Roast potatoes can make or break a Christmas Dinner and those charged with cooking during the festive season will already be fretting about how to get them right on the big day. With all sorts of tricks and techniques doing the rounds, it can be hard to know which advice to listen too.
From which fat to use to whether or not to add Marmite or garlic to the dish before roasting, everyone has their own preferred method. But one-top chef says he has a little-known hack to guarantee “epic” roasties.
Great British Menu winner and owner of Benedicts Restaurant in Norwich, Richard Bainbridge, has 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 what is it the award-winning chef does to elevate his potatoes? It's simple.
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 December 25. And 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 home-made 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."
For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea.
Find recommendations for eating out, attractions and events near you here on our sister website 2Chill
Find recommendations for dog owners and more doggy stories on our sister site Teamdogs
