The main course is one of the most important dishes of a Christmas dinner because it is what everyone looks forward to eating.

When compared to a Sports Day, it is the main event athletes work hard for and it usually attracts the largest crowd of spectators.

Many people argue that a Christmas dinner is not that different to a Sunday roast and that the main ingredients include the meat/fish, vegetables and Yorkshire puddings.

The last thing any budding chef wants is to be half way through serving the main course to realise that the carrots have not been put on, or that you completely forgot to make the sauces. So here is Ulster weavers Christmas cook help guide to cook the perfect Christmas main course.

Traditionally, a Christmas dinner includes;

- Turkey (other favourites include duck or chicken)

- Stuffing

- Roast potatoes

- Pigs in blanket

- Brussels sprouts

- Carrots

- Parsnips

- Sauces usually consist of gravy, cranberry sauce and bread sauce.

Got all the ingredients? Check!

Now for timing… please find below a list of all the food in order to make everything so nothing is left burnt or undercooked.

- Turkey (The length of time to cook the meat is dependent on the size of the turkey. Take it out of the freezer the night before to defrost and preheat the oven to 180C. Calculate the cooking time with the methodology of 20 minutes per 450g, plus an extra 20 minutes.)

- Potatoes (Peel and wash the potatoes and then boil them until soft. Then glaze them with olive oil and cook them in the oven for at least 45 minutes/one hour.)

- Pigs in blankets (Whether you are purchasing them ready-made from the shop, or making them yourself by wrapping bacon around sausages, they only need little oven time. Around 30 minutes/45 minutes will suffice.)

- Vegetables (All vegetables only take around 15/20 minutes to cook.)

- Stuffing (Dependent on how crunchy you like your stuffing, it only requires 15 minutes to cook.)

- Sauces (Can be prepared either the night before, before you start or right at the end. They do not need to be cooked, so if you have a spare amount of time whilst the potatoes are cooking why not prepare them then.)

So don your aprons and cook up a master piece this Christmas and serve with our festive themed tea towels!

Tags: Christmas cooking, Christmas dinner

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 14th, 2011 at 11:42 am and is filed under Party Ideas, Recipe Ideas and Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.