Food & Drink
Cooking up a festive feast
The festive feasting season has begun, make sure you wow the family with these crowd pleasers from www.gressinghamduck.co.uk
Ingredients:
• Gressingham Free Range Bronze Turkey
• 250g softened butter
• 1 large red chilli, de-seeded and finely diced
• 12 sage leaves, finely shredded
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• Zest & juice of 2 clementines
Roast turkey with chilli, sage & clementine butter
METHOD:
The day before cooking you can prepare the butter by adding the softened butter to a large mixing bowl and beating in the chilli, sage, garlic, clementine juice and zest. Transfer the butter onto a sheet of baking parchment and roll into a log shape, set it the fridge until firm. When preparing your roast turkey you can then cut slices of the butter to lay under the turkey skin before cooking and then baste your bird with the butter as and when needed.
Oven cook from chilled. For best results, remove the turkey from refrigerator for 1 hour prior to cooking. Preheat oven to 200°C / Fan 180°C / Gas Mark 6. Remove all packaging. For cook time, please see the weight label on the front of the bag. Cooking time is calculated by the weight of the turkey: 20 minutes per kg + 70 minutes.
Place the turkey into a deep roasting tray and add 500ml of water to the tray around the bird. Season with salt and pepper and add the butter slices under the turkey skin. Cook in the centre of the oven for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes baste the turkey and reduce the oven temperature to 160°C / Fan 140°C / Gas Mark 3. Once cooked, remove from the oven and check the turkey is piping hot throughout and the juices run clear. If juices are pink return the turkey to the oven for a further 15 minutes and recheck. If cooked cover with foil and allow to rest for 30 minutes before carving. This retains more of the juices for a more succulent meat.
Roast potatoes
Ingredients:
• 250g Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and cut into your favourite size roastie
• 1/2 bulb garlic
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp duck or goose fat
Method:
Add the potatoes to a pan of cold water and bring to the boil. Once boiling add the salt, garlic and rosemary and simmer until the potatoes are cooked. Drain and fluff up by tossing them in a colander.
Pour the potatoes onto a cold baking tray and separate so there is a gap between each potato. Dollop the duck fat over the potatoes and place into a pre-heated oven (200°C / Fan 180°C / Gas Mark 6) and roast for approximately 35/40 minutes until golden. Remove from oven, carefully drain off the fat and save for next time.
Wok-Fried Sprouts with Shallots & Chestnuts
Ingredients:
• 200g sprouts, finely shredded
• 50g butter
• 2 banana shallots, peeled and finely sliced lengthways
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 100g peeled chestnuts, roughly chopped
• Salt & pepper
Method:
Heat a wok on a medium heat on the hob, add the butter, garlic and shallots and soften for 1-2 minutes.
Add the sprouts and toss together, fry for 4-5 minutes until they soften and start to colour.
Add the chestnuts and cook until they are warm through, season to taste with salt and pepper, serve.
Make ahead classic turkey giblet gravy
Ingredients:
• 2 turkey wings, cut into 2
• 1 turkey neck, cut into 3
• Turkey giblets (excluding the liver, as this becomes bitter when boiled)
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped
• 1 stick celery, roughly chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig thyme
• glass white wine
• 1 litre good chicken/turkey stock
• 1 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp red currant jelly
Method:
Brown the turkey wings, neck and giblets in a heavy based pan with a drizzle of oil. Add the vegetables, garlic, herbs and butter and sweat off for 20 minutes on a low heat. Add the flour, coat and cook for 5 minutes. Next add the white wine and stock, stir to thicken and let simmer for 1 hour. Stir in the red currant jelly and season to taste. Pass through a sieve and serve.