Take the stress out of festive entertaining with Curtis Stone’s top cooking tips. From carving ham to making pavlova, you’re guaranteed to have your easiest Christmas ever.
Curtis Stone's top tips for a stress-free Christmas
1. How to carve ham
Taking on the Christmas ham? Curtis Stone shares his two top tricks to carving perfect slices.
You can carve the ham one of two ways. While it's on the bone, you can sort of try and carve it off like that, or you can cheat which is what I like to do. I stand the ham up and I cut straight down and straight through. That way, you've still got a beautiful piece of the bone that can stand up right there on the board, and you can make sure that you're carving across the grain of the ham. Stabilise it with your carving fork, and then just carve straight through, beautiful slices and you're not having to go around the bone. Merry Christmas!
2. How to make crispy pork crackling
Plating up a pork roast this Christmas? Curtis Stone shares his secret to making crispy crackling every time.
If you want to get beautiful crunchy crackling, the real key is to make sure the skin of the pork is nice and dry. So you can towel it off, but the best thing to do is leave it in the fridge for at least a day, uncovered, before it's time to roast it.
3. How to make the perfect ham glaze
Want to take your ham glaze to the next level? Here’s a trick you’ll need to try.
Here’s a little trick you can try when you're glazing your ham. Instead of using a pastry brush, why don't you try using a bunch of thyme or rosemary as the brush. It will add just a little bit of extra flavour to the ham as you baste away. Merry Christmas!
4. How to make the perfect pavlova
Whipping up a pav for your guests? Curtis Stone shares his top tip to creating the perfect homemade base.
If you've ever seen the droplets on the outside of a pavlova, that's known as weeping. It happens because all the sugar hasn't been dissolved properly, so make sure you beat it really well.
5. How to make the perfect seafood platter
Serving a seafood platter over ice? Here’s a game-changing tip to try.
If you're serving a seafood platter over fresh ice, sprinkle some salt over the top of the ice. This will help set the ice and keep it together, so it will melt much slower and you'll get a much longer life out of your seafood platter.
6. How to choose the right size turkey
Choosing the perfect sized turkey for your crowd can be tricky. Curtis Stone shares his top tips to getting it right.
Choose the right size turkey for your group. As a general guide, aim for 450 grams bone-in turkey per person. So four to four and a half kilos is great for serving eight to ten people, with leftovers of course. Be generous, there's a million things you can do with those leftovers and they're really delicious.
