Struggling with your Christmas dinner? Here are Nevan Maguire’s top tips for the best roast in Ireland.

With 40 people to cook for, Mr Maguire certainly has to have his Christmas dinner prep down to a tee.

He sat down with Newstalk’s Henry McKean to give his tips on Christmas dinner.

Despite having a massive dinner to cook, Mr Maguire said for him, Christmas is “all about tradition”.

“I like to have a nice, easy-going day,” he said – and this is why pre-preparation is key!

Starters

“My little starters are done,” Mr Maguire said – noting that these are easy to make in advance.

“I’m doing a curry chicken spring roll, I have a chestnut and mushroom soup that's ready, just to reheat.

“I make pizza bread - I made that yesterday, so that's just heating up, because the kids love pizza bread, and so do the adults, too.

“The key is to not over complicate it.”

Getting these starters prepped or cooked completely on Christmas Eve can really help with your Christmas Day cooking, Mr Maguire said.

Sides

For sides, Mr Maguire has a wide range of suggestions, especially for bits and pieces you can make in advance.

First, he has made red cabbage in advance, which he only has to heat up.

He suggested making a honey and clove sauce to give the cabbage a sweeter flavour.

“I have my carrots already power cooked,” Mr Maguire said.

“I'll finish them with butter, a little bit of honey, and then I'll throw in some nice frozen peas.

“I have the sprouts ready to go, I'll stir fry them, and then the red cabbage is done - so just a matter of heating them up.”

There's nothing worse than overcooked brussels sprouts, Mr Maguire said.

“Last night, I steamed them, I cooked them for four minutes, then I've covered them in a nice little white sauce,” he said.

“They're ready to go into the oven with some breadcrumbs, walnuts on top, and a little bit of smoked bacon - into the oven then for about 20 minutes and it's a gratin with a touch of nutmeg.”

Turkey

Mr Maguire said that people need to treat turkey like a “big chicken” – it “just takes longer to cook”.

“Lots of lovely butter, keep basting it, spooning on the juices,” he said.

“Let it rest, take it out of the oven, let the meat relax, wrap it in tin foil and a clean tea towel so it's not going to go cold for a good 25 to 30 minutes.

“Slice it up and then have your lovely ham and your lovely stuffing.”

Mr Maguire said he has marinated his turkey in buttermilk to make it easier to cook.

“I've marinated for the last two days in buttermilk and then I remove it from the buttermilk, and then I put it into the oven this morning with some butter, brought it to room temperature,” he said.

“That's really key for anyone who’s going to put your turkey in for later on this evening, bring it to room temperature for 30 minutes before you're going to roast it, preheat your oven.

“Then you can wrap the turkey for the first maybe hour or so, then take it off.

“Lots of lovely butter and I put smoked bacon on the breast.”

Another suggestion from Mr Maguire is making goose instead of or as well as turkey.

What to do if things go wrong?

“Don't be afraid to delegate,” Mr Maguire said.

“Don't panic, don't beat yourself up - it's a day to enjoy it.

“Don't over complicate it, don't give too much choice and delegate - they're all key tips.

“But enjoy the whole day - if something goes wrong it’s not the end of the world, it's one day, don't worry about it.”

In terms of delegation, Mr Maguire said that you don’t want everyone that’s coming to your house getting “locked in” to cooking.

“For me it's about just having the fun, enjoying good food, and not doing it too quickly, just kind of graze, kind of just relax, have your starter and take a little break to chat, then you get onto your main course, then the dessert,” he said.

“It doesn't all have to be done, you know, in 40 minutes to an hour - just enjoy the whole day.”

Stephen’s Day Dinner

Mr Maguire also gave Christmas home chefs some tips for St Stephen’s Day leftovers.

“I'll tell you what I'm going to be doing - it's a satay,” he said.

“So, coconut milk, some crunchy peanut butter, a little bit of soya sauce, sweet chili sauce, lime juice and then we put in some sugar.

“Cook that all together with some peppers, if you want peppers, or you could put in the likes of cauliflower or red onion, ginger, garlic, and then you warm that up, and then you put in your leftover cooked turkey.

“So whatever's leftover this evening, put it into the fridge, completely cover it in a little Tupperware container, into the fridge, and then warm up your sauce, put in your turkey or your ham and then serve it with rice.

“Tomorrow is not about cooking too much, but using leftovers, which I think sometimes are the nicest part of it.”

Use up the leftovers

Mr Maguire also suggested a pie for using up leftovers.

“You know what works really well with leftover ham is leeks,” he said.

“Cook off some leeks, cook off a little bit of onion, garlic, again, the cream goes in there.

“You can make a white sauce, it doesn't really matter.

“I used to use cream, corn flour, then add in your leftover ham and then what I do is put that over ham in a dish, then butter puff pastry on top, into the oven.

“About 25 minutes in the oven to cook the pastry because the meat is already done - it's delicious.”

Mr Maguire also said if you have left over roast potatoes, you could “pop them in too”.

Christmas dinner table place setting. Image: Alamy