Where to Find Recipes for a Traditional Christmas Dinner in England

Cherie Bowser
If you would like to make a traditional Christmas dinner in England, you are in for a treat. A traditional Christmas dinner in England is very similar to a Sunday dinner. The traditional Christmas dinner in England is a feast of roast turkey or a goose with stuffing, oven roasted potatoes, Brussels Sprouts, bread sauce, cranberry sauce, gravy, mincemeat pie, and Christmas pudding that is doused in flaming brandy that was known to ward off evil spirits.

Traditional Christmas Dinner in England: Roast Turkey with Chestnuts

A traditional Christmas Dinner in England starts with a roast turkey and The Worldwide Gourmet has a great easy recipe for a roast turkey with chestnut stuffing. The total preparation time for this recipe is 20 minutes and the total roasting time is 20 - 25 minutes per pound. The recipe is simple, after you empty the turkey cavity, brush the turkey inside and out with soft or melted butter and cover with thin strips of fatty bacon. Prepare the stuffing in a skillet by melting 3 tablespoons of butter and adding 1 onion finely chopped, turkey giblets that are coarsely chopped, 9 ounces of mushrooms coarsely chopped and cook for 5 minutes. Place the mixture into a bowl and add 9 ounces of plain chestnut purée, 1 chopped celery stalk, 3 tablespoons of cream, 2 ounces of dry or fresh breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Stuff the turkey with the mixture. Pull the skin over the opening and sew or skewer it closed to keep the stuffing in. Roast in a preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes per pound. You can print this recipe off the Worldwide Gourmet website.

Traditional Christmas Dinner in England: Oven Roasted Potatoes with Bacon and Rosemary

This recipe can be found on the Heritage Recipes website and Oven roasted potatoes with bacon and rosemary is perfect for your traditional Christmas dinner in England. First, you will need to par boil 6 pounds of new potatoes and are quartered or halved. Next, you will preheat the oven to 450 degrees. After you drain the potatoes, let them cool. Using ½ cup of unsalted butter at room temperature, coat the bottom and sides of a shallow pan. Toss the potatoes, 6 ounces of bacon that has been chopped and fried, ¼ cup of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of dried rosemary, 1 teaspoon of salt, and pepper to taste and put into a shallow pan. Roast, the potatoes turning often, until all the fat is absorbed and the potatoes are crisp, approximately 60 - 90 minutes. If are cooking your turkey at 325 degrees and don't have two ovens, you may want to make this recipe ahead of time and reheat it when the turkey is almost done. You can download this recipe in PDF format to print a copy of it on the Heritage Recipes website.

Traditional Christmas Dinner in England:Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts

All British Foods website has a great recipe for your Traditional Christmas dinner in England that is Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts. Prior to adding the turkey to the oven, you will want to take 12 ounces of fresh chestnuts and with a small sharp knife, make a Small cut on the flat side of each chestnut. Bake the nuts in their skins at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Peel off the outer shell and the inner skin. Right before the turkey is done, cook the Brussels sprouts in salted boiling water for 8 - 10 minutes, until tender. Right before serving, toss the chestnuts and Brussels sprouts with the butter and pepper until the butter is melted. You can print a copy of this recipe for your traditional Christmas dinner in England on the All British Food website.

Traditional Christmas Dinner in England: Bread Sauce

Your traditional Christmas dinner in England would not be complete without the bread sauce. Essentially-England website has a delicious bread sauce for your roast turkey. The day before Christmas, you will want to start your bread sauce. Pour 14 fluid ounces of milk into a pan. Add ½ teaspoon of salt, 5 black peppercorns, 1 bay leaf, and grated nutmeg to taste. Peel one onion and cut in half and add 2 - 3 cloves into the halved onions and add these to the milk. Bring the milk to a boil and remove from head. Place the lid on the pan and let it sit for at least half an hour or so. Next, lift out the onion and spices with a slotted spoon and strain the milk. Return the milk to the pan and add 2 ounces of breadcrumbs and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until thick and creamy. Stir in 1 ounces of butter and keep warm until you are ready to serve it. You can print this recipe on the Essentially-England website.

Traditional Christmas Dinner in England: Cranberry Sauce

Add homemade cranberry sauce for your traditional Christmas dinner in England. It is very easy to make and Mary Martin has a great easy and delicious recipe that you will love. It is very simple to make using fresh cranberries, sugar, and water and a saucepan. You can find the entire recipe: Cranberry Sauce Recipe: For Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Everyday.

Traditional Christmas Dinner in England: Turkey Gravy

Making turkey gravy for your Traditional Christmas dinner in England is very simple. Pour the juices of the turkey in a fine-mesh sieve and skim off the fat. Take your roasting pan and place it over two burners on your stove. Add two cups of water, salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute while scrapping the pan. Melt ½ cup of butter in a large heavy pot and stir in ¾ cup of flour. Cook your roux over moderate heat for approximately 5 minutes. Add the stock mixture slowly while you keep whisking to prevent any lumps. Bring the mixture to a boil and continue to whisk occasionally. Stir in turkey juices and add salt and pepper to taste. Add 1 - 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar to taste.

Traditional Christmas Dinner in England: Easy Mincemeat Pie

This is a very easy mincemeat pie for your Traditional Christmas dinner in England that you can find on the Cooksrecipes.com website. First, you will want to preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Place 2 cups of prepared mincemeat into a large bowl, add 2 peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped apples, ¾ cups of raisins (optional), ¼ cup cognac (optional), and stir to mix completely. Place a pie crust layer in the center of a 9-inch pie pan and fill it with the mincemeat filling. Next, dot with ¼ cup of butter and ¼ cup of cognac (optional). Cover with top crust and seal. Make slits in 2 to 3 spots on the pie and brush the top crust with beaten egg yolks and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 400 degrees and bake 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake another 20 minutes or until the crust is brown. You can print this recipe on the Cooksrecipes.com website.

Traditional Christmas Dinner in England: Christmas Pudding

This traditional Christmas dinner in England Christmas pudding recipe is very easy and delicious. For great Christmas pudding results, you may want to purchase a pudding basin or steamer, but you may use a pressure cooker. This Christmas pudding recipe will keep up to a year in a cool place, so don't worry if you have any leftovers. First, you will want to mix 6 ounces of suet, 6 ounces of soft brown or demerara sugar, 6 ounces of seedless raisins, 6 ounces of stoned prunes, 6 ounces of self-raising flour, 4 ounces of chopped mixed peel, ½ teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of mixed spice, ½ teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg. Beat 4 large eggs and 5 fluid ounces of milk in a bowl until frothy, stir into the dried ingredients until it is completely mixed. Let the mixture sit in a cool place, but not in the refrigerator for 12 hours. After 12 hours, place the mixture into pudding basins and cover with a layer of folded greaseproof paper and tie with string. Cook, covered in a water bath for 3 hours. Always be sure to keep 1 - 2 inches of simmering water in the pan at all times or you can use a pressure cooker, which you will cook for 1-¼ hours. Before you serve your Christmas pudding, steam for an hour in a saucepan or 30 minutes in a pressure cooker. Flame with brandy and serve. You can print this recipe on the Essentially-England website as well as find a No-fat Christmas Pudding recipe.

Traditional Christmas Dinner in England: Christmas Crackers

Your Traditional Christmas dinner in England would not be complete until you open some Christmas Party Crackers. You can find some on the Old English Crackers website.

http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/recipes/roast-turkey-with-chestnuts/

http://www.heritagerecipes.com/holiday/roasted-potatoes.htm

http://www.allbritishfood.com/brussels%20sprouts%20with%20chestnuts.php

http://www.essentially-england.com/bread-sauce.html

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/lakeland-1-litre-pudding-steamer/F/keyword/pudding+steamer/product/13272?src=awdef&afid=91818&afname=!!!name!!!

http://www.essentially-england.com/christmas-pudding.html

http://www.cooksrecipes.com/pie/easy_mincemeat_pie_recipe.html

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2241341/cranberry_sauce_recipe_for_thanksgiving.html?cat=22

Published by Cherie Bowser

I am a single mother of three girls ages 5, 10, and 14. I am currently a full-time caretaker for a patient with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). I love taking care of my children as well as being a care taker f...  View profile

11 Comments

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  • Tina Twito10/29/2009

    Ooh yum!

  • Rhonda ODonnell10/23/2009

    Nice thanks

  • Cheryl McCann10/22/2009

    Interesting article. Thanks.

  • Angel Vee10/22/2009

    Great write up!

  • 3cardmonte10/21/2009

    I am from the UK, and don't forget the stuffing!

  • Betty Malone10/21/2009

    Nice report..I bet John could do this! I just realized that!

  • Shaheen Darr10/21/2009

    very interesting article :)

  • Maja Jordan10/20/2009

    Great article. I have always wondered what mincemeat was since I read Great Expectations.

  • John Smither10/20/2009

    Good report on this traditional British meal, we will usually have 3 or 4 choices of vegetables (sprouts, parsnips, carrots,swede), 2 or 3 kinds of potatoes and you are right it is a feast.

  • Jolynne M Hudnell10/20/2009

    Wonderfully thorough job on this!

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