The traditional Christmas feast of turkey and all the trimmings is usually enough to delight most people.

But adventurous cooks may wish to add a few twists to the familiar menu and serve up an extra special meal on December 25.

To discover how to go beyond the expected and create a culinary masterpiece, we consulted experts at the world-famous Ritz Hotel in London.

Giles Thompson, the hotel's executive chef, is overflowing with ideas to make an outstanding Christmas dinner - but first he warns cooks not to attempt to do too much at the last moment.

"You should keep the cooking simple on the day itself. If you are going to enjoy yourself, you want to spend as little time as possible in the kitchen so you can take part in the festivities."

The key to achieving this, he says, is to do as much advance preparation as possible. As experienced hosts will know, parts of the meal like stock for the gravy and stuffings, can be made on Christmas Eve.

Taking time to select good ingredients is also vital and a wise cook will serve dishes which, although impressive, need less rather than more time to cook.

Here are Thompson's tips for each course.

THE STARTER

Keep starters light and simple, since a large main course lies ahead. An ideal dish would be smoked salmon - perhaps in the form of blinis with creme fraiche, chopped chives and even caviar if you are feeling rich and decadent.

Alternatively you could try serving a little fresh shellfish.

A SORBET

To wow your guests, consider serving a lemon sorbet with champagne splashed on top after the first course. Thompson says: "This makes a nice surprise between courses. It's very easy and looks very good."

THE MAIN COURSE

The bird forms the central part of any Christmas dinner but to achieve the best results buy a hen turkey.

Thompson explains: "Hens are the female turkeys. They are generally smaller -than male turkeys and, as a rule, are more tender.

"Butchers normally keep hen turkeys for themselves but, if you ask, they will give you one."

Another useful tip is to cook the turkey legs separately from the crown - which has the dual advantage of appearing unusual and requiring less time in the oven, meaning more time in bed for the host.

He says: "You want to take the legs from the turkey, bone them and roll them - most butchers will do all that for you. Next you want to stuff them before wrapping in tin foil and cooking them.

"That leaves you with a crown of turkey and, if you have a hen, the small crown will take just a few hours to cook.

"When you serve the main course, you will have nice sausage-shaped legs which slice very nicely and it is also easier to carve the leg-free bird."

THE TRIMMINGS

Bread sauce: Instead of just boiling the milk and adding diced bread to make the sauce, add onions, bay leaves and cloves to the milk before boiling. These "aromats" are removed before serving but their flavour will have infused.

Cranberry sauce: Make your own with a pack of fresh cranberries. It's easy to do and home-made cranberry sauce has a better taste and texture than the stuff out of jars.

VEGETABLES

A sophisticated option is sprouts and chestnuts combined. To make this, heat and peel your chestnuts, poach them in milk and drain them. Next, boil your sprouts. Put the drained sprouts into a buttered pan with the chestnuts - and toss them three or four times until the ingredients start to fall together.

Another idea is to serve a "panache" or mixture of tiny vegetables. Try stir-frying baby corn, baby asparagus and miniature aubergines together and adding a little olive oil and fresh basil for a Mediterranean touch.

DESSERT

As an alternative to Christmas pudding, you could make a mincemeat and filo roulade. Again this is quite easy. Just brush filo pastry with melted butter, spread it with mincemeat and then roll it so you have a strudel effect. Then simply egg-wash and bake it.