31 December 2023 , 16:16
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This tip will take your roast potatoes to the next level.
When it comes to cooking Christmas Dinner, the meat is important, and the vegetables are great, but arguably it's the roast potatoes that are the star of the show, and outside the festive season, creating the perfect Sunday roast also means ensuring that you have the perfect recipe for everyone's favourite side dish.
While everyone seems to have their own tricks and techniques for cooking roasties that they all swear by as the go-to - from using a certain type of fat to adding Marmite before popping them in the oven, there is one top chef who has claimed to have a secret ingredient that he vows makes the humble spud taste even more "epic" than usual.
Great British Menu winner and owner of Benedicts Restaurant in Norwich, Richard Bainbridge, has previously revealed to The Mirror his hack to make roast potatoes have amazing flavour - and he claims the tip also works well to spruce up your turkey.
So just what is it the award-winning chef does to elevate his potatoes? It's simple.
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Each Christmas he always makes sure to sprinkle a crushed Chicken OXO stock cube over his potatoes and bird before roasting them in the oven as he claims it tastes "epic".
And when it comes to pimping up your starter, Bainbridge advocates smashing up some frozen raspberries and adding them on top of a prawn cocktail.
If this isn't enough to get you in the cooking mood, the expert also shared some of his top tips for organisation and preparation ahead of the festive season when it next rolls around - but these recommendations also apply to whenever you are cooking a big meal for a large number of guests.
The main advice he can give is to make most of your accompaniments as far in advance as possible and freeze them, this includes pastry, cranberry sauce, mincemeat, and brandy butter.
He explained: "When it comes to any large party or when you are required to cook for large numbers preparation is essential, for example, two weeks before Christmas you should start writing your to-do list and making any items you can in advance so that the day before and the morning of, the bulk of your preparation is complete and you can be calm and relaxed with a glass of Sherry in hand as no one likes to see a stressed chef."
Bainbridge continued: "In the lead-up to Christmas homemade pastry is a store cupboard must. Make it in advance and it can be kept for up to three months in the freezer, perfect for those emergency canapés.
"Mincemeat is another great store cupboard essential which can be made at the end of the summer... if you're that organised, while Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, and brandy butter are some of the greatest things about Christmas and as they contain so much booze the flavour can be preserved for ages."
He added: "The brandy butter can be whipped up in a large batch and used all year round - my mum will still be finding uses for it next July."
Do you have a story to tell? Email: emma.mackenzie@reachplc.com