With Christmas rapidly approaching it can quickly become a whirlwind of food prep, dinners and entertaining, which if you’re the one in the kitchen, can be a little bit stressful.
Thankfully, Aldi have have so many fantastic options for making entertaining easier this Christmas, and we caught up with their Christmas brand ambassador, Catherine Fulvio who was on hand for all of our cooking questions!
We caught up with the TV chef to get her top tips on how to get the perfect roast potatoes, the key to a juicy turkey, as well as how to make cooking for a crowd easy this festive season.
So, bring some magic to the kitchen this December with Aldi who have everything you need for the ultimate Christmas gathering, festive feast, dinner party and cocktail hour using their unbeatable Christmas range of quality food, wine, and beers, it’s your one stop shop this Christmas.
Christmas can be a stressful time for many when it comes to cooking, do you have any tips on making this easier?
I always like to plan the Christmas dinner well in advance – selecting my recipes ahead of time so that so I can draw up a tidy shopping list. On Christmas Eve I prepare all my vegetables and leave them on the oven or hob, I make the cranberry sauce and of course cook the ham.
You can also take the stress out of Christmas by buying party nibbles and you can even buy custard pre-made for the pudding nowadays, if it helps to make your life easier. I of course nip down to my local Aldi, they have absolutely everything you could need to make a delicious Christmas dinner that everyone will enjoy.
What’s the secret to ensuring the star of the show, your turkey, is juicy and delicious?
The key to a juicy and delicious turkey is in the basting – and that means every 20-30 minutes. If the turkey breast is browning too much, don’t forget to cover it with foil to protect it from the direct heat of the oven.
As part of the work I’ve been doing with Aldi this Christmas, I did a Facebook live to showcase the ultimate turkey recipe, and in the video you’ll see that I made a delicious basting with orange juice, chicken stock and melted butter. This basting is poured over the turkey just before you put it in the oven and during the roasting process the delicious turkey juices will blend with the basting liquid, which you can use to spoon over the turkey to keep it juicy and flavourful.
Do you think it’s worth the effort making homemade mince pies and puddings? Or are there some things to just not stress yourself out with this year!
For a lot of people making homemade mince pies and puddings is something that is steeped in tradition. It conjures up memories and there’s a touch of nostalgia around making the pudding and enjoying mince pies after midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. It creates a feeling of togetherness, at home in Ballyknocken it’s a family tradition to prepare mince pies on Christmas Eve.
Having said that, the quality of Aldi’s pre-made mince pies and puddings is outstanding if you just don’t have the time. After all, Christmas is not about stressing, it is about relaxing and enjoying yourself with friends and family.
Ham is always the default to serve with turkey on Christmas Day, do you have any suggestions if you want to switch it up this year?
I’ll let you in on a secret, in my home we have a ham, turkey AND beef wellington on Christmas Day! That way, there is something on the table for everyone. The beef was such a hit last year that this year I am planning on adding a delicious rib of beef to my festive table, Aldi has a delicious Specially Selected 40 Day Matured Irish Angus Three Rib Roast which recently won Christmas Product of the Year, so I can’t wait to serve this at the Christmas table.
When having friends over for drinks around Christmas-time, what are your go-to nibbles to have on hand?
I make a charcuterie and cheese Christmas wreath which is so easy to prepare, and it looks so festive. I simply lay out a large presentation board or platter, create a circle with baby salad leaves to resemble a wreath and then layer meats and cheeses around as if I am decorating the wreath. Rosettes of salami, asparagus spears wrapped with parma ham, mini crostini, goat’s cheese balls, olives, pomegranate seeds for colour and lots of other tasty nibbles form this edible wreath – it’s such a crowd pleaser for very minimal effort.
Cooking for non-meat eaters on the day can be tricky, do you have any fool proof recipes for vegans or vegetarians?
I like the meatiness of mushrooms, so a hit in our household is a creamy mushroom, leek and butternut squash pie, which can easily be adapted to be vegan friendly! Cranberry sauce works really well with this, and stuffing recipes can be easily adapted to be vegan friendly. If you don’t want to work from scratch, Aldi also has an amazing selection of vegan and vegetarian showstoppers for Christmas, which everyone (vegan or not) is sure to enjoy.
Roast potatoes are arguably the best part of Christmas dinner, can you share your top tips on how to get the very best roasties?
Golden wonder or rooster potatoes are my go-to potato for roasting. I peel them, par-steam them and then shake them in the pot to ruffle the edges before turning them in hot goose fat. Don’t forget to season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper – so simple, but so delicious!