This weeks meal plan post is a bit different from other weeks because It's Christmas!! This week we will be living off party food, Christmas dinner and leftovers so I thought instead of boring you with the meal plan I would share what we will be eating on out Christmas Dinner!
If you’ve never had a proper British Christmas dinner let me tell you it’s not just a meal, it’s an event! This is the roast of all roasts, the one we plan, prep and slightly panic over for weeks in advance. The kitchen looks like a war zone, the oven works harder than Santa’s sleigh and by the end of it all we’re full, happy and swearing we’ll never eat again until pudding shows up. I go into full on festive feast mode with every type of vegetable, gravy that flows like a river, and enough food to feed the entire street and still have leftovers for sandwiches the next day.
Starting with the most important part: the meat!
The star of our Christmas dinner is always the meat. This year we have 3 joints of meat. Turkey, gammon and beef! It might seem a lot but we don't all like the same things and we have an extra person with us for Christmas. Everything will get eaten or put in the freezer to use at a later date. Speaking of freezers by now I should have got the meat out to defrost!
The vegetables and lots of them!!
The vegetables at Christmas dinner are a big deal here and there are many!
We’ve got roast potatoes, they’re golden and crispy on the outside with a fluffy inside. Then there’s mashed potato, buttery and smooth. Some might say having both roast and mashed potato is overkill. Those people are wrong!
We also have roast parsnips and carrots. Brussels sprouts are mandatory even if half the family swears they hate them. Boiled and then fried up with a bit of bacon, they make an appearance every single year because it just wouldn’t feel right without them. There’s also cauliflower cheese, it’s basically cauliflower baked in a creamy cheese sauce until it’s bubbling and golden on top and just to make sure every colour of the rainbow’s covered, there’s red cabbage: cooked with vinegar and apples and mashed turnip, which adds that lovely earthy flavour. It’s a proper mix of textures and tastes with a bit of sweetness here, a bit of creaminess there. Every forkful is different, and that’s what makes it special!
Pigs in blankets!
If you’ve never heard of them, they’re little sausages, we usually use chipolatas wrapped in streaky bacon and roasted until crispy. They’re bite sized, salty and absolutely addictive. In our house, they disappear faster than the Christmas chocolates. They’re the perfect mix of savoury and smoky, and no matter how many I make there are never any left. This year I have also got some pre-made ones wrapped with maple streaky bacon! Yum!
Stuffing!
Stuffing is another area where I go slightly over the top but that’s part of the fun. We usually have a few varieties: a sage and onion stuffing, a chestnut one and sometimes even a sausage meat version. I also treat us to a fancy stuffing from M&S. You know the ones, the gourmet style ones with things like cranberry, apple or caramelised onion mixed through. It just adds that little touch of luxury to the plate. You can always rely on M&S to make the humble stuffing feel posh. Everyone has their favourite so it’s only fair to have options.
The gravy!
Finally we reach the most important finishing touch, the gravy! It’s not just a drizzle, it’s a necessity. Christmas dinner without gravy would be like a tree without lights. Some people go all out with homemade turkey stock and drippings but I’ll admit, I’m not above a good gravy granules shortcut. I always make sure there’s plenty. By the time we’re done the plate’s basically swimming in it and that’s exactly how it should be.
Drinks and laughter!
Once everything’s plated up, we raise a glass usually Bucks Fizz, that perfect mix of orange juice and prosecco. It’s light, fizzy and makes the whole meal feel extra special. The table’s full of chatter, paper crowns from the crackers and someone pretending they’re too full to eat pudding but change their mind when they see it.
Our Christmas dinner might sound like a lot and it is but that’s the whole charm of it. We cook too much, eat too much and spend half the afternoon in a food coma but that’s what makes it magical and the bonus is that we live of the leftovers for a few days so I don't have to cook!!
What will you be having for Christmas dinner?
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