Holiday Recipes

Plan a holiday menu without bottlenecks

Start with the dish that controls the oven: ham, pot roast, ribs, or a large baked dessert. Then choose sides and sweets that can be made ahead, served at room temperature, or reheated briefly after the centerpiece rests.

Write down oven temperatures and resting times before the day begins. Rolls, pies, bars, and many cakes can be prepared earlier, while meat benefits from a thermometer and a planned rest. Make-ahead notes are included on the individual recipe pages.

Work backwards from the oven

Holiday cooking usually comes unstuck on scheduling rather than technique. Write the serving time at the top of a page and work backwards: the centrepiece and its rest, then anything needing a different oven setting, then the reheats. Two dishes wanting different temperatures at the same moment is a problem to discover the day before, not an hour before.

A large joint will hold perfectly well for thirty or forty minutes under a loose tent of foil, and that window is precisely when the oven is free for rolls, a gratin or a tray of vegetables.

Temperatures for a full table

Pork and ham are safe at 145°F (63°C) with a three-minute rest, poultry at 165°F (74°C) read in the thickest part of the thigh, and stuffing cooked inside a bird at 165°F (74°C) too. Use a thermometer rather than the clock, since a crowded oven runs cooler than the dial claims and no two joints share a shape. A fully cooked ham only needs warming through and glazing, and treating it like a raw roast is the usual reason it arrives dry.

What can be made in advance

Pies, bars, cheesecakes and most dense cakes are no worse on the second day and free the oven when it is most wanted. Roll dough can be shaped and given its final rise in the refrigerator overnight, then baked from cold with a little extra time. Mashed potato holds well warm with extra butter and milk beaten through. Delicate leaves, anything crisp-fried and whipped cream are the items to leave until the last moment.

Reheating without drying

Cover dishes with foil and warm them at a moderate setting instead of blasting them, since the aim is to bring the centre up rather than cook them twice. Add a splash of stock, milk or water to casseroles and gratins first, because they give up moisture in the fridge. Uncover for the last ten minutes if the top needs reviving. Carved meat reheats badly, so slice as close to serving as you can manage.

Travelling with food

Pack dishes in the vessel they were cooked in, cover them tightly, and wedge them with towels inside a box that cannot slide about. Anything sauced travels flat and level or not at all. Cold dishes want a cooler with real ice packs. Food that is neither hot nor refrigerated should not sit out longer than two hours, and a warm car shortens that window further, so plan to reheat properly at the other end rather than hold everything lukewarm.

Scaling and equipment

Doubling a casserole does not double its time in the oven, but it does mean a deeper dish and a slower centre, so lower the temperature a little and allow considerably longer. A roasting rack can be improvised from thick slices of onion and carrot. Where oven space is the true limit, choosing one stovetop side and one no-bake dessert loosens the whole plan.

How these were chosen

The dishes here can be prepared ahead or reheated without collapsing, use tins and trays a home kitchen already owns, and state plainly the point at which each is finished.