Ian’s Ultimate Christmas Dinner!
You need:-
1 Turkey
2 Apples
2 Onion
1 Carrot
1 Stick of Celery
Potatoes
Parsnips
Swede
Brussel Sprouts
Maple Syrup and/or Brown Sugar
Leeks – one per person.
Butter
Corn Oil
Corn Flour
Some streaky bacon rashers.
Sausages (Optional. Wrap in bacon and skewer with a toothpick for “Pig in Blankets!”’)
Chicken Stock cubes (Knorr is the best! Continental or even ‘Savings’ brand is good too!)
Thyme and/or Mixed Herbs
A packet of Krummies/Tandaco/White Wings Seasoned Stuffing Mix
Get TWO large, disposable tin-foil turkey trays, and a roll of extra-wide foil.
Here we go!
Get up EARLY if this is to be ready for lunchtime. Pre-heat the oven to 400F (200C).
Make sure the turkey is well thawed. This is very important. A size 44 turkey will take about 3 days to
defrost in the refrigerator.
Take it out the night before if necessary.
Remove any giblets, rinse the turkey out well and pat dry with kitchen towel. Do NOT put it on your head
like Mr. Bean. Prepare the stuffing as per the instructions on the packet (I usually add a little white wine,
some chopped nuts (chestnuts if you can get them, but pine nuts and macadamia nuts will work too) and
a little finely-chopped apple and onion.
Get Stuffed!
Take one apple and one onion, and cut them in half. Put some of the stuffing into the cavity, followed by
as much of the apple and onion as will fit. Fill out the rest with stuffing. Put the bird in one of the large,
deep disposable foil trays.
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Drape a few streaky bacon rashers over the breast, give it a good shake of salt and pepper, or chicken
salt. I sometimes use Garlic and Herb salt.
Cover legs with foil (not yours, the turkey’s) – stops them drying out.
Cover the tray with extra-wide foil wrapping it under, and then put this is into the SECOND foil tray so the
bird is completely sealed in.
Cooking Time
Basically, a turkey must be cooked for 45 mins per kilo. So use this formula.
Kilos times 45 (to give total minutes)
Divide that by 60 (to give hours)
Multiply any fraction AFTER the decimal point by sixty again to get the
remainder in minutes.
So,
A 4.5kg turkey would be 3 hours and 22.5 minutes because…
4.5 x 45 = 202.5
Divided by 60 = 3.375 (so that’s 3 hours)
.375 x 60 = 22.5 (…and 22.5 minutes)
You might need to reduce this time a little for a fan-assisted oven.
Once in the oven, LEAVE IT! Don’t open the oven door for any reason! Basting a turkey makes not one
blind bit of difference to the final outcome. In fact, opening the oven door each time to do this just
lengthens the cooking time. Trust me, follow this method and your turkey WILL be moist, tender and
cooked to perfection!
Get on the Gravy Train!
If you have the neck of the turkey, put it in a pan with some water, a little white wine, a stock cube or two,
some carrot peeled and sliced lengthwise and a stick of celery and a teaspoon of mixed herbs. This will
be the basis of your gravy stock. Just let that heat up on a hot plate and simmer for as long as possible.
Don’t be afraid to experiment, but add ‘new’ ingredients GRADUALLY and TASTE the gravy as you go (a
teaspoon at a time (wash it after each taste)). I usually add some slaked corn flour (corn flour mixed into a
SMALL amount of water) near the end to thicken. Stir in well as you add it to avoid any lumps forming. Do
that about ten minutes before serving.
REMEMBER: Pour in the juices from the turkey when you take the foil off it! Ultra YUM!!
Be sure to make PLENTY of gravy and to taste it often. Needs more salt? Add some – better still, another
chicken stock cube or soy sauce. Tastes too salty? Add a little sugar or more water to dilute the salt.
Gravy is THE crucial component of a successful dinner. Above all else, get the gravy right. To do that
means TASTING it along the way. If something comes out burned or doesn’t taste nice, the gravy will
cover it up (smart, huh?).
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The World’s Best Roast Potatoes!
Follow these instructions to the letter, and you will have potatoes with thick, crusty, golden brown shells
and a mash-potato-like inside. This is proven to be THE best way to cook potatoes!
Peel the spuds and nuke them (whole, don’t cut them up!) for about 20 minutes in the microwave, in a
suitable vessel. I use a plastic rice cooker. You need to cook them until they are soft, but NOT so they
start to break up. A sharp knife should easily penetrate them…
Meanwhile, pre-heat a tray with some Corn or Peanut Oil in it. Goose fat is even better, but hard to find
and probably less healthy. Drain the spuds. If you want ULTRA-CRISPY spuds, plunge them in cold
water, then scrape the surfaces with a fork before putting them in the oil.
When the oil is hot (be VERY careful here!) put the spuds in the oil and chuck them in the oven. I usually
throw in some small, whole onions and some whole, peeled cloves of garlic. Lots of them! Sprinkle with
lots of salt. They’ll need about an hour in there, so time this to go with your turkey. Keep an eye on them
and turn them every 20 minutes as they roast. If you have any leftover stuffing, make little cakes and put
them in there too. You should now also put in the small sausages, wrapped in streaky bacon with a
wooden cocktail stick/toothpick to hold the bacon on…
Remove the outer layer of the leeks and cut into lengths such that they will fit in your rice cooker. Nuke
them with a little water for about five minutes or until soft. Drain, and then wrap them in foil with a little
butter and freshly-cracked pepper and put them in the oven. Make sure the package doesn’t leak!
Peel and dice the swede. Peel and halve the parsnips lengthwise. Lob them all into the rice cooker and
nuke for about 20 mins until soft. Take the parsnips OUT and out them in with the spuds, (or in their own
tray with oil in the oven). Mash the remaining swede with some butter and pepper. YUM! Set aside (leave
them in the rice cooker – reheat just before serving.
Hate Brussels Sprouts? Try this!
To prep the sprouts, cut the base off, remove the outer leaves and cut an ‘X” about 5mm deep into the
base – it help soften them. Rinse them and out them in a pan with about 0.5cm of water in the bottom.
Add salt and drizzle Maple Syrup all over them. Don’t be shy. These will need about 20mins cooking time,
kick them off when you take the foil off the turkey (see below). Bring to the boil and turn them down to
simmer slowly. Add a little brown sugar (not too much!) to help thicken and reduce the water in the pan to
caramel. This dish takes practice, but you can end up with little toffee-apple-like sprouts! Yum!!
And Finally…!
When you have about half an hour of time to go, remove the foil cover so the turkey can brown off. Our
oven has a top element which I turn on to help this, but I keep an eye on it! Check to see if the turkey is
cooked thoroughly by breaking the skin between the leg and the breast. The juices inside MUST run clear!
If the juices are pink, your turkey is not yet cooked! If you followed the above to the letter and your
oven is working ok you will have no problems.
So far so good! Take the bird out and let it rest.
Pour the juices into the gravy!!! Remove the neck, carrot and celery – they have served their purpose!
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Thicken your gravy – some cornflour slaked in cold water and then slowly added is best. Check the
spuds/sausages/parsnips. Don’t forget the sprouts!! The leeks will be fine. Reheat the swede. Keep an
eye on the ‘Pigs in Blankets’…
If you prefer to use other veggies, then by all means do so. The veggies used here form our ‘traditional’
Christmas Dinner, in recent years we’ve added sweet potato.
Carve up the bird and serve! Remember, YOU did this!!
Enjoy!!
Ian.
You’ll be doing this every year from now on at your family’s insistence!!
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