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Right, so Christmas is fast approaching, and with that comes the expectation of a festive feast. So follow these simple steps to concoct the perfect meal this Christmas.

Shopping list (for roughly 6 people):

• ƒƒ8 Large Potatoes
• 2 Cauliflowers
• ƒƒ1 Bag of carrots
• ƒƒ1 Bag of sprouts
• ƒƒ1 Onion
• ƒƒ1 Lemon
• ƒƒ1 Apple
• ƒƒ1 Bulb of garlic
• ƒƒ12 Small Sausages
• ƒƒ16 Rashers of streaky bacon
• ƒƒ225g Sausage meat
• ƒƒ1 Frozen Turkey
• ƒƒ2 Pints of milk
• ƒƒ300g Cheddar cheese
• ƒƒPlain flour
• ƒƒ100g Breadcrumbs
• ƒƒSunflower oil
• ƒƒThyme
• ƒƒGround Nutmeg
• Parsley
• Salt
• Pepper
• English Mustard

The Turkey

The centre piece of any Christmas meal! Get this bit right, and the rest will seamlessly fall into place. Preparation for the turkey begins the day before (or at least very early the same morning), so to all of you that have picked this up wanting to cook for tonight, think again! (Or buy a fresh turkey if you’re feeling flush!). Scrub out your sink and fill it with cold water (yup, it’ll defrost faster in cold water). Stick the turkey in it, and leave it in there for an hour for every kilogram that the bird weighs, changing the water every half an hour or so. When it comes to cooking the turkey, the first thing you’ll need to do is prepare your stuffing, so do that then check back here!

Right, now that your stuffing is ready and the turkey is defrosted, you need to prepare the turkey. Spread its legs to reveal the cavity inside (ooh-err missus), reach inside and remove the giblets, which should have conveniently been provided in a plastic bag. Leave these to one side for the moment, and then stuff the turkey with your home made stuffing. Rub a reasonable amount of salt on the skin to help it crisp up, replace the legs to seal the stuffing inside, and place in an oven on a roasting tray, pre-heated to 1900C, for 3 hours plus half an hour for every 2 kg over 4kg, basting every 30 minutes. Now get on with everything else! Once removed from the oven, drain the juices into a jug, cover the turkey in foil, and leave to rest for
30 minutes.

The Stuffing

The stuffing for your turkey is nice and straightforward, and makes a good bit of meat excellent. The only cooking required is to dice the onion and soften it in a pan with a small knob of butter. Once completed, simply
mix together with the sausage meat, 100g breadcrumbs, a sprig of thyme, a pinch of ground nutmeg, couple of
tablespoons of chopped parsley and the juice of half a lemon, job done!

Roast Potatoes

A nice easy one for you here. Get your potatoes, peel them, and chop into about 3 pieces. Stick them in some salted water and boil until only just solid in the middle (test with a knife). Strain them in a colander, and once the water has run off, cover liberally in salt and sunflower oil and toss until they’re all coated and the surfaces of the potatoes have fluffed up. Put them on a baking tray lined with grease proof paper, throw 3 or 4 coarsely chopped cloves of garlic over them, and bung in the oven about half an hour before the turkey is due to be finished. When you remove the turkey, toss or turn the potatoes, and replace for another half an hour until crispy.

Cauliflower Cheese

A nice straightforward dish that is best made after the turkey comes out of the oven. Start by breaking the florets off the cauliflowers, and putting them in salted water to boil for 5 minutes. Now crack out a saucepan, and melt 50g of butter in it. Add flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then gradually add your 2 pints of milk, whisking regularly to prevent it from going lumpy. Once you have reached a good consistency, grate in 3/4 of your 300g of cheese, season with salt and pepper and stick a dollop of mustard in and stir. That’s the cheese sauce done.
Drain the cauliflower and put it in an oven dish, pour your cheese sauce over it and grate the remainder of the cheese over it. If you’ve timed it right, you should have 5 minutes before the potatoes are done to whack it under the grill and get some colour on the top!

The Gravy

The gravy should also be done once the turkey is out and resting, though the stock for it can be prepared beforehand. Take the giblets removed from the turkey, and add to about a pint and a half of water in a saucepan with a couple of cloves of garlic, and some seasoning. Leave that covered and simmering for about half an hour. Once the turkey is out, mix the juices with flour in the same way as with the cheese sauce. Strain the stock that you made, then add that to the juices & flour gradually until you reach your preferred consistency!

The Trimmings

The trimmings; arguably the bit that makes or breaks a roast dinner. To compliment everything else, we recommend sprouts, carrots and pigs in blankets. Start with the pigs in blankets – simply cut 6 streaky rashers of bacon in half along the width, and wrap around the sausages. These can be put on the roasting tray with the potatoes for the last 10-15 minutes of their cooking time. For these last 15 minutes, boil the sprouts in salted water for a minute or two, and chop the bacon into lardons in the meantime. Remove the sprouts from the water with a slotted spoon, and put your peeled and chopped carrots in the pan and leave them to boil until soft. Add the sprouts and bacon to a frying pan with a large knob of butter and fry until the bacon is cooked – if you don’t like sprouts normally these are well worth trying!

And there you have it! All you need to know to produce the ultimate Christmas dinner.