He's cooking world class dishes almost every day at his Michelin-starred restaurant in Leith, Edinburgh, as well as overseeing business at his city-centre brasserie The Honours and his restaurant at Cameron House Hotel at Loch Lomond.

On top of that, he has a busy cook school to run and he still has to find time to whip up a weekly recipe for this magazine. So to say that Martin Wishart has his culinary hands full is a bit of an understatement.

So it may come as a surprise to discover that, when it comes to cooking, Christmas is one of his favourite times. It's special to him because, whether at home in Edinburgh or with his wife Cecile's family in Mexico, it's when he can finally take time out after a full-on year to really enjoy his growing family and to cook not only for them, but also with them.

His daughters Clara, nine, and Amy, six, are becoming quite the little pastry chefs and they love to make biscuits and mince pies. At just seven weeks' old, baby Jack George has yet to encounter solid foods but it's clear that he thrives on his sisters' loving attention and, between feeds, being hauled into the kitchen to watch as daddy sets to with the Brussels sprouts (he never buys the microwaveable packs for the simple reason that they prevent you seasoning them before cooking and he prefers to cook them in boiling salted water). Cecile says she keeps her distance and prefers to unleash her creative energy on decorating the house, getting the children dressed up, and preparing the dining room.

So what then is a typical Christmas day chez Wishart? It begins around 7am when the girls get up. They always have a good breakfast together (an unusual event as Martin is always off to work early) to keep them going until lunch. This is usually eggs and toast with tea. Then it's time to open the presents. As he is in charge of the food wherever they are, he turns on the oven around 10am and gets busy with the turkey and the prepping of vegetables, and starts to prepare the starter of smoked salmon on croutons with horseradish sauce. The family likes to eat around 1.30pm and they always go for a walk between the main course and pudding, when it's still daylight. At this point the dishes are put into the washer so that when they return at dusk, the table is clear and they can enjoy the rest of the meal as it gets dark outside and the Christmas tree lights are twinkling. Martin's mother usually brings the Christmas pudding which she makes to an old Shetland family recipe. Then it's more exchanging of gifts with family and friends and neighbours and a supper of mince pies and Christmas cake with tea. It all sounds so easy, but of course it's all down to timing and a lot of preparation.

On Monday The Herald launches an exciting series of Martin Wishart Christmas recipe cards, so we asked the expert for his tips on how to prepare for what is the most stressful day in the kitchen for many home cooks.

Martin advises everyone in charge of the cooking to prepare as much of the Christmas meal as possible in advance. That way, he says, all you need to do on the day is reheat it while the turkey is cooked and resting. Otherwise, if you leave everything to be done on the day, you will not have enough oven space because the turkey needs it all.

The process should begin early on by clearing out the fridge and giving it a good clean. He says we should always check our cooking equipment - mixers, utensils, cooking tins, clingfilm, tinfoil and so on - well in advance to make sure we have everything we need. Then we should make time to properly read our recipes, to make notes and write food shopping lists a good few days or weeks in advance. "It's a good idea to split the food shopping into two. Write two shopping lists, one that can be used in advance for non-perishable items like oils, flour, sugar, spirits, wine and potatoes, and the other for last-minute perishable items such as fresh cream, butter, bacon, chipolatas and poultry meat," he advises.

"Try not to be tempted to buy too much stuff on supermarket special offers. That way you risk having to throw it away. Stick to your own list."

Writing lists on the back of a used envelope, as I often do, isn't always a good idea because you run the risk of throwing it away by accident before you have finished with it.

"There's nothing wrong with writing your lists on a tablet or iPad, but I prefer a good old-fashioned notebook because then you can tick off the items as you buy them, and you can also use the lists to assign certain tasks to other family members," he says.

"My children like being part of the preparations, so we encourage them. They enjoy making pastry, and peeling potatoes and carrots. You could always set up a little table for them as we do, with a bucket on it and a sheet of newspaper underneath."

Christmas Eve is a good time for getting much of the cooking and veg prep out of the way. "There's no need to spend four or five hours in the kitchen on Christmas Day. Doing most things in advance means you can reheat or finish them while the turkey is cooked and resting. And remember to clean up as you go; that's very important."

Martin's four-day series of recipe cards next week has smoked salmon tartare as the starter, turkey and dauphinoise potatoes, and tart of white chocolate mousse.

"Start by making the pastry for the white chocolate mousse tart, then clingfilm it and put it in the fridge for a few hours. Even better would be to make the tarts in advance as they will keep for four or five days."

The gratin dauphinoise can be made a day in advance as it reheats well. Use floury potatoes such as maris pipers or desirees so they melt down and absorb the cream at the same time. Cooking this beforehand also ensures you get a nice brown crust; if it's sharing the cooking with the turkey, the turkey will steal all the heat.

Carrots can also be prepared the day before and kept fresh in a wet dish towel in the fridge. And your trimmed, rinsed brussels sprouts can be spun in a salad spinner to dry them off, then wrapped in a tea towel overnight in the fridge in readiness for cooking next day. Martin prefers fresh sprouts though he is not averse to frozen; but microwaving them is a no-no. All prepped veg can be cooked in the time it takes for the turkey to be rested and carved.

But the best tip he can offer is this. Don't try to be too adventurous. Stick to your favourite dishes and those of the family.

"My recipe cards are deliberately devised to be straightforward and easy to follow. I hope they help you enjoy Christmas Day with the family and friends as much as I do."