8th December 2023

Christmas stress can get the best of all of us sometimes. From the events to the gifting, there’s so much to do. Plus, many of us host family dinner over the holidays. We asked our head chef for his tips on how to stay relaxed during the preparations and for his favourite recipe. You can try it at home this year. But first, the tips:

Prepare everything you can, well in advance. Many dishes can be mostly-cooked the night before and finished on the day.
Measure out all your ingredients before you start cooking. You’ll know if you’re missing anything and can make substitutions.
Stay positive. Everyone around you wants this dinner to be great. Ask for help if you need it.
Take the time you need to do things right the first time. This will prevent errors later on.
Don’t prepare too many dishes. Focus on a few unique flavours.
If you have someone helping you cook on the day, make sure to let them know the itinerary.

Now, for a delicious stuffing recipe you can try this Christmas...

Ingredients

500g pork sausage meat
20g sage
75g chestnut
pinch of salt
2 eggs
150g breadcrumbs

Method

Chop the nuts finely
Add the chopped nuts, seasoning, bread crumbs and egg to the sausage meat and mix until evenly spread
Chop the sage finely and add, again mixing thoroughly
Roll into a sausage shape and wrap air tight in clingfilm before steaming at 95 degrees for 25 minutes
Let cool and cut into slices
Add into a pan of 1 tbsp of hot oil to fry and caramelise
Serve with the rest of your Christmas dinner dishes

Alternatively, serve in balls or as fluffy stuffing, rather than rolled and sliced.

Stress-free Christmas stuffing recipe

Ingredients

Method