We all know the feeling. It’s Christmas Day, but rather than enjoying a glass of wine or time catching up with family, you’re peeling vegetables and hoping you’ll have time to get the desserts set. Here are a few tips from The Seaforth, Ullapool Head Chef – Jody Keating
Organisation – This is key to a good Christmas lunch. In the days leading up to Christmas make sure you’ve got absolutely everything you need, from the obvious like a turkey, potatoes and pigs in blankets, to checking you’ve got enough oil to cook with.
Prepare your fresh vegetables the night before – Peel the vegetables and leave them in pans of cold water overnight. This will save you a lot of time on Christmas morning.
Brine your Turkey on Christmas Eve – As turkey is a lean meat, it can become dry quite quickly, so I recommend you brine your turkey for around 12 hours before popping it in the oven to cook. During this process, it’ll absorb extra moisture, which in turn helps it stay moist and juicy. The turkey should rest for an hour once cooked, loosely covered in tin foil and tea towels, giving you an empty oven in which to roast potatoes and other trimmings.
Don’t boil your vegetables – It might seem like the simplest thing to do, roasting all your veg saves so much more time. All can be roasted from raw, especially sprouts, and have much more flavour for doing so.
If you are needing a break from the Christmas stress, we highly recommend a trip to Ullapool, Scotland. Inverness to Ullapool is roughly an hour drive with spectacular mountain views. Ullapool has Dog friendly pubs with great places to stay in Ullapool and of course plenty of things to do including a variety of Ullapool shops for those last minute Christmas gifts. Make sure to make time to grab a Fish and chips in Ullapool, well worth the journey.
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