Christmas dinner, homemade and delivered, ready to cook with foolproof instructions: the turkey roll, the potatoes and the roast mixed vegetables. That’s how you can make an inexpert cook happy on Christmas Day!
Christmas takeaway – can there be a better gift? Presenting someone you care about with lovingly prepared disposable trays of Christmas feast, ready to go in the oven, with instructions even the ineptest cook will find easy? This year or another year for different reasons, it might become the most desirable recipe.
Or perhaps you are in sore need of a new dish to bring round on Christmas Day, since so far year after year you have done a potato salad which sits on the table not touched much?
It is very often true that in spite of guests bringing food round it is the host who takes care of the basics: the roast and the sides. Fancy desserts or novelty slaws are all very well if we know there will be turkey with trimmings waiting for us.
This is my idea for a takeaway Christmas or a Christmas takeaway – if you deliver it cooked. Simple and easy to serve, if not super-simple to prepare. But that’s the gift after all: making something you can do well for someone more talented in another field.
The roast
I would not suggest gifting an intimidating slab of meat or, worse, a whole bird with bones, wings and all. Assuming the person at the receiving end is not as keen on cooking as we are, the roast must be totally easy to execute and consume.
No daunting (and unpopular) drumsticks or the challenge of carving: bung in the oven and go. That’s why a boneless, stuffed roulade is the perfect candidate.
Turkey is naturally the most fitting because most people don’t object to it; and a roll made from one large breast fillet will feed eight with leftovers. You can also halve it once constructed, for two smaller Christmas lunch parties.
The recipe, with video, is on the Stuffed Turkey Roll page – dive there for the roast and come back for the sides.
The potatoes
You really can’t beat classic roasties and these can be made oven ready; just resist the temptation to fridge them overnight, presuming you’re preparing your gift the day before. Bog-standard potatoes, parboiled until they almost fall apart, seasoned and kickstarted in hot fat can sit in the dish happily at kitchen temperature overnight.
The roast vegetable mix
The root vegetables plus sprouts is my favourite selection. And don’t omit garlic – the squishy cloves will be worth fighting for at the table. Veggies will benefit from marinating in spices and oils; they will be divine when simply roasted for 40 minutes with a shake-and-toss halfway through.
The dishes
I know disposable dishes are wasteful but it’s a special occasion – foil containers with lids are completely fit for the purpose. The lid can be used for covering the turkey instead of foil, as long as not on too tightly.
The dessert
That, fortunately, doesn’t pose a problem! Find a pretty gift box and fill it with mince pies, stollen bites, mini panettone, zimtsterne, spongata, black Christmas cake, fruitcake slices or whatever your heart wishes to gift. Merry Christmas!