Going live effective immediately – and open right through to Christmas Eve, JB and I are on duty to answer your Christmas cooking questions. ✨Welcome to our Christmas Cooking Hotline!!✨
JB and I are on call!
I’m so excited to be doing this! I’ve had the idea of a Christmas cooking hotline bubbling away in my mind for years, but I always hesitated because I worried it would be too much to handle on my own.
But now that JB is part of the face of RecipeTin and it’s not just me, there’s two of us here to answer your questions. So for the first time ever, we’re opening up a hotline for Christmas cooking questions, bringing together home-cook practicality and actual proper chef experience (JB!), which means more ideas and better problem-solving for you!
So drop your question in the comments section below and we will answer as many as we can (we need to sleep, and we have some other work things to finish!). Ask anything you want, like:
Can I make this ahead, freeze it, or reheat it?
What can I substitute if I can’t find an ingredient?
How do I scale recipes up or down?
Help, something’s going wrong – how do I fix it?
Menu planning, timing, or oven logistics chaos 😅
Even though our last day of work is this Friday, JB has generously agreed to continue helping me with questions right through to Christmas Eve. Thank you JB, you’re the best.
And now…. the Christmas Cooking Hotline is now officially open. So drop your questions below and we’ll jump in to help wherever we can, because Christmas cooking is much more fun with backup! 🎄 – Nagi x
PS Few out-takes from today’s little Christmas shooting session. We know how to cook better than taking selfies. Promise. 😅
PPS Who nailed The Wink? 😉
Life of Dozer
My favourite Dozer Christmas outfit.
Though to be honest, Santa spends most of his time like this:
Which I’m sure is Santa after a few too many Christmas wines. This has absolutely nothing to do with his ride – or the stable hand who saddled up his ride. 😂
Thanks Nagi for all your wonderful recipes in 2025.
I trialled the Xmas Trifle but I had two problems, even though I’m super careful with the measurements.
1. The jelly took ages to set for each layer. Triple or even four times longer than the recipe. It eventually set.
2. 80g cornflour is a lot for the custard – mine was way too thick, even after adding the heated milk. Are you sure that’s correct? Regardless, I might try the Paul’s.
Hello everybody,
I wish to make the brown sugar glazed carrots for Christmas. Can I use baking paper to save scrubbing trays?
Hi Nagi,
I want to mae your baked strawberry cheesecake. Can I make it the night before?
Last year I did my first Maple Glazed ham. It was spectacular! 🙂 This year I do not have ham on the the bone but instead a 2.4kg “nugget” of boneless ham which doesn’t appear to have the skin and the fat. Can I still glaze this? If not what is the best way to prepare it.
Hello! I Loooove all of you recipies! quite often you use a pot with oil for deepfrying as apose to a deepfryer. is there any advantage to the way you do it. Thanks!
Every year I do the Maple Glazed Ham. This year I have an 11kg ham! How long will it take to cook? Do I double the cooking time of the 5kg ham?
Hi, I am following your recipe for whole roasted turkey (fresh turkey not pre-brined). However, I was wondering if I can follow the steps for your turkey breast for a whole turkey I.e, using compound butter. Would the compound butter be more flavourful?
Christmas pudding in cloth ..I make one every year and I cannot get that flourey crust ,my flour always comes off with the cloth ..Why ?? I love all your recipes I have your cook books too ..Hugs to Dozer ..
Can I make and freeze the Christmas stuffing, the one with pork sausages. And the white loaf thanks
I want to make gingerbread with the kids but my molasses leaked all through the pantry… what can I use instead of molasses?
I’d lean into things that can be mostly prepared in advance – Slow Cooker Crispy Chinese Shredded Chicken can be cooked, browned and frozen before, slow cooker beef and broccoli can be prepared in the morning. Emergency dump and bake fried rice is also pretty hands off, could also serve with char Siu which is fine served cool. Or have a dumpling making day to churn out lots and they can be frozen then quickly cooked on the night. Wonton soup stock could be made in advance then reheated.
👍😀
I want to make your 3 hour lamb shoulder bone-in but I have a 6.5 lb lamb shoulder. I see in the recipe instruction notes what to do if the shoulder is smaller but I don’t see how to adjust cooking time for a larger shoulder-Help! Thanks
Hi Nagi, firstly I wanted to say you are amazing for offering to answer everyones questions. I am making the roast beef tenderloin and slow cooked turkey breast for 25 people. The eye fillets I have bought are approx 700-800g each. How would the cooking time vary from your recipe which is based on a larger piece and also I would be cooking multiple pieces at the same time
Hi Liz,
do you have some experience with hosting 21 people?
Hi all
Thank you so much for this space. I bought a turkey Buffe – pre roasted. What do I do with it on the day?
Merry Christmas Nagi and JB,
Is there any chance of putting a video of you making Pork Sausage Apple Stuffing in Pancetta Cups.
Thank you and cheers to a wonderful New Year
What would you make for dessert?
One guest has a nut and egg whites allergy (and legume so none of that chickpea water stuff).
One guest is a lactose intolerant coeliac.
We always end up with multiple desserts and it’s a (delicious) pain. But surely there’s a simple answer that’s also Christmas level special.
Not sure if this is what you are looking for 🤷🏻♂️😇🙂
But what about “Feuerzangenbowle”?
Feuer -> fire
zangen -> tongs
bowle -> punch
mulled wine with a rum soaked sugarloaf thats lit above it.
just do a quick search on the internet.
no nuts, eggs, milk..
and probably something special
cheers 🍷
Black sticky rice with coconut cream and mango. Everyone loves it and it seems to be free of the ingredients you need to avoid.
Hi Martin, wanted to let you know that I have starters/appetizers and rice under control, what I need is ideas for mains…..one chicken, one pork, one beef and one vege. Many thanks again
Hi Liz,
okay, with your experience and equipment its a different story 😀
And you are probably more experienced than i am.
First thing that came to mind about asian theme and mass-production was soup. Wether a thai tom ka, a vietnamese pho or a japanese ramen, all would be good to make ahead.
And when it is time to eat, you just put the soup base on a table and let the guests build their own version by adding meat, fish, tofu, veggies, herbs and sauces.
Its fun for the quests and no work for you.
This could be a starter or a main, too.
Next thing was ‘oven’?
I didnt make many asian roast myself, but Nagi has a recipe for chinese pork char siu and filipino adobo with pork or chicken.
Maybe thats something for you.
When I think about chinese buffet restaurants here in germany, there is probably a thai curry, red or yellow, with chicken and mixed veggies and a beef with onions and bell peppers or carrots in a dark sauce, soy sauce based. Rice and noodles on the side.
Made in big batches and kept warm for some time.
If you are cooking chinese beef for a crowd, check out Nagis article about tenderising beef. Could save you some money.
A stir-fry could be a quick thing, if everything is prepared, maybe even pre-cooked meat and veggies.
But if you ask me, not sure if i would wanna do live cooking stir-fries for 40 people and be the only one hungry 😉
If you would do live stir-fries, you could increase your output by putting something in a steamer while you are stirring.
There are some recipes here on Nagis website.
I hope it is okay, if i put a link to another site here:
‘The woks of life’ have a section just for steamed things.
https://thewoksoflife.com/category/recipes/steamed-dishes/
Dumplings, whole fish, pork spare ribs
I am not experienced enough to give you precise recipes for so many people.
But I hope there is something helpful for you.
👋😀
Thanks so much Martin for your input, all very helpful and will look into all your suggestions! So very grateful for your time and trouble! Have a wonderful Christmas Liz 🎄🎅🏻
You are welcome, Liz.
Happy holidays to you, too 😃😃
And maybe someone else read this and added something to the menu 🙂
Hi. I have bought a haunch of Venison boned and rolled for Xmas day. It is too big for the day. Can I capaccio som of it to have with cold meats?
Hi Martin, yes I do have experience with hosting lots of people in my home…had a catering company many years ago and have had many, many parties here at home minimum 30 people. I have two kitchens , and my main kitchen has a Molteni, which I’m sure you know is a professional stove. It has four large burners plus a large middle cast iron hotplate and a very large oven all gas. The other kitchen has four normal domestic burners plus an electric oven. My problem is the menu…I’ve cooked all types of cuisines but not Chinese for a large crowd. This is where I hoped to have some insight to which recipes could be prepared in advance and which needed least amount of time in the final stages, in short which recipes would make my life easier. Thanks for responding and hope to hear from you soon. Liz