Christmas - Fox's timing tips for the perfect festive lunch

If you are going to do a standard three-course Christmas lunch try to make sure the first course is cold. This way, there's no messing around with last-minute plating when you should be focusing on getting things sorted for the main

event.

As far as the main course is concerned, everything will have been cooked in advance - anything up to 48 hours (with the exception of the meat).

Part-boil potatoes in well-salted water, also the sprouts, while parsnips, carrots and squashes can all be pre-roasted with plenty of quality seasoning, along with fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme and bay. It's the pre-cooking where all the work and flavour generation really takes place.

Apply care and attention at this stage, and with just perfunctory reheating for service, hot plates and rapid-fire plating-up, you should deliver a pretty perfect party meal.

As far as the meat is concerned, it's not feasible to carve to order. Instead take the turkey to the point when it is only just cooked through and remove the breasts 20 minutes or so before the legs for even more even cooking.

Rest everything for a good 20-30 minutes before carving and portioning, and when you finally re-heat - just before service, add a little gravy or other moisturising liquid to the meat and cover with foil.

Finally, once you've worked out your menu, service times, prep and service procedures - start shouting about it. Blackboards, staff training and simple word of mouth will go a long way to generating a healthy festive period - and

it's coming sooner than you think.