Atlas Christmas box preparation

Thank you for trusting Atlas Masterclass with your Christmas feast – it is a responsibility which we do not take lightly. We can’t wait to share this menu with you and to help you make this Christmas one to remember.

Making your Christmas feast can seem daunting, so we wanted to send you all our tips and tricks to make sure the day goes according to plan.

This guide will take you through our recommended order of cooking for the day, what you can prepare the day before to make life easier, tips for storage, everything you will need in your kitchen, as well as some fun bonus treats you can prepare to bring even more joy to your celebration!

Pantry staples

 Make sure you have these ingredients when preparing your feast:

• Olive oil
• Cooking oil
• Salt
• Cracked pepper
• Butter or duck fat (optional – but it’s Christmas, so definitely preferred!)

Kitchen Equipment

To ensure smooth cooking on the day, you will need the following kitchen equipment. If you are missing anything on this list, don’t fret – our team is very creative when it comes to finding alternative methods. Just email our team and they will give you tips to work with the equipment you have.

• Oven with two shelves (set to 190 C fan forced for the duration of cooking)
• A nice sharp knife
• Mandolin (optional)
• Vegetable peeler
• Citrus juicer
• Mixing bowls
• Strainer/sieve
• Wooden spoon
• Frying pan
• Large saucepans
• Lined baking trays
• Flame-proof roasting dish (optional)
• Baking dish
• Baking paper
• Aluminium foil
• Serving bowls, platters, and plates
• Temperature probe (optional – for checking oven temperature and temperature of meat)

 

How to store your ingredients: Christmas

We want everything on your Christmas table to look fresh and delicious when it’s all plated, whether that be on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. That’s why we have provided you with a guide on how to store the ingredients in your box properly so it can all keep for as long as possible.

Fresh Herbs and greens

• Dill
• Parsley
• Rosemary
• Tarragon
• Cos lettuce
• Thyme

These types of greens can easily dry out in the fridge and go limp. To avoid this and to keep them fresh for up to a week, you can use this easy storage hack:

Dampen some paper towel or clean kitchen cloth with cold water and use them to loosely wrap the greens. Place these wrapped greens inside of an air-tight plastic container. You can stack the wrapped greens on top of each other inside of the containers, but do not squash them. This will make sure the greens stay crisp and fresh, ready to use for your Christmas feast!

Vegetables for the fridge

• Pumpkin
• Radish
• Fennel
• Carrot
• Cabbage
• Kohlrabi

These vegetables are best kept in the crisper section of the fridge. If they arrive in a paper bag, it is best to keep them in this until they are to be cooked. The radishes can be kept extra fresh if you remove the leaves from the bulbs and store the bulbs in ice-cold water in a sealed container in the fridge.

 Vegetables to be kept at room-temperature

• Potatoes
• Lemon
• Orange
• Tomatoes

Some vegetables are best kept at room temperature. Keep your potatoes in a dark, cool storage area. Your tomatoes and lemons are best kept in a fruit bowl until they are to be prepared. This will bring out the best flavour from the fruit.

Meat, poultry, and seafood

• Turkey
• Lamb
• Trout

 Keep these items in lower part of your fridge, as this tends to be the coldest section. On the day of preparation, take the turkey and lamb out of the fridge about 30 minutes before cooking to let the meat come to room temperature.

 

Breads

• Turkish bread
• Baguette

 These breads are best kept at room temperature, ideally in a bread bin.

 

Atlas Sauces and dairy products

• Crème fraiche
• Burrata
• Atlas Salsa Verde
• Atlas Tahini Dip
• Atlas Cranberry Sauce
• Atlas Chicken Gravy
• Atlas Mulled Wine Glaze

Keep these items in the fridge until required. Remove the cranberry sauce and mulled wine glaze from the fridge long enough so that they can come to room temperature.

 

What to cook first?

We want your Christmas feast to be on the table at a reasonable hour as we want you to enjoy your day! This guide takes your through the recommended order to cook the food, to make everything as easy as possible. We know that everyone does things a little differently, so you can shuffle things around where needed to suit your day.

We will be sending the recipe cards the week of Christmas, so consider this the rehearsal sheet. You will need to work off the recipe cards when following this guide, as they will have all the details.

There are two versions of this cooking guide. The first (our preferred), tells you what you can prepare the day before, then what you can cook the day of. This will minimise actual time in the kitchen on Christmas, and maximise time eating, drinking, and unwrapping presents!

 

Cooking Guide I:

The chef-level preparedness version.

To-do the day before

• Read all the recipe cards before you begin.
• Cook the baguettes slices for the smoked trout dish and store in an airtight container at room temperature.
• Make the smoked trout mixture and store covered in the refrigerator.
• Make the cos lettuce dressing.
• Segment the orange and make the orange juice dressing for the carrot salad.
• Toast the panko breadcrumbs for the beans and store in an airtight container on absorbent paper, at room temperature.
• Cook the almonds and store in airtight container on absorbent paper, at room temperature.
• Parboil the potatoes, store covered in the fridge.
• Marinate the lamb. Wrap in plastic and store in the fridge. Bonus: this will also make the lamb extra juicy and delicious!

 

Optional preparation for those who want to be extra prepared:

• Cut the tomatoes for the burrata and store in the fridge.
• Pick herbs then wrap in damp paper towel in a plastic container in the fridge
• Cut the cabbage and store in air-tight container.
• Thinly slice the red radish, store in ice-cold water inside an air-tight container in the fridge.

 

On the day (about three hours before you sit down to eat – time may vary depending on how many people you are cooking for)

• Preheat oven to 190C fan forced.
• Remove the lamb, ham and potatoes from refrigerator (about 30 minutes should bring them to room temperature, depending on size).
• Place the lamb in the oven to cook.
• Prepare the remaining vegetables for the salads and entrees (kohlrabi, cos lettuce, fennel, pick herbs).
• Assemble salads, leaving off the dressing.
• Heat the Turkish bread.
• Assemble Smoked Trout with Crème Fraiche, Chives, Dill and Toasted Baguette Slices.
• Assemble the Burrata with Tomato Medley and ATLAS Salsa Verde.
• Place the pumpkin in the oven along with the lamb.
• Take a break and enjoy your entrees with your Christmas mimosa! (Roughly 30 minutes should do the trick.)
• Remove the pumpkin from the oven, keep warm by placing foil on top (you can reheat before eating if you’d prefer).
• Start cooking the turkey.
• Once the turkey has started cooking, prepare the oil and start cooking the potatoes.
• Once the lamb is finished, set it aside to rest and put the potatoes in the oven.
• While the potatoes are in the oven, cook the beans.
• Once the turkey is cooked through on the stove, place is in the oven to brown.
• Remove the turkey from the oven to rest.
• Cook the ham. If you need to remove the potatoes from the oven, cover them with foil to keep warm.
• Plate everything, dress the salads then carve the lamb, ham and turkey, and heat the gravy on the stove.
• Enjoy your delicious feast – you did it!

 

Cooking Guide II (The cowboy method):

For those who are confident enough to smash it all out of the park on the day!

• Read all the recipe cards before you begin.
• Preheat oven to 190C fan forced
• Remove the lamb and ham from refrigerator (about 30 minutes should bring them to room temperature, depending on size).
• Marinate the lamb and place it in the oven to cook.
• Prepare the potatoes and bring the salted water to the boil
• Parboil the potatoes then set aside.
• Prepare the vegetables for the salads, pick the herbs and cut the pumpkin into wedges.
• Make the dressing orange dressing for the carrot salad.
• Cut and toast the baguette, prepare the smoked trout mixture.
• Warm the Turkish bread.
• Assemble the Burrata with Tomato Medley and ATLAS Salsa Verde.
• Place the pumpkin in the oven along with the lamb.
• Take a break and enjoy your entrees with your Christmas mimosa! (Roughly 30 minutes should do the trick.)
• Remove the pumpkin from the oven, keep warm by placing foil on top (you can reheat before eating if you’d prefer).
• Start cooking the turkey.
• Once the turkey has started cooking, prepare the oil and start cooking the potatoes.
• Once the lamb is finished, set it aside to rest and put the potatoes in the oven.
• While the potatoes are in the oven, cook the green beans and panko.
• Plate everything, dress the salads then carve the lamb and turkey and heat the gravy on the stove.
• Enjoy your delicious feast – you did it!

 

FOR PDF RECIPE BOOKLET PLEASE CLICK LINK BELOW.