You ask the questions, of Gordon Ramsay

Christmas special: So, Gordon Ramsay, who would you most like to kiss under the mistletoe? And what are your tips for the perfect turkey stuffing?

The chef and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay, 35, was born in Glasgow but has lived in England since the age of five. He was signed by Glasgow Rangers football club when he was 15 but was forced to retire three years later due to injury. After completing an HND course in hotel management, he got his break working for Marco Pierre White; since then, he has worked with many of the world's greatest chefs. In 1993, he became part-owner of Aubergine, which won two Michelin stars within three years of opening. In 1998, Ramsay set up his own, eponymous restaurant in Chelsea. A year later, he opened Petrus on St James Street, which won a Michelin star within seven months of opening. Earlier this year, he gained his third Michelin star before launching Amaryllis in Glasgow and, in September, Gordon Ramsay at Claridges to great acclaim.

Ramsay has produced four recipe books: Passion for Flavour, Passion for Seafood, A Chef for All Seasons and, most recently, Just Desserts. He has also presented his own cookery series – Passion for Flavour. In 1998, he was the subject of a controversial fly-on-the-wall Channel 4 documentary, Gordon Ramsay's Boiling Point, which cemented his reputation as Britain's most irascible celebrity chef. He lives in Battersea with his wife Tana and their four children.

Who does the cooking in your house on Christmas day? And what's on the menu this year?

Elaine Bryers, by e-mail

The mother-in-law will do the cooking. She's very classic: on the menu is a beautiful bronze Norfolk turkey (a posh name for an old bird). She'll do potatoes roasted in goose fat, caramalised parsnips that she roasts in a teaspoon of lavender honey, bread sauce – the most disgusting sauce ever invented – and home-made Christmas pudding, which she started making in June. Mother-in-laws obviously have got bugger else to do in the middle of June other than think about Christmas puds.

I'm spending Christmas alone with my new fiancé. Have you any recipe suggestions for a good Christmas aphrodisiac?

Selina Horrocks, Derby

Oysters and caviar are the easiest and simplest. There's also something quite sexy about drinking pink champagne on Christmas day. Stay away from traditional Christmas pudding – make an absolutely stunning chocolate mousse and then let your imagination flow. At 4.30pm, for the first time in your entire life, you'llget to bed early.

What do you hope to get in your stocking this year?

V Sims, by e-mail

Hopefully, no Old Spice – my mum's been buying it for the past 10 years and then I give it away to the charity shop. What I'd like to get is a new fly-fishing rod for catching brown trout.

Have any of your dishes spectacularly failed when it was really important that everything was perfect?

Marina Bryne, Winchester

Yes, there have been dishes that have seriously crumbled at the last minute but thankfully everyone round the table was so pissed they didn't notice. You can get away with it at home, but that would never happen in a restaurant.

Delia Smith – woman or legend?

Kurt Mills, by e-mail

Delia Smith is the best insurance policy every time we close the restaurant for Christmas holidays. The first thing I do is buy my wife Part One, Part Two and Part Three [of Smith's cookbook], so I know throughout the Christmas period while my restaurant is closed, Tana will be cooking from the book. So legend.

What the point is of bread sauce? Is there an alternative?

Stephanie Craig, by e-mail

Bread sauce must be the most overrated sauce in Britain. The texture is awful, it's untasty and it's totally unsexy. Stick to a wonderful home-made gravy fused with rosemary or fresh thyme.

If you could have anyone to cook your Christmas dinner who would it be?

Kyle Morton, Cambridge

It would probably be Liz Hurley. She's eaten so many times in my restaurant it would be nice to get over to her place and eat in hers. I'd like to eat blindfolded and let my imagination flow.

I tend to hit the bottle early on Christmas day. Any advice on something easy for a lazy old lush like me to cook at Christmas?

S Bryers, Brighton

You should go and book a table at Claridges because we're open throughout the whole Christmas period. It's a £25 lunch menu so there's no excuse. It's very difficult to drink and cook at the same time. Once your palette is slightly inebriated it's very hard to control any form of flavour.

What's your favourite party trick?

K Mundy, by e-mail

Two tricks actually. One is called suck and blow. It's a bit of a boy's trick. You get a credit card, you suck it on your lips and you've got to pass it over to the lady standing to your left. You blow it on to her lips, she sucks it off and then when it's just about to connect to her lips you pull the card away and you find yourself in a full-blown snog. Lovely. Again, I'd love to play this with Liz Hurley, but she always pays by cash. The second one is passing the orange. You put an orange under your neck, stand up and try to pass to the next person. Never play it with Brian Turner, because he has so many chins you can't see his neck.

What is the best method of cooking a turkey to prevent it from drying out. And, once cooked, how should it be packaged for storing to keep it relatively fresh for longer?

Belinda Hope, Cardiff

Cook and cut up into legs and breast-on-the-bone. Breast meat can dry out so needs less time than legs. Cover the breast in fatty bacon and top with butter papers or greased foil. Do the same for the legs, but let them cook longer. Allow 40 minutes per kilo at 190C, Gas 5, but check the breasts three quarters of the way through.

When you can't stand the heat in the kitchen what do you do to chill out?

S Tracey, Hull

Go running. Next year I'm doing my third marathon. At 35 it's important to keep trim. I'm also doing a big run in South Africa a month after the marathon. It's called Comrades and it's 60 miles, which should take about nine hours. I've done two already: you run from Durban to Petermaritzburg. Last year I came back in a wheelchair.

What's the maximum you'd be prepared to pay for dinner in a smart restaurant (including wine)?

Carla Perkins, by e-mail

I don't agree with spending £2,000 on a bottle of wine. I think you easily get fantastic wine for £80 to £100. The most I've ever spent on dinner was at my mate's stag night when there were four of us at the table and it cost £4,000, which was ludicrous. I think for an excellent dinner anywhere in Britain you should be prepared to pay £100 per head for great food and great wine.

What would you serve as a starter before the Christmas meal, or do you think there's no need?

Simon Hastings, Ely

It depends on when you serve the meal and whether guests have had breakfast.

I love old-fashioned prawn cocktail with home-made mayonnaise and fresh tomato purée, plus a dash of peppery Tabasco. Smoked salmon is becoming traditional, or you could serve a prawn salad with walnut-oil vinaigrette-dressed leaves. Many people go straight to the main course, because how do you keep everything warm in the meantime?

None of my family likes Christmas pudding, but anything else seems un-festive. Any suggestions for something that has a Christmassy feel but isn't so stodgy?

M Breen, Liverpool

Yes – my Bailey's Bread and Butter Pudding, which we serve in Claridges. We use home-made brioche, but you could use light baguettes and lots of rum-soaked raisins plus good slugs of Bailey's, then serve with more Bailey's fresh cream ice-cream.

By the time I've taken the turkey out of the oven, and faffed around with the potatoes, sprouts and bread sauce. I can never get it together to make gravy. Have you any suggestions as to how I could present the juices better, at what point it is easiest to tackle gravy-making and how I can make one really easily?

Lisa Craven, Manchester

Pan juices are just fine. A big bird gives up lots. That's what the French call "jus". Just remember to pour off the greasy fat first then add a glass of white wine and boil down for a minute or two. Season and strain into a small jug. I don't believe in drowning the bird and all those trimmings you've worked so hard to get right. Just enough jus to moisten.

We're having goose instead of turkey. What are the proper accompaniments to have with it?

Tony Nicholson, by e-mail

Goose is a rich bird and needs accompaniments to "cut" the fat, as they say in country parts. So, spiced red cabbage with a dash of balsamic vinegar is good, or old-fashioned apple sauce, although I prefer to serve pan-fried apple rings. Stick an apple corer into the middle of tart apples such as Granny Smith's, then slice into four or five rings. (One apple for two to three people.) Heat some butter and olive oil in a frying pan and just fry the rings for three minutes or so each side. Season and that's it.

I'm a vegetarian fed up with dishing out the same old nut roast and almond sprouts year in, year out. Is there something more creative than meat replication dishes that I could do?

Ciaran Phelan, Belfast

If you want something big and bootiful to match the bird go for a deep-dish pie of root vegetables and pulses in a spicy creamy sauce, or a large quiche-style flan with leeks and Gruyere.

My daughter's new boyfriend is a vegan. What can I give him on Christmas day? (And don't say a punch on the face.)

Ann Spencer, Leeds

There's quite a lot he could eat from all the trimmings – vegetables and chestnuts sprinkled with toasted nuts or seeds. Cook the potatoes and parsnips in olive oil. For pudding give him a compote of spiced dried and fresh fruits cooked in apple juice. He could have some tofu ice-cream on the side. Do you love him enough to join in?

Apart from your wife (of course), who would you most like to kiss under the mistletoe?

WL Simister, by e-mail

I remember appearing on Ian Wright's show It'll be All Wright on the Night and I had a welcome kiss from Caprice. It was amazing. So any mistletoe flying around, I'd like to go back and kiss her. She's 6ft 1in, exactly the same height as me, leggy and very sexy.

My custard is thin, lumpy and never seems to taste special enough for Christmas day. How can I make it the best ever?

Jill Montgomery, by e-mail

I hope we are talking proper custard here (crème anglaise), not pasty packet goop. Heat 250ml each of milk and double cream in a heavy-based saucepan with the seeds from a split vanilla pod. When boiling, remove and stand for 10 minutes. Beat six egg yolks with 90g caster sugar until creamy. Bring the vanilla milk back to the boil and pour in "slurps" on to the yolks, beating well. Strain it back into the saucepan and, on the lowest heat possible, stir until slightly thickened. This takes about two minutes. Don't over-heat it or it will become lumpy. Plunge the pan into a bowl of iced water to bring the temperature down quickly if you want.

I've heard that you're not supposed to stuff turkeys and chickens any more because of health risks. Is this so? How else do I cook the stuffing?

Viv Wooldridge, London

Simply roll it into balls, place on a greased baking dish, brush the tops with olive oil and bake for 20-25 minutes at the top of the oven with the bird below. Or press it into a small baking dish and bake the same way then serve cut in squares. I prefer it this way anyway.

Since the success of Bridget Jones's Diary, we've decided to rethink our annual turkey curry buffet. Any suggestions on how to use leftover turkey?

Hanna Wilson, Camden

Why not make old-fashioned rissoles? Whiz chopped cooked meat (leg and breast) in a food processor until it looks minced. Then tip into a bowl and add two to three finely chopped spring onions and a couple of handfuls of fresh breadcrumbs. Add lots of seasoning, fresh thyme, some ground mace and enough beaten egg to bind. Shape into small burger-size patties, dip first in more beaten egg and finally into natural coloured dried breadcrumbs. Shallow fry in olive oil until golden and crispy.

Do you do any haute-cuisine versions of traditional Scottish dishes such as haggis and Finnan haddock?

Mark Hargreaves, Devon

How about Smoked Haddock and Mustard Chowder, from my third book, Chef for All Seasons? Skin and cut up a Finnan Haddie (400g or so) into cubes. Bring 500ml milk to the boil and add the fish, remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Then remove the fish and flake, keeping the milk. Peel and chop two medium-sized waxy potatoes into small cubes and sauté in two tablespoons of olive oil with a chopped shallot for five minutes. Add a small glass of dry white wine and cook for two more minutes. Pour in 500ml fish, vegetable or chicken stock and the reserved milk. Season and simmer for 15 minutes. Whiz in a food processor until smooth (or use a stick blender in the pan) and blend in six tablespoons of double cream. Reheat and stir in one heaped tablespoon of grain mustard. Return the flaked Haddie, reheat the mixture and serve.

Personally, I love my vegetables overcooked. The thought of a brussels sprout or a carrot putting up any resistance is quite repellent. I know I'm unfashionable, but do you think soggy will ever come back into fashion again?

Dominic Fulton, Fife

Not if I can help it. Why not cook the sprouts, carrots, parsnips etc for about five minutes amd then whiz to a puree in a food processor, adding cream and a little of the cooking water until you have something smooth and creamy? Season and add butter. Full of flavour and easy for the toothless to swallow. It's good for ordinary souls, too.

My kids won't eat anything that isn't deep fried. Any recipe ideas for Christmas dinner?

Harriet Merrick, by e-mail

I'd stick them in front of the television with a plate of turkey drummers and micro chips. Make a New Year's resolution to wean them off fried food.

For reservations at Claridges, telephone 020-7499 0099; 'Just Desserts' is published by Quadrille, price £25