into it here. As soon as you bite through the pastry - which is just the right level of crumbliness - the overstuffed contents almost come tumbling out.

A delicate covering of icing sugar finishes it off perfectly. For the sake of finding a criticism, they are a bit on the rich side, so you couldn't have too many.

But then I suppose that's the point of a mince pie.

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference

£1.49 for six

FATHER Christmas will have to hold tight to Rudolf's reins if you leave Sainsbury's Taste the Difference brandy rich mince pies out on the mantelpiece.

The soft all-butter pastry is generously filled with rich brandy and port-laced mincemeat. Brandy and port are the overriding, and slightly overpowering, flavours. Their richness batters the mincemeat flavour into complete submission.

The pies taste luxurious but also slightly sickly, although that might be offset by a generous dollop of cream. One is definitely enough and wouldn't sit well on top of a full Christmas lunch.

Sainsbury's Deep Filled Mince Pies

99p for six

THE photograph on the front of the box of Sainsbury's deep-filled mice pies must have been taken from a very clever angle.

I bit into mine expecting a lavish outpouring of juicy Christmas-flavoured fruit. But I was left with a mouthful of overly-buttery pastry with a smaller helping of filling than I had expected.

I'm not usually a stickler for accuracy where food is concerned, but I was so shocked by the discrepancy between what I had expected and what I got that I reached for a ruler, and discovered a distance of more than 1.5 centimetres between the peak of the pastry and the mince filling. More than a centimetre of fresh air.

I know Sainsbury's has had some financial difficulties earlier this year, but surely they could have saved the money, made the pastry case fit the mince better and used smaller packaging to save the world at the same time?

Or just gone for the novel approach and actually filled it up to the top.