First up then is the turkey, or, as Jamie Oliver might refer to it, 'the big old bird'. It goes without saying that choosing the right turkey is of paramount importance. If you have got a local butcher that you trust then great, if not go online and source the best ones - Copas worked well for me last year and this year I'm buying from Frank Godfrey's in Highbury. The size is also important and is mainly dictated by the number of guests, but for me a 7 to 8 kg bird is ideal. It is big enough to feed around 12 people, and also looks impressive as a centre piece. If you have a smaller crowd then you will have lots of delicious left over meat. Anyway it is too late for sourcing now. If you haven't already ordered your 'big old bird', then it is probably the scraps from the local supermarket for you!
Let's be honest here, cooking a large bird is daunting and plagued by potential pitfalls, not least the moistness of the breast. Here then is what I do and I'm usually very happy with the result. I have never brined my turkey. Not because I disagree with it as a process but because I haven't had the time and space. I am aware that Nigella, domestic goddess that she is, swears by it and who am I to contradict such an institution of British home cooking? I simply have never tried it so can not comment on its virtues. As a rule, I love lemon, thyme and garlic with poultry and see no reason to deviate from this combination when prepping the turkey. I make a lemon, garlic and thyme butter and push large quantities of this under the skin of the bird. I also season very liberally with Maldon sea salt (including inside the cavity) and leave for a good hour to allow the salt to penetrate the flesh. I then pat dry the skin with a kitchen towel and smother it with more of the lemon garlic and thyme butter. A further seasoning with sea salt and black pepper, along with 'shoving' a couple of heads of garlic, more thyme, quartered lemons and onions into the cavity, and the 'big old bird', in all its glory, is ready to go! Well almost. I am a fan of the Jamie Oliver veg trivet (as well as his mockney wit) so I also place quartered onions and carrots, celery sticks and two heads of garlic cut in half in the bottom of a roasting tray, and sit the turkey on top. Then the turkey goes in the oven at a high heat (220 degrees C) for about 30 minutes to start the cooking process. The oven is then turned down to 160 degrees (fan oven) and after 45 minutes I thoroughly baste the turkey before turning the bird over to breast side down (not an easy job), covering loosely with tin foil and placing back in the oven. What is important here is that the veg trivet keeps the breast from touching the bottom of the roasting tray. Then about 50 minutes from when it is ready, I turn the turkey back over and take off the foil. I turn up the oven to 180 degrees C, baste the turkey very thoroughly and pop it back in. When ready (it is best to use a meat thermometer for this purpose - the turkey is cooked at 74 degrees C), I remove it from the oven and leave it to rest for at least half an hour before carving. If everything has gone according to plan then you should have a beautifully cooked bird with lovely moist breasts (innuendo not intended but enjoyed!).
The gravy
The gravy brings everything together and can lift a meal into the sublime. This version gets nothing but rave reviews (well my family and guests like it!). You will need a large frying pan or wok to start the process. In fact this method can be used to create great gravies all year round for all different types of meat.
- Slowly cook two to three thinly sliced onions in a large frying pan to release their natural sugars. Add the turkey giblets to the pan and continue to cook. When ready the onions will be soft and golden and the giblets browned all over. At this point I add my holy trinity of sauce making condiments; balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard and tomato ketchup - enough to make a sticky, oniony brown base (about 50 ml of balsamic vinegar and 2-3 dessert spoons each of mustard and ketchup). (These are very important in giving balance to the sauce)
- Add two litres of turkey or chicken stock, a good few sprigs of thyme and reduce on a high heat until the stock reaches a coating consistency. Pass through a sieve and set aside.
- Put the vegetables used as the roasting trivet into a sieve held over a sauce pan. Push with the back of a spoon to release the juices from the vegetables into the pan. Skim off any excess fat from the roasting tray but make sure you leave some as this gives extra flavour. Pour the remaining juices into the pan containing the juices from the vegetables. Add a tablespoon of flour to the roasting tray and place it on the stove. Cook for a couple of minutes, scraping all the caramelised juices from the bottom of the roasting tray. Add the pan juices and some hot water if necessary until the pan gravy reaches a good coating consistency. Pass through a sieve. If the pan gravy needs a bit more meatiness and umami depth (it shouldn't), then a good quality stock cube can be added.
- Combine with the reduced stock and add a few knobs of butter to give the gravy gloss and added richness. You shouldn't need any salt, but taste for seasoning. The gravy should be intensely meaty with a balanced natural sweetness, good umami depth and defined turkey flavour. Add to the gravy any juices that have exuded from the resting turkey - delicious!!!
The garnishes
- Good roast potatoes are essential. Use a fluffy variety such as King Edwards and cut to an even size - but not too small! Par boil in salted water and rattle around the pan to fluff up the edges. Heat some goose or duck fat in a pan and pour over the potatoes in a roasting tray. Season with Maldon sea salt and place in a hot oven (about 200 degrees C) whilst the turkey is resting. Check and turn regularly. About 40 minutes will give you crispy perfection.
- Brussel sprouts are delicious and anyone who says otherwise have only eaten badly cooked ones! Simply cut off the bottom and remove the loose outer leaves. Blanche for about 5 minutes (or less, depending on size) in salted water and then pan fry in nutty brown butter until they just begin to caramelise. This will enhance their natural nuttiness and make them absolutely delicious. Lardons and chestnuts are natural companions which can be added at the pan-frying stage. Pan frying the lardons, if using, first and then add to the brown butter along with the sprouts.
- Parsnips are also a must and roasted with honey are fabulous. Simply cut the parsnips into quarters length wise and remove the woody core. Place in a flat oven dish, and coat with olive oil and honey. Season. Add some thyme and garlic to the roasting dish. Roast until nicely caramelised and the parsnips have a slightly crispy texture. You will need to turn at least once during roasting.
- Bread sauce is my personal Christmas favourite. Simply infuse some whole milk with onion, bay, clove, nutmeg and thyme. Add bread crumbs created from a loaf of white bread (crusts removed) to a bowl and pour over the infused milk (straining the aromatics). Whisk to a porridge consistency and serve warm (not hot).
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| A classic roast pheasant dish showing three key elements of Christmas dinner; sprouts, bread sauce and honey roast parsnips. There were more veggies on the side! |
- Stuffing and pigs in blankets can not be omitted either - there would be an outcry in most households! I buy my pigs in blankets ready prepared from a good butcher and make my stuffing to a different recipe each year (usually two types) which I get from the net, so I am not going to give a recipe here. My advice would be to be as creative as you want in this area. Also, I do not stuff the bird, preferring to make mine in a dish.
- My Christmas dinner usually consists of two other vegetable dishes; braised red cabbage and glazed carrots always go down well. For the red cabbage, I usually shred it and sweat in a bit of butter. Add about 100g of demerara sugar to taste, 1/2 teaspoon of clove powder, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, grated apple, raisins and season with salt and pepper. Then add 300ml of cider vinegar and top with water until the cabbage is just covered. Cook on a low heat for about 1 1/2 hours, when the cabbage should be tender and delicious. The carrots are cooked as I always cook carrots and are glazed, sweet and delicious. My blog on how to cook duck has a glazed carrot recipe, so no need to repeat here. But I do have some nice pictures to show the glazing process.
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| On a rapid boil in a large frying pan with buttery water and sugar |
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| All the water has reduced leaving just the butter and the sugar |
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| Perfect glazed carrots |
- Cranberry sauce is the final element of my perfect Christmas dinner. Add 250g cranberries to the pan along with about about 150ml of port, the grated zest of one orange and the juice of two. Add two tablespoons of red current jelly and a couple of star anise. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the cranberries have spilt and the sauce looks like cranberry sauce should do (a runny jam). Add more sugar to taste. Cool and serve at room temperature
The rest of dinner
Whilst Christmas dinner remains (and rightly so) the focal point of the day, the drink kind of matters too. Dinner isn't usually served until 5 or 6 in our house which allows plenty of time for cracking into the fizz in the afternoon. This means though that nibbles are essential. Otherwise we'd all be too hungry to wait and also half way to being sozzled before we even sit down. And that wouldn't be right on this most holy of days! Nibbles at Christmas need to be special and here are the two the I love the most:
Beetroot gravadlax of salmon
This is a an absolute favourite of mine. If its too late to make for Christmas day, why not try it for your New Year's drinks party? Anyway here is the recipe and it is so simple. An 800g side of salmon will make about 60 canapés
- Cover your salmon with sugar and sea salt in equal quantities. Add a good sprinkling of ground cumin. Cover in cling film, place in a bowl and leave to cure in the fridge for 18-24 hours depending on the thickness of the fillet.
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| The cure for the salmon |
- When ready, take the salmon out and wash off the remaining curing mix under cold water. With a very sharp knife trim the hard outer edges of the salmon until you are left with a smooth, cured salmon.
- Puree some cooked beetroot (vacuum packed from the supermarket is okay as long as it is in its own juices). Cover the cured salmon with the beetroot, firmly wrapping in cling film as before. Return to the fridge for at least 24 hours (two or three days is okay).
- Wash off the beetroot under cold running water and dry the salmon. It is now ready to serve. I like to serve it on good quality German rye bread with a horseradish cream with a bit of a kick. It is absolutely delicious!
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| Making up the beetroot gravadlax salmon canapés at on of my Dinner at the Pavilion evenings |
Chicken Liver Parfait
I could write a recipe here and claim this as my own but with such a classic dish I have no qualms in leading you directly to the source - none other than the great Raymond Blanc! I simply use this youtube link to remind me of what I need to do, then away I go. Last year, which was the first year I made this, it worked to perfection, despite not having a thermometer. This year, I have bought one. I must say that it is as delicious as Raymond describes it as being. I serve it on thinly sliced sourdough toasts. A homemade apple and date chutney which I made a big jar of three years ago and is still going strong is the perfect accompaniment in that it is quite sweet. The parfait is that good though that it is just stunning on its own.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxowJ7SQtdU
Above is the link to the video I use.
And the rest.....
If you've read this far, well done and thank you. You are probably feeling my need to wrap this up even though I haven't even mentioned the starter, the dessert or the cheese course! Well I'm not going to go into too much detail here as elements of each will be the subject of later blogs. But I will tell you what usually happens. Firstly the starter always consists of a pea and ham soup. Historically this was because it could be made in advance and transported to my wife's parents. Now it's because it is delicious and has become a tradition. I will share my recipe for this when a do a future blog on soups, which are very close to my heart. Secondly the Christmas pudding. I am ashamed to admit to buying one of these each year. I usually search out the pudding with the best review and take it from there. I will make one one day, but I haven't yet. I do however make a delicious brandy and orange custard each year. It is a classic creme anglaise made with a good helping of cognac and cream infused with orange flavour from adding orange peel to the cream base. I also make a brandy butter with a suitable kick. And finally, the cheese. Do I need to give advice on this....?
Have a great Christmas and cook even more in 2016!
See you next year.....
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