Hosting a Stress Free Christmas Dinner: The Big Day

With all of the prep done, here's what's left to do on the actual day.  Look how much relaxing is slotted in!  Just think how much wrapping paper you can clean up and how many batteries can be installed into wonderful noise-making toys!!  Alternatively you could spend the day trying on your new diamonds with different outfits (Ha!)  Or you could just watch Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Home Alone 3 ... This schedule will have dinner on the table between 5:30 and 6:30.

• 9:00 (5 minutes)

Take the pies out of the freezer and place in the garage/fridge to partially defrost.  Bring your turkey out of the cold to come to room temperature for a few hours before roasting.  Bring in the rest of the food to come to room temperature as well (cranberry sauce, stuffing components, etc.) but not the salad - it should be refrigerated until you are ready to serve it. 

• 11:30 (30-40 minutes)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Meanwhile, pick a handful of sage leaves and  place 1/4 cup butter in a small frying pan.  Heat the butter over medium heat until it begins to foam, then drop in the sage and allow to cook until it crisps up and the butter turns brown and smells fragrant and nutty (about 2 minutes).  Remove from the heat and use a slotted spoon to remove the crispy sage leaves to piece of paper towel on a small plate.  These will be sprinkled over the roasted carrots and parsnips later.  Put the browned butter into a bowl and add 1/4 cup maple syrup.  This will be used to glaze the turkey later on. 

Once the oven comes to temperature, put in the turkey along with the meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, without touching the bone.  Set the meat thermometer for 155 F.  You will want to cook the turkey to 170, but when it gets to 155, its time to glaze with that maple butter every 10 min or so with a pastry brush until the turkey comes to 170.  If you have a fresh turkey that has never been frozen and is at room temperature, this could take as little as two hours.  A previously frozen turkey will take 3-4 hours depending on the size of your turkey.

Heat the stuffing base (onion, celery, butter and herb mixture) in a pan or the microwave until the butter melts, then toss together with all of the dried bread cubes.  Stuff it all into the slow cooker along with the turkey neck and pour over a splash of chicken or turkey broth.  Place the slow cooker on low or medium setting for 4-5 hours.  Keep an eye (and a nose) on it and check it each hour or so to make sure the bottom is not getting to brown.  It is okay to gently move it around and get different parts to the edge to brown.  A little browning and crisping on the edges is what you want, but you don't want it to burn.  You can also prevent it overbrowning by adding more splashes of broth, but be careful not to add too much and make it soggy.

• 3:00  (45 minutes-1 hour)

Set the table, including buns, butter, salt, pepper and cranberry sauce. (Ideally, someone else could do this for you, since you're preparing them a gourmet dinner!)   Prepare another surface for the buffet with a tablecloth and all of your serving platters.  You will probably need to begin glazing your turkey every 10-15 minutes at this point too.  When the turkey comes to 170 F, remove it from the oven, place it on a large platter or cutting board, tent it with foil and let it rest at least 30 minutes or up to 90 minutes before carving and serving.  Heat the oven now to 400 F.  Now make the gravy.  Remove the vegetables from the roasting pan.  Place the roasting pan directly onto a burner or two on your stove and turn it to medium heat. Add a splash of wine and cook it down, scraping up all the brown bits you can.  Add some chicken stock and/or water to make the volume of gravy that you want and bring it to a simmer.  In a mug or bowl, mix 1/2 cup of flour and 1 cup water until it is smooth and there are no lumps.  Pour about a third of it into your gravy and allow it to simmer.  If it is not thick enough, add more flour mixture and simmer again.  Continue until you have the right consistency (Coats the back of a spoon) then season to taste with salt and pepper and pour into (microwave safe) gravy boats (or if your family loves gravy as mine does, a small pitcher) and cover with foil to keep warm.   Have a cup of tea (or a cocktail ... maybe two).

• 4:15 (90 minutes)

This is the home stretch and the busiest task list.  It will take less time if you have a helper or two.  It might take longer if you've had more than two cocktails haha.  Try to delegate if possible, but even if you are on your own, 90 minutes of concentrated work should get it done.

Place the pot of potatoes on a burner, add a good amount of salt, and turn it on high.  Put the lid on and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, they should take about 20 minutes to become tender, depending how large the pieces are.  Check them occasionally.  Once they are fork tender, drain them and leave them in the pot with the lid on to keep warm. 

Meanwhile, Toss the carrots and parsnips with olive oil, salt and pepper (or, if you have some as I do this year, replace the olive oil with duck fat Mmmmmm), then spread out on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and put in the oven.  Set the timer for 30 minutes.  Check the potatoes.

Place the Brussels sprouts and squash into two large sauté pans.  Add a glug of chicken stock (just enough to cover the bottom of the pan) and some salt to each pan then cover and set over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until they are about halfway cooked.  At that point, remove the lid and allow the stock to evaporate and the vegetables to brown. (Check and drain the potatoes?) Don't move them around too much or they won't caramelize.  This will take a further 10 minutes or so.  You could also roast them off the way you did the carrots and parsnips if you don't have the space on your cooktop to do them.  I find the Brussels sprouts get a little bitter that way, but they are still good.  Check the parsnips and carrots and remove them from the oven when they have begun to brown and caramelize.  If they are not finished after 30 minutes, add another 5-10 minutes to the timer.

Take the salad from the fridge, sprinkle it with the grated cheddar cheese and the pea shoots or alfalfa sprouts and set on your buffet table.

Use a pastry brush to brush the tops of the pies with full cream and sprinkle with white sugar.  Remove the parsnips/carrots from the oven, turn it down to 350F and then put the pies in for 1 hour.

Put an appropriate amount of cream and butter into a microwave safe dish and heat gently in the microwave while you rice the potatoes (push them through the ricer back into the pot).  Add the heated cream, some salt and pepper, stir and taste to check seasoning.  Leave in the pot, covered, to keep warm.

Carve the turkey and put the platter on the buffet, covered with foil.  Don't forget to place all of the bones and carcass into a stock pot to make a delicious broth in a few days!

Place the carrots and parsnips on a platter, drizzle with balsamic reduction, sprinkle with sage leaves and place on the buffet.

Put the Brussels sprouts and squash on a platter, sprinkle with walnuts and goat cheese and use a small grater or microplane to grate over the zest of a lemon or two. 

Reheat the gravy in the microwave and place on the buffet.

Put the potatoes and stuffing into a large bowls and place on the buffet. 

Invite everyone to come and serve themselves.  Pour yourself a glass of wine (or tea).  Once they've all finished, dish yourself up a plate, remove the pies from the oven to cool, and enjoy your masterpiece! (and a few more glasses of wine ... or tea)