A home cook has shared how she starts making Christmas dinner in November to save stress and time on the day itself. Suzanne Mulholland’s love for batch cooking landed her a TV show and recipe book deals after she built up a huge following on social media.
As December looms closer, the busy mum-of-two has revealed her top tips for getting ahead well in advance to prepare a family feast – insisting that some elements “actually taste better if you’ve cooked them in advance”.
The 49-year-old cookbook author, who starred in Channel 4 show Batch From Scratch alongside Joe Swash, once declared she ‘hated’ Christmas Day. She was the person who ended up organising the entire event, from presents, to decorations and, of course, the food.
“When the kids were little, I actually didn’t like Christmas. I didn’t feel it was my day. I felt like it was everybody else’s day,” she said. “I look back on it now and think I really did miss some key moments where I would have loved being the one sitting just helping build Lego, or whatever it was, but I felt tied to the kitchen.”
To make a busy life with children easier Suzanne started batch cooking, and after sharing videos on YouTube and Instagram, ‘The Batch Lady’ Instagram account was born. With it, she was able to transform Christmas so she wasn’t cooking all day.
“I started to change gradually. I would make sure my roast potatoes were done, but I always felt like there was quite a lot that maybe I couldn’t do in advance. And then over the years, I’ve actually managed to do it all in advance. Everything.
“If you happen to have a Friday morning or a Tuesday evening in November where you’re not doing anything, you can think, actually, I might get four recipes done for Christmas.”
November is the perfect time to start, she said, and buying a lot of your Christmas food in November can help spread the cost.
“You can do it all in November, when you don’t have every other activity going on, like the Christmas fete at school, your kids Carol concert and your work night out. December becomes really busy for us.”
So, getting ahead for the festive period isn’t just about prepping the Christmas Day meal. Suzanne also batch cooks plenty of one-pot meals to freeze and reheat during December.
Suzanne has two types of recipes – “Either you ‘cook ahead’ – which means cooking it and putting it in the freezer, or ‘grab and cook’ which means you’re making it up raw, and then you’re putting it in the freezer,” she explained.
Suzanne Mulholland, aka, The Batch Lady -Credit:Andrew Hayes-Watkins/PA
What can be cooked in advance?
Accompaniments like bread sauce and cranberry sauce
Sides like roast potatoes
Brussel sprouts – “I do a lovely shredded Brussels sprout with pancetta, and you actually make that in advance, because it shreds, it lasts.”
Homemade Yorkshire puddings
Starters, for example parsnip and apple soup
Desserts, for example panettone bread and butter pudding
Suzanne said: “The whole point of freezer cooking is that you use recipes that are meant to be frozen. Those recipes are specifically created to make sure that they’re going to be delicious.
“People would be so surprised to know that in the absolute top-end restaurants [chefs] prep in advance. A lot of that will come out of freezers and fridges that have been prepped in advance. A lot of things actually taste better if you’ve cooked them in advance.”
What else can be prepped in advance?
While some parts of Christmas can be completely made and frozen, her methods aren’t about doing that for the entire meal. “We’re still cooking Christmas dinner. We’re just not prepping everything from scratch,” explains Suzanne.
“Prepping ahead is really that you’re getting it ready, but you’re not necessarily cooking it. You’re just getting all the ingredients ready together,” she says, adding: “I’ve really created this meal prep kit that when I bring it out, it’s defrosting, and I know that everything’s there.”
Examples of items that can be prepped in advance ready to cook on the day are:
Mixing the stuffing ingredients and putting into balls
Wrapping the bacon around sausages for pigs in blankets
Make the herb butter to use under the turkey skin
Parboiled and seasoned veg ready to roast
Starters and nibbles like sausage rolls or pate
Other ideas and recipes are available in the book The Batch Lady Saves Christmas by Suzanne Mulholland (£25).
Dining and Cooking