9 Gordon Ramsay-Approved Methods For Easy Holiday Dinners
Gordan Ramsay is a household name both here in America and across the pond in his native UK. According to Forbes, Ramsay's television shows account for approximately 75 hours of programming each year and bring in over $150 million in advertising sales for Fox. Outside of this, his restaurant domain, called Gordon Ramsay Restaurant Group, has been awarded over 17 Michelin stars — the highest honor a restaurant can receive.
All this is to say that when it comes to your family dinner this holiday season, chances are Gordon Ramsay has a tip or two. Despite his reputation for being a hollering, tantruming head chef in the kitchen, Ramsay is actually a family man. Married with four children of his own, he has offered a ton of cooking tips to the public over the years. If you're looking for some easy advice to keep holiday meals looking and tasting their best this season, take a cue from the king of Hell's Kitchen himself.
1. Moisten that turkey
Turkey is a popular holiday main course, and yet it can be one of the most difficult to cook. It takes hours to prepare and warm, and if you aren't careful it will go from raw to burned during that final hour or two. Even talented home chefs struggle to keep a turkey's white meat moist. Fortunately, Gordon Ramsay has a solution. Instead of focusing on keeping moisture in during the cooking process, this celebrity chef suggests adding in more.
For added moisture and flavor, you can create a butter mixture including citrus zest, garlic, herbs, and pretty much any other seasoning you like to cook with your turkey. By putting this on top of and under the turkey skin before popping it into the oven, as well as adding more over and under during the cooking process, you can preserve some moisture. Another trick? Draping bacon strips over the turkey. Yes please.
2. Manage your time
Another holiday meal trick that makes all the difference is simple time management. Ramsay recently shared with Radio Times that laying out a timetable is important to stay organized and reduce stress. Some examples? Most veggies can be cut and blanched the day before, reducing both cooking time and time spent in the kitchen. For larger items like the turkey, you can make gravy and dressing ahead of time, and take the turkey out early in the afternoon and allow it to rest. Not everything has to be frantic and timed down to the minute to be perfect.
Chances are, if you aren't overwhelmed, your holiday dinner will come out prettier and tastier if you don't spend all day in the kitchen pulling your hair out. You can also simplify what and when you eat in general. As Ramsay said, "We opt for a late brunch because we only eat twice across that day," explains Ramsay. "There's just too much pressure to start getting everything ready for one o'clock..." That's some pretty sage advice from a high-stress chef on how to chill out this Christmas.
3. Preserve those herbs
On Gordon Ramsay's official Youtube page, he told his audience how he wants the best of the herbs to stay in the food and off the cutting board. Basil is one example of a holiday herb that's great to cook with but often chopped to death by amateur chefs. Ramsay's tip? Unfold the basil leaves and stack them with the largest on the bottom. Roll the leaves all up together and chop up and down to make a chiffonade. The goal is to chop up all of the basil (or whichever herb you are using) without bruising it.
For those who don't have confidence in the kitchen, chopping herbs can be one of the most intimidating things. Instead, we tend to reach for the dried ones out of a jar or bottle. Take a bold step this holiday season and work with fresh herbs knowing it makes a huge difference in the flavor of your holiday dishes.
4. Brine your poultry
If you want to opt out of turkey this year and try something a bit more exotic, go for a roast duck. This is a staple on many British Christmas dinner tables, but is not as common in the U.S. Much like turkey, duck can dry out or be hard to get flavored just right, so Gordon Ramsay has a simple trick to get your duck roasted simply and deliciously: Take the time to brine it for a good while.
According to The Food XP, when Ramsay makes a duck, he brines it for 12 to 15 hours. While this involves some pre-planning for sure, it makes all the difference in terms of texture and flavor. Even if you brine for up to 24 hours, your duck will be in good shape, but take caution beyond that — at some point, duck will absorb too much and just be salty.
5. Leave potato skins on when boiling
Mashed potatoes are a staple of many holiday meal spreads, but they can be a ton of work! While the quickest and easiest way to make mashed potatoes might be out of a box, stay away from those. They are unhealthy, soupy, and not nearly fancy enough to be worthy of your holiday table. Instead, take a cue from Gordon Ramsay, who is a master potato masher. His trick? Keep the skins on.
As he told The F Word, the biggest mistake people make is peeling potatoes before they go into the boiling water. Instead, boil them with the skin on, and peel them while they are still hot. By doing this, the potatoes have some protection against the water, meaning they soften without absorbing much of it. This allows them to come out creamy and mashable without being water-logged. Be careful and wear gloves while you peel those hot potatoes — there's no point in delicious potatoes if it comes with burned fingers as the cost.
6. Speed up cooking times
Seafood and fine meats make excellent main dishes over the holidays, but if you are pressed for time or forget to plan ahead, it can be an intimidating process. However, Gordon Ramsay once again has an excellent tip for cooking meat beautifully — and quickly! Instead of just placing it in the oven, score it first. According to Ramsay via People Magazine, this allows heat to penetrate the meat more quickly and to cook evenly.
Even better? If you are using a marinade, the meat will take it in more deeply if there are score marks present to allow the juices to go inside. This results in a more moist and flavorful main course than if you had simply cooked it in the pan or oven sans scoring. To score your meat, you just need a properly sharpened knife large enough to make incisions along the top of the fish or meat.
7. Cook with peppers sting-free
There are so many different kinds of peppers that bring spice and flavor to food. If you are one of many cultures, chances are at least one of your family heirloom holiday dishes contains some sort of pepper. If it happens to be a variety that brings the heat, it might be tricky to chop them up without stinging your hands or eyes. According to All Delish, Gordon Ramsay avoids the ouch factor over the holidays by washing his hands with lemon juice.
Even if you wash your hands with soap and water, the pepper juices can cling to your skin and burn your skin or eyes if you rub them. Lemon juice will cut through those spicy culprits and protect you from irritation. This works with either bottled lemon juice or fresh lemons and is a quick and economical way to enhance your holiday dinners with amazing flavor without having a painful experience.
8. Keep the stuffing separate
Traditionally, stuffing has been served inside the bird. And while this is the way dressing has been done for generations, it's honestly better to keep it separate. And Ramsay agrees. According to his website, a separate bake will ensure that both the stuffing and turkey are fully cooked — which is safer, too. Nobody wants to get sick from an undercooked dinner.
Cooking your stuffing separately also makes dinner so much easier. You can cook it into little balls and bake it, or you can cook it casserole-style into a baking dish. You can even make it ahead of time and freeze it to make the big day go that much more smoothly. Experiment with different ingredients for a new family recipe. And stay away from the Stove Top! Gordon Ramsay recommends sage and onion, chopped dried fruit and nuts, or even various sausages. There are so many great homemade stuffing recipes out there — vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, etc. Whatever recipe you choose, just simplify your life and keep dinner safe by cooking it away from the bird.
9. Maintain properly sharpened knives
Gordon Ramsay has said in multiple videos and interviews, including this one from All Delish, that keeping your knives sharpened is one of the best ways to create a successful dinner. The sharper your knives are, the less likely you are to make a mistake in the kitchen, including cutting yourself or ruining an ingredient. It also makes things move along much more quickly — dull knives will slip, bruise, and sometimes require you to cut things more than once. If your knives are properly sharpened, you will chop and dice more swiftly.
Gordon Ramsay recommends sharpening your knives twice every time you're in the kitchen — once before you use them, and once after you have cleaned them and are putting them away. If you don't want to go through all that trouble, consider investing in a knife block — they work as storage while sharpening them at the same time.