It’s already mid-November… only six weeks until Christmas. Why not start your holiday meal prep now and save yourself from a mad rush in the kitchen come Christmas Eve? Given the amount of time we spend on planning and preparing meals, it’s a good idea to start cooking some dishes now that will keep until Christmas.
The basics: planning
Before getting started, it’s important to plan what you want to cook. First, settle on your menu, and how many hors d’oeuvres, appetizers, dishes and desserts you want to make. If you are thinking about giving out gourmet gifts, add them to your list. Check out this article for some great
gourmet gift ideas. You can then create a calendar and choose which days you will cook each recipe. To help you with your choices, here are some recipes that can be made ahead of time.
Hors d’oeuvres and appetizers
Why not opt for a soup? They’re easy to make and freeze very well. If you do decide on soup, wait until after you have warmed it up before adding the cream or milk. If you choose a soup with a starch (rice, barley or pasta), be sure not to overcook it, as it will continue cooking when you reheat it. If you find it is too thick, you can always add some broth before serving. All that’s left is to add a nice topping such as grilled nuts, a drizzle of flavoured oil, fresh herbs or a few croutons.
Small meatballs served as an appetizer, arancini, dumplings and stuffed phyllo pastry hors d’oeuvres all taste great out of the freezer. Simply place them on a tray in the freezer, and once frozen, store them in a container. The key is to keep them in the freezer until you’re ready to use them.
Dishes
Depending on your choice of dishes, you can either freeze the whole meal or only some ingredients. If you try our
vegan meatball stew recipe, you can freeze the meatballs and sauce separately.
Another classic dish you can cook in advance is the famous
tourtière or meat pie, vegetarian or not. You can freeze them before or after cooking.
If you opt for a traditional meal, turkey stuffing can also be frozen. When the time comes, all you’ll have left to do is stuff and cook the turkey.
Sauce-based dishes and stews freeze and reheat very well. Baked pasta dishes like a lasagna can also be frozen.
As for sides, if you go for a salad, it will almost certainly have to be made at the last moment. That said, your dressing will keep in the refrigerator for a few days and oil-based dressings can go in the freezer. If you decide to serve purée or gratin instead, these can also be frozen.
Desserts
Most desserts stand up to freezing very well. Cookies, cakes, doughnuts, pies with or without top crusts, baked fruit pies or even a classic sugar pie all freeze well.
If you decide to make cookies, remember that most cookie dough is frozen raw. You can shape the balls and freeze them on a baking sheet, then store them in a container in the freezer until you are ready to bake them on the day. If you want to make cookies for decorating (using a cookie cutter), you can freeze them in balls and simply thaw, roll and cut the dough before baking.
Here are some recipes that can easily be frozen:
Chocolate Holiday Sausages
Chocolate-Coated Dates Stuffed with Homemade Nutella
Almond Brownie
Sides
Some preparations like jellies and jams to be served with cakes, cheese trays and cute canapés can be stored in the refrigerator for several days or be frozen. Caramel fruit and chocolate sauces can also go in the freezer. If you do any pickling make fruit ketchup, you can preserve them and they will keep for long time without crowding your freezer.
With all this advanced prep, you’ll have everything under control and can focus on relaxing and enjoying as much time with your loved ones as possible.
