Are you seeking Christmas menu ideas, new festive ingredients, inspiration for non-traditional dishes or simply ready to view our range of Christmas products?
Look no further as the Thomas Ridley 2024 Christmas Brochure is available now!
Tony's Top Picks
Tony our new Development Chef has been busy creating Christmas dinner menus and useful tips, designed to help you create delightful and inclusive holiday meals for your customers.
With 4 ready-to-use menus Tony aims to lighten your load over this busy festive period and take the stress out of creating the perfect winter menu.
Everyone’s favourite, the Traditional Christmas Dinner, is a must-have on your menus this season. It includes all the classic dishes that make the holiday special and is sure to be a hit with your guests, view here.
The Vegan Christmas Dinner is an essential addition to your offerings. By including a vegan option, you can attract a growing audience of plant-based eaters and show that you cater to diverse dietary preferences, view menu here.
Preparing a Gluten-Free Christmas Dinner is incredibly important. By providing gluten-free options, you can greatly enhance customer loyalty and footfall. View the Gluten-Free menu here.
The Free-From Christmas Dinner menu focuses on avoiding peanuts, tree nuts, sesame seeds, cereals containing gluten, and milk. View the Free-From menu here.
From our kitchen to yours...
Take a look below at some of Tony's Top Tips for serving a great Christmas meal
Turkey & Steaks
- Always cook the turkey a day in advance - this makes slicing the meat easier and can speed up service.
- Consider offering steak as a high-end alternative.
- Rest steak on a red chopping board before cooking.
- Add rock salt and pepper to your steak, then add oil to both sides and cook in a hot pan or chargrill for the best result.
Seasonal Extras
- It's not a traditional christmas dinner without stuffing and pigs in blankets.
- Prepare stuffing balls in your morning prep time so they are ready for service.
- Ensure your stuffing balls are an even size.
- Make your pigs in blankets whilst your stuffing mix is cooling down.
Vegetables
- Jazz up your carrots by roasting them and adding honey and tarragon during the final 5 minutes of cooking.
- To prevent your carrots from sticking when roasting add oil to your tray.
- Make your brussel sprouts more enjoyable by adding diced pancetta.
- Blanche the brussel sprouts and once drained toss together in a pan with diced browned pancetta for 2 minutes before serving.
Gravy
- Take your time on gravy, it is important that it is not too runny, thick or lumpy.
- Add red wine to the gravy to enhance the flavour.
- Ensure gravy is over 80 degrees before it goes into a ban-marie or soup kettle.
For more information on Tony's Christmas Top Tips click here or to learn more about Tony's culinary background click here.