Soy Braised Chicken with leeks - gentle sweet flavours

This lovely, gently flavoured dish was inspired by a photograph of a similar dish that I spotted in the BBC Good Food magazine this month.

As I recall, the original recipe had spring onions in it and as I don't do very well with spring onions - my tummy sometimes rejects them - and had a leek waiting for me to find it a job to do, it seemed a fairly obvious swap.

I'm still getting back into the swing of cooking following on from a nasty bout of the flu.  Hence, I didn't really want to get involved in a long cooking procedure - so this recipe turned out to be perfect.  If you do the entire process all in one go, you could probably be in the kitchen for some three hours or more - but I split it into various instalments.  Well, it gave me a chance to have a bit of "downtime" inbetween the action.

We had bought an organic chicken earlier in the week, to have at the weekend.  However, neither of us were in any fit state to be making roast chicken, so it had gone into the freezer.  So as to make the most of the price of the chicken, I decided to joint it and make a stock for soup with the carcass.  I reckoned that I could get at least three meals from the one chicken, that way.  In fact, we've had two main meals and two lunches - with a leg still left to be used!

Once we'd taken son & heir to school, I got on with jointing the chicken (which I'm getting a lot better at!).  It's not often that I get the opportunity to use organic chicken (although it would always be my first choice, if I could afford it) and this one was a beauty.  The knife went through the breast meat like a hot knife through butter, which bode well for the tenderness of the cooked chicken.  It wasn't a corn fed chicken, but the fat was a lovely deep yellow colour.  I was surprised at how bruised the breast meat appeared to be in places - but I figure that milling around outside with its pals, I guess a chicken is bound to get bumps and scrapes.

The two breast fillets, a drumstick and a thigh went into a cling film covered bowl with the marinade and into the fridge for later.

The remainder of the carcass went into the slow cooker with a couple of carrots, some celery, an onion and a garlic clove, plus some herbs and a good quantity of water and some seasoning.  There it stayed for the day, chuckling away and making some beautiful stock.  I eventually stripped the chicken of all the tiny little bits of meat and made a Jewish-style chicken soup with the stock, which I'll blog soon.
 
It was a late pickup from school that day, so I needed to put the casserole together before we left to collect son & heir.

The chicken smelled wonderful as I browned the pieces in the frying pan and my hopes for a great dinner rose a little bit further.

It really wasn't a difficult procedure to get the casserole together and I finished with 10 minutes to go.  We turned the oven on as we left to pick up son & heir.  Once we got home, it was an easy matter of cooking some rice and broccoli - and serving it all up.

I had debated thickening the sauce, but looking at it, it seemed to me as though it would entirely change the character of the dish to have the sauce thick.  It was supposed to be light and fluid - and there was broccoli and rice to soak it up with, so I took a chance and left it.  Hubby would have preferred it thicker - I was anticipating that - but I was very pleased with it.

I very much liked the gentle flavours provided by the soy, mirrin and honey - which added to the flavour of the leek and broad beans, made it a balanced dish.  Or so I thought, anyway.  Hubby doesn't like broad beans much and would have preferred the sweetness of peas, rather than that slight bitterness that an un-shucked broad bean brings.  Yes, perhaps I should have shucked the broad beans, but can I refer you back to the flu comment?  Just the thought of sitting there shucking broad beans was enough to almost send me back to bed.

Son & heir appeared to enjoy the flavours, although he did agree with his Dad about the bitterness from the broad beans.  I couldn't register said bitterness at all - all I could predominantly taste was the sweetness from the mirrin and honey, with the saltiness of the soy sauce!

So, I would advise caution when making this recipe.  If your family is very anti thin sauces or bitter flavours, perhaps you should consider thickening the sauce with a little cornflour and using peas instead of broad beans.  Alternatively, you could make something completely different!

I would be very happy to have this recipe again - although sadly I doubt I'll be making it in quite the same way.  Bye bye broad beans and hello cornflour!  *wink* 

SOY BRAISED CHICKEN WITH LEEKS   (serves 3)

Ingredients :

2 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tbsp mirrin
1 tbsp runny honey
a pinch of sea salt
2 boneless chicken breasts plus 1 thigh and 1 drumstick, skin on
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 leek, washed, halved lengthways and chopped
1 tsp grated ginger
100ml chicken stock
a good handful of frozen broad beans or peas.

Method :

1.  Put the soy sauce, mirrin, honey and sea salt into a bowl and stir to combine.

2.  Add the chicken pieces and stir to make sure they are all liberally covered with the marinade - then cover with cling film and leave for a minimum of half an hour.

3.  Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the chicken pieces on a high heat.  Keep an eye on the chicken, as it will colour very quickly because of the sugars in the marinade.

4.  Once browned, place the chicken into a casserole dish.

5.  Add the onion to the frying pan and cook on a medium heat for 3-5 minutes, until softened.  Add the leek and ginger and stir to combine.

6.  Add the chicken stock and broad beans or peas.  Allow them to heat through and taste the sauce for seasoning.  If you think it is a little light on flavour or salt, add the remainder of the marinade and stir through.

7.  Decant the sauce and vegetables into the casserole dish, cover and put into a moderate oven (180degC/350degF/Gas 4) for 45 minutes to an hour.

8.  If, at the end of this time, you feel the sauce is either too liquid or not tasty enough, remove the chicken to a warmed bowl and cover with foil.  Either decant the sauce into a saucepan, or place the casserole dish (presuming it can cope with being on a direct heat) onto a gentle heat and reduce the sauce until it has reached a satisfactory consistency or the flavour has intensified sufficiently.

Serve with plain white rice and some steamed broccoli.

Printable version

I cooked!

For the first time in the last fortnight or so, I cooked.

~ cue applause ~

I'm feeling lots better now and remembered my way back to the kitchen (which was an achievement, if you know my memory at the moment!) and I made a lovely Kedgeree.  Click on the link there and you'll find the recipe, if you're curious.

I didn't overcook the rice, the onions were cooked perfectly and okay perhaps I did overcook the fish just a tiny bit - but the rice needed draining.  ~shrug~  It was that or soggy rice.

Hooray!

Now, because we have passed so many days of lovely meals that I have been in no fit state to tell you about (other than occasionally on the Facebook page), I thought I'd do a quick run down on the best of them now.

However!  Before we get started, I have to tell you that hubby has a new camera!  Woo!
In my opinion, the photographs he took with the old camera were pretty darned good - but this new camera has been turning out amazing results.  The above photograph of the Kedgeree was taken with the new camera - it'd be interesting to see whether you can tell which are "new camera" photographs and which are from the old!

Don't forget that you can click on the photographs and open them up larger, for close inspection!

Now heading backwards in time, at lunchtime today I will admit to having a little practice in the cooking stakes and suddenly wanted poached eggs on toast - and only poached eggs on toast.  Have you ever had one of those moments?  (Not necessarily with poached eggs).  I just had to - and for once the eggs behaved, the toast was crunchy and with a teensy sprinkle of celery salt and black pepper they were a fabulously satisfying lunch.

Just look at that runny yolk.  Cor!

We've had a pretty torrid time of it just lately, coming down with this horrid flu bug one after the other.  I don't think we've ever used so many tissues or swallowed so many paracetamols!

Dear hubby took pity on me and took over all kitchen duties immediately he realised that I was almost sick unto death.  Now if you ask him, he'll tell you that he has made some real howlers of bad meals - but it's not true!

Just look at this creamy chicken & blue cheese pasta dish - does it get any better than this?  I don't think so.  It was perfect, non-confrontational, easy eating stuff that was exactly what the Doctor would have ordered, if he'd have known about it.

Because hubby knows about my liking for Cottage Pie (or Shepherd's Pie) and how it has often been utilised as medicine (and worked very well), it was on the menu list.  However, with a new twist!  While I was sitting sniffling in the car, hubby was purchasing three individual Cottage Pie dishes under the pretext of doing some essential shopping.  Sneaky, eh?

Lo and behold, at the appointed time, out came a gorgeously crunchy topped individual Cottage Pie with its side serving of an assortment of vegetables all designed to put a bit of a spring back into our family's step.

So, be prepared for some individual fish pies, lasagne's, moussaka's - oh, basically, anything that will look great in an individual dish!

Oh and of course - I haven't shown you our Christmas Dinner!

Ta daaaa!  Christmas turkey dinner!

I managed to get through making Christmas dinner by the skin of my teeth.  The fact that we’d cooked the turkey in advance, carved it and put it in the freezer in some stock, was just such a boon!  It was a fairly simple matter, thereafter, of making a gravy with the stock and putting the turkey in gravy into the oven to heat through.

In the meanwhile, the pigs in blankets, stuffing balls, potatoes and parsnips were roasting, the other vegetables were steaming and I was making bread sauce.  It was a simple matter of just serving everything at the right time, thereafter.

Yes, they are purple Brussels Sprouts!

I can thoroughly recommend this as a course of action for the future, so long as you don’t have to present a bronzed and roasted turkey at the table, of course.  I don’t think a casserole dish of carved turkey meat has quite the same appeal.

You might remember my Heritage Christmas Pudding that I’d made a little taster pudding of?  Well, it was superb by the time Christmas came.  I’d resisted all calls to “feed” it with booze and was very pleased with the rich, fruity flavours.  In fact, my Mum commented that it was a bit too boozy – which was odd, considering all it had in it was best part of a bottle of Guinness and a couple of tablespoonfuls of spiced rum!

This Christmas was the first time we’ve ever managed to eat an entire Christmas pudding over several mealtimes.   Ordinarily, the last few slices get tired of and wind up in the local birdies, but not this year.  Sorry birdies!

I’m quite looking forward to next year’s pudding, now!  I’m also going to have to do a few other types of steamed pudding, now that I’ve broken my duck so successfully.

A quick word about our Christmas breakfast.  We try to have something different each year - and after quite literally years of observing the American fancy for pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, we finally succumbed.

For ease (well, the next thing on the agenda was the present opening), we had bought some pancakes which it was a simple matter of warming up in the microwave.  In retrospect, I think a knob of butter would have been a good ruse to just help moisten the pancakes a little more.  The bacon was delicious as usual and the maple syrup was beyond decadent.  With a glass or two of Buck's Fizz, it started our Christmas morning off a treat.

So, looking ahead, what culinary challenges have I got lined up for myself?

Well, there’s the big old terracotta Tagine that I got for Christmas.   Once I've done the whole palaver of seasoning it (soaking overnight, baking in a cool oven for 2 hours), I shall have to find a suitable recipe and give a “proper” tagine a go.  I’m sure I won’t have trouble finding a recipe, as I also got Yotam Ottolenghi’s cook book “Jerusalem” for Christmas.  I’d found three recipes that I want to make, within the first five pages!

Then there’s the Rosti question.  My hubby has yet to find his rosti-making muse and has (apparently) turned out some undercooked efforts, which have burned edges.  This must have been before I met him, as I don’t ever recall such a thing.  However, I have accepted the rosti challenge and shall be grating and squeezing potatoes - and we've got some of our favourite Greenvale Farm Fresh Jelly potatoes - in the hope of creating something worth eating!  You’ll know if I get it right, as I’ll be somewhat cock-a-hoop and no doubt, telling everyone.

If you are currently confined to bed suffering with this horrid flu - I do so hope you get well soon.  Just think of this blog post as evidence that you CAN get better, because if I can do it - anyone can!

Happy New Year everyone!

I've just crept from under my duvet long enough to say Happy and Healthy (with an emphasis on the "healthy"!) New Year to you all.

Did you see the fireworks in London last night?

Just amazing.

Needless to say, we didn't see them in person (more's the pity), but from the comfort of our armchairs, on the t.v.  Still, I think that was one of the best firework displays I've ever seen, for a New Year.

So - back to my duvet, with my tissues and and hot honey water for a few more days, it seems.

Hubby is doing a sterling job with the cooking - he'll be able to write his own blog soon.  ;)
 

Nose blowing and coughing stopped play - unfortunately!

Just in case anyone was wondering, I've been struck down by a particularly nasty cold/flu bug that poor old son & heir brought back from school with him for the holidays.

It got me on Christmas Day - and I'm just now starting to be able to contemplate sitting at the computer again.

Give me a couple of days and I'll be back!

Happy Christmas to you all

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Here's wishing you all a very happy and relaxing Christmas,

that all your celebratory dinners go according to plan,

with no smoke (unless you planned it that way)!

Thank you

everyone, from the bottom of my heart, for being such a great and appreciative

audience over the months and years.

Jenny Eatwell's Rhubarb & Ginger would be nothing without all of you.

Now ....

... who's for a Christmas kiss?  :)

Herne the Hatstand (Venison Sausage) casserole

The title of this scrumptious venison sausage casserole could stand some explanation, I think!

According to Wikipedia, "In English folklore, Herne the Hunter is a ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park in the county of Berkshire. His appearance is notable in the fact that he has antlers upon his head.

The earliest written account of Herne comes from Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor in 1597:

Sometime a keeper here in Windsor Forest,

Doth all the winter-time, at still midnight,

Walk round about an oak, with great ragg'd horns;

And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle,

And makes milch-kine yield blood, and shakes a chain

In a most hideous and dreadful manner.

You have heard of such a spirit, and well you know

The superstitious idle-headed eld

Receiv'd, and did deliver to our age,

This tale of Herne the Hunter for a truth.

— William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor

Robin and Herne the Hunter

Herne was incorporated into the Robin Hood legend in the 1984 television series, Robin of Sherwood. In it, Robin of Loxley is called by Herne to take on the mantle of "the Hooded Man", which Robin's father had predicted beforehand. It is Herne who encourages Loxley to become 'Robin i' the Hood' and to use his band of outlaws to fight for good against the evil Norman oppressors. Herne's appearance bears a very strong resemblance to the illustrations that previously depicted him, in that an otherwise unnamed shaman character, portrayed by actor John Abineri, dons a stag's head and tells Robin that "when the horned one possesses [him]", he becomes the spirit of the forest. Herne featured in 17 of the 26 episodes of the series and was shown to have various magical abilities. The series' adaptation of the Robin Hood mythos has become extremely influential and many of its brand-new elements have since been reinterpreted in a manner of different ways in nearly all of the subsequent films and television series of the legend".

Now, Herne the Hunter became "Herne the Hatstand" (because of his antlers) when hubby was just a lad and would discuss the previous night's episode of Robin of Sherwood at school the following day.  His reference to "Herne the Hatstand" always got a laugh from the assembled throng - so "Herne the Hatstand" he stayed.

Additionally, the Dorset Smokery's address is Hurn Court Lane - so it just had to be!  Inevitably, when trying to think of a name for this dish involving venison, the name "Herne the hatstand casserole" should be first off the blocks - and stick.

So there you are.  Now you know - and aren't you glad?  *chuckle*

We were lucky to arrive at the Smokery just minutes after Marcus had finished making the latest batch to sell - so they couldn't have got any fresher.  Everyone at the Smokery is so nice, you really must go and investigate their wares when you're in the area.  You won't be disappointed!

The sausages were just magnificent in this casserole.  I have to admit that I wasn't too keen on the flavour of the sausage unadulterated and in its pure sausage form - I think it was a bit too strong for me.  However, as a component part of the casserole, they were just majestically beautiful.  The flavours are strong and powerful, but having been cooked in the gravy with the vegetables and mushrooms, the flavours mellowed out and were just gorgeous.

Couple that with the buttery mashed potato and sweet peas and broad beans - and you've a thoroughly well balanced delight of savoury loveliness.

I am quite sure that any good venison sausage would do the same job - and most probably, so would a good beef sausage, although that would slightly change the flavour of the casserole.  However, all the other ingredients go well with beef, so I don't see why not!

I reckon Herne the Hatstand would have approved.

HERNE THE HATSTAND (VENISON SAUSAGE) CASSEROLE  (serves 4)

Ingredients :

600g venison sausage
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large carrots, roughly chopped
1 large potato, cubed
1 stick celery, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
2 or 3 bay leaves
150g chestnut mushrooms sliced thickly
1 rounded tsp wholegrain mustard
100ml red wine
750ml veal or ham stock
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Optional :

1 tbsp mushroom ketchup
10g dried porcini mushrooms.


Method :

1.  Make up 750ml of stock and add the dried porcini mushrooms to it.  Set them aside.

2.  Cook the sausages in a large frying pan until the skins are well coloured.  You may need to cook them in two batches.  Once well coloured, remove from the frying pan and set aside to keep warm.

3.  Add the onions, garlic and celery to the pan and cook on a medium heat until softened.

4.  Now turn the heat up to high to get the frying pan quite hot before adding the red wine. Stir vigorously to deglaze the frying pan before emptying the contents into a large saucepan.

5.  Add the thyme, bay leaves and mushrooms to the contents of the saucepan.  Mix well before adding the remaining vegetables and the stock (complete with the mushrooms, if you're using them.  You will want to leave the dregs of the stock in the container, so as not to include any grit that may have come from the mushrooms).

6.  Slice the sausages to your own taste and add them to the pan.  Finally, add the mustard and Worcestershire sauce, stir well and then set the heat to provide a gentle simmer to the pan.  Cook uncovered for at least 45 minutes or until the vegetables have softened.

7.  Prior to serving, if the sauce is a little thin, simply add a teaspoon or two of cornflour or arrowroot which has been slaked with cold water and stir like crazy until the sauce has thickened.

Serve with mashed potato and a selection of green vegetables.

Printable version
 

Mince Pie topped frozen Greek yoghurt - YUM!

You may recall that, in the Turkey seasonal box from Knorr, were some mince pies.  Not just any old mince pie, but some really very tasty mince pies from Foreman & Field, that are made by pastry chef Michael Nadell.

Now, unusually for us, we hadn't - beyond the first taster - put the kettle on and snarfed the lot accompanied by a number of cups of coffee.  Oh no.  These mince pies demanded a bit more respect than that - and at £16.95 for 12, you can understand why.  So we tucked them up into an airtight container (just like your Mum told you to) and were keeping them for "best".  (Is there a "best", where mince pies are concerned?  We obviously thought so!).

Photo c/o Foreman & Field

The following day - and completely coincidentally - I was contacted by Lianne at W. Communications, the P.R. company I've been working with regarding Barefoot Wines, about another of their clients - the Chillbox Company.

Apparently, Chillbox have a newly opened outlet in Brixton Market (the first, by all accounts) where they are selling Greek frozen yoghurt.  It seems to me to be a spectacularly bad time to open - the middle of winter - when you're selling frozen goods, but who am I to judge?  Maybe the denizens of Brixton Market enjoy some frozen yoghurt after their tub of Paella and before thawing out with mulled wine.  (I have no idea whether paella or mulled wine can be purchased at Brixton Market, but I'll bet they can!).  However, to smooth their way into the Christmas market (see what I did there?), they've come up with a Christmassy mince pie topped version.

So anyway.  I like frozen yoghurt - and I'm particularly fond of Greek yoghurt.  So I was mildly interested but couldn't see any particular relevance to Jenny Eatwell's Rhubarb & Ginger, as the likelihood of my getting to Brixton Market this side of doomsday was fairly negligible.  I couldn't see any samples getting to me in a fit state to test, so it all seemed a bit of a no hoper.  That is, right up until I noticed the words "make at home recipe".

Maybe not as pretty as the Chillbox version - but who cares about pretty when it tastes this good?

AHA!  

The "in store" version is in either natural or chocolate flavour yoghurt with buttery crumbled mince pie, mulled wine sauce with subtle hints of ginger spice and finally, for an extra flourish, some edible 23ct gold leaf.  Frozen yogurt heaven, so they say - and I'm inclined to believe them!

Churn, churn, churn - or you could just freeze & stir every 30 mins!

The "make at home recipe" wasn't anything like as showbiz as the "in store" version, but just the promise of frozen Greek yoghurt - never mind the mince pie input - was enough to spark my interest.  Of course, as soon as I saw the mince pie aspect, I knew I had a potential use for at least a couple of those lovely Michael Nadell pies.

Well, I had every intention of making the frozen yoghurt over the weekend, but one thing led to another and there we were on Monday morning, still with the yoghurt in its pot in the fridge.  So hubby set to and made it.

The recipe is simplicity itself - I've reproduced it below for your delectation - and the end result is yummy, scrummy and feels deliciously naughty.  I have to admit that we made the full-fat version, but I have no doubt that the low fat version would be just as good - particularly if you use a good Greek yoghurt.

Once frozen, the ice crystals are very small and so the yoghurt retains its unctuous creaminess.  The single mince pie that you include with the yoghurt in the mixing stage doesn't look like it will make enough of an impact on the flavour profile - but if you choose a good mince pie (and Sainsbury's are our normal favourite) then the one pie is genuinely all you'll need.

We didn't get all fancy and make a separate sauce - but I think we might for our second go at this dessert, there will be a second go, of that I'm sure!  Something rich, fruity and slightly boozy would be just lush with the frozen yoghurt, I think.  I think we might just pass on the gold leaf, though.  Don't want to get too carried away - anyone would think it's Christmas!

Here's the good bits from the Press Release regarding Chillbox and its products, if anyone is close enough to Brixton Market to want to visit :

"With double the protein, lower carbohydrates and half the sodium, Greek yoghurt is only 124 calories per 100g so there really is no reason not to spoil yourself by picking a festive topping or three!

A standard size Chillbox is £3.75 with an extra two toppings. The 23ct gold topping is charged as an extra cost and not included in the standard topping price.

Chillbox is located at 14 Market Row, Brixton Market, SW9 8LD.  Opening times are Tues 10 – 5pm / Wed - Sun 10 – 10pm.  For Chillbox updates follow us on Twitter - @Chillbox_uk and on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/

Chillbox is the leading frozen yoghurt franchise in Greece.

The Christmas toppings are available up to the 24th December.

Chillbox is not fat free, it contains a low 1.6% fat - not counting toppings.

Chillbox does not contain any chemical additives.
 
Chillbox is sweetened with fructose not sugar, making it slightly more acceptable to diabetics".
 

MINCE PIE TOPPED FROZEN GREEK YOGHURT  (serves 5-6)

Ingredients :

900g Greek Yoghurt (low fat or full fat - your choice)
110g fructose sugar (available from most supermarkets)
125ml milk (again, semi skimmed or full fat - your choice)
1 mince pie to include with the yoghurt
1 mince pie to crumble over.

Method :

1.  In a mixing bowl, whisk together all the ingredients and, once fully incorporated, cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to a maximum of 4 hours.

2.  Pour the mixture into your ice cream machine and process for 10-12 minutes, until set the the consistency of soft scoop ice cream.

3.  Serve immediately, with mince pie crumbled over the top, or transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze until ready to use.  In this case, allow the yoghurt to warm up slightly before serving, so as to capitalise on its smooth creaminess.

Printable version

Cooking a Christmas Turkey successfully!

That is, in a way which leaves you with cooked, succulent, tasty meat that won't have you either reaching for the wine glass for some lubrication, or calling to God on the great white telephone owing to it being under-done.

Well, you can't ask for more than that, really - can you?

I must come straight out and say that the lovely people at Knorr were kind enough to send me the wonderful Foreman & Field box of goodies that enabled me to post up this "how to" blog post.  I have been the fortunate recipient of a number of these boxes - and would like to just say a public thank you to Knorr and to Jen Harris at Golin Harris, their P.R. people, for all the terrific produce that has graced my cooker in the past year.

I wasn't expecting such a huge box this year, but in it came with hubby buckling at the knees under the weight.  Impressive, eh?

Inside the box, there was the following :

·         SELDOM SEEN FARM TURKEY 4.5-5.5kg
·         LONGMAN’S FARM BUTTER 250g
·         EMMETT'S MILD CURE BACK BACON 250g
·         FORMAN & FIELD CHRISTMAS STUFFING
·         SELECTION OF FRESH HERBS
·         1 X ORANGE
·         12 x LUXURY MINCE PIES
·         CHAPEL DOWN NECTAR DESSERT WINE
·         2 Knorr Chicken Gravy Pots.

Well, the turkey speaks for itself - and I'll deal with that in detail in a minute or so.

The Longman's Farm Butter is unsalted and is the most glorious, creamy butter.  I have to admit that I felt it would be a shame to use it in this way and it is far nicer enjoyed on crackers with cheese, or on hot toast, so I used a supermarket unsalted butter.  Sssssh!  Don't tell!

The Emmett's bacon is so intensely smoked, it has an amazing aroma and three rashers is very definitely all that was needed!  I have intentions of using the remainder of the bacon in a French Chicken with peas & bacon recipe, in which it should be glorious.

Now, a word about the Christmas Stuffing.  It comes already frozen, so don't try and freeze it again - and use it as soon as you can.  Last year's pack got left in the fridge for 2 days and was simply horrid - it wound up in the bin.  This year's pack got cooked off on the day of delivery and the cooked stuffing balls are in the freezer.  It has a lovely flavour, being mixed with pork sausage meat, chestnuts and cranberries - but it very definitely won't wait.

The herbs and the orange are, well, herbs and an orange.  ~shrug~  What can I say?  Oh, except to say that the Foreman & Field parsley seems to be the nicest smelling parsley I've come across to date.  It's so fresh!

The mince pies are definitely to.die.for.  There is a hint of either vanilla or almond in the pastry - can't decide which - that marries the pastry up with the mincemeat so well!  I'm going to be using two of these in a frozen yoghurt recipe.  Hopefully, I'll make that tonight.

As for the dessert wine, well, I have yet to try that one - but it's from the Tenterden Vineyards.  What's not to like?

Now the recipe below follows Marco Pierre-White's recipe which is available from here where there is a printable version.  One thing I would mention, is that my timings are slightly different from his, for some obscure reason.  I followed the recipe that came in the box - but the recipe online is slightly different.  So you might like to just make a note of the timings I used, provided your turkey is also in the 4.5-5.5kg range.

ROAST TURKEY - FROM ARRIVAL TO CARVING

See that plastic bag peeping out?  Remove it!

So.  It's just you and the turkey.  It is sitting there, somewhat malevolently, in its wrapping, looking at you in that "go on - I dare you!" kind of way.  So you need to grab hold of any nervousness you have over the issue and throw it behind you, because - this time - you're going to win.

First job - unwrap your turkey and have a good look at it.  Is there anything that needs removing?   There may be whole feathers that might have been missed in the plucking or the bag of giblets that will be tucked into the cavity.  Believe me, roasting a bird with its plastic bag of giblets still inside, does not make for a tasty bird.  No. No.  So, for goodness' sake, just have a peep (out of one eye, if you're squeamish) and check.  One smooth move from the bird to the bin will take care of those giblets.  For those who either a) don't mind the smell of them cooking or b) have no sense of smell, put them in a bowl and use them to make the gravy with.  Be my guest.

By 'eck, 'twas a buxom bird!

Next thing, is to rinse out the cavity of the bird.  Now remember, you don't want to be splashing potentially germ-laden dilute turkey blood everywhere, so have the water running fairly slowly and be careful.  Once your turkey is rinsed, pat dry with some kitchen paper (yes, inside as well - you don't have to look) and leave it on the side while you splash some sink cleaner around your sink.  Best to do that now - you never know who might come along and want to dabble their fingers in it, otherwise.

Back to the turkey.  Or in fact, back to the flavoursome butter mixture that you're going to be putting under the skin of the turkey breast, that will both flavour the bird and keep the breast from drying out in the oven.  In this instance, I'm using orange, rosemary, parsley and bacon.  Don't feel you have to do the same!  You can use whatever combination of herbs, herbs plus bacon, bacon plus fruit, an assortment of spices, BBQ sauce - whatever floats your boat, to mix with the butter.  However, the butter is a necessary thing, as that's what keeps your turkey moist.

So - assuming you're using the same as I did - get a bowl and grate just the zest from the orange into it.  Don't include any of the white pith in there, as it is bitter and nasty.  Take three of the bacon rashers and remove the rind.  Chop the bacon finely and add to the bowl.  Take the rosemary and pick the leaves from all but three stems.  Chop the leaves very small and place them into the bowl.  Cut the stems from the parsley and chop the leaves finely - and put them into the bowl too.  Add a good pinch of freshly ground black pepper and 200g of unsalted butter.  Using your hands, scrunch everything together until well mixed.

Next, decide which roasting tin you are going to use for the turkey and line it with a doubled over piece of silver foil.  I added the bacon rind and parsley stalks to the tin, just to capitalise on any flavour that was going.  I always think it's a terrible shame to throw potential flavour in the bin!

Right, so now it's time to get up close and personal with this turkey.

Take a deep breath - this won't hurt a bit!

Turn it so that its neck end is towards you (that'll be the opposite end to the legs!) and pull the neck flap out from under the string that is trussing it.  You will probably need to trim off the majority of the length of this flap, in order to gain access to the breast meat under it.  This is where poultry shears come into their own!

What we're aiming to do, is to create a pocket between the skin and the breast meat.  You can do this by pushing your fingers through the membrane that connects the two - yes, I know it's gross but it's over quickly!  I found that my little fat fingers didn't reach far enough along the breast, so I used a blunt ended tablespoon and pushed that in as far as it would reach, bowl side up.  The object of the exercise, is not to pierce the skin at all - otherwise all your butter will run directly out as soon as it melts.

See?  Short fat fingers - no hope of reaching far enough!

Make a long pocket across the top of both breasts.  It is easiest to do them separately, as the skin is joined along the breastbone and trying to pierce it there is almost impossible to do without breaking the skin.

Once your pockets are done, divide your butter mix into two and squeeze one half into each pocket.  You'll find they arrive in one lump, but by smoothing with your thumb along the top of the skin, you'll find you can encourage the lump to thin out and before long you'll have both breasts looking all buttered up and lovely.  There's just one thing left to do, which is to take a cocktail stick and use it to "stitch" the neck hole shut.  This will stop the solids inside the flavoured butter from escaping.

A fine bit of cocktail stitchery!

Cut the remains of the orange in half and insert each half into the cavity.  The orange will provide lovely orange-scented and flavoured steam which will also keep the meat moist.

Tuck the remaining three sprigs of rosemary down the side of each leg - between the leg and the breast - and tuck one into the cavity, for luck. 

Almost looks attractive, now!

The next thing is to think about what you want on the skin of the turkey.  I gave the whole bird a good coating of rapeseed oil, as a little oil helps to brown the skin and keep it crispy.  By all means use olive oil, or peanut, or just plain vegetable oil - it really won't matter.

I then seasoned the bird with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and added a final flourish with a few pinches of Sumac.  Sumac has a fresh citrus flavour and would go very well with the orange, I felt.  You could easily add more herbs, or more spices - whatever will go with what you've used in the flavoured butter.

So there you have it!  One turkey, all ready for the oven.

The last thing to do before committing it to the heat, is to place a large piece of silver foil over the top - effectively sealing the turkey in - and crimp it closed all around the roasting tin.

You should have your oven pre-heated to 220degC/200degC(fan)/425degF/Gas 7 - yes, that hot! - so place your turkey in the middle of the oven for the next 30 minutes.

What your turkey should look like, once you uncover it!

Once 30 minutes are up, leaving the turkey undisturbed, simply turn the oven temperature down to 170degC/150degC(fan)/300degF/Gas 3 for another 2.5-3 hours.

I gave my turkey the full 3 hours, at the end of which you remove the turkey from the oven and remove its silver foil cover.  Baste the turkey with the cooking juices that will have accumulated in the pan (we tipped ours out into a jug and poured it over - it was a two man job, but worth doing!) and replace it - without the silver foil lid - for another 30 minutes at an increased temperature of 200degC/180degC(fan)/400degF/Gas 6 to gain that lovely golden colour.

See?  "Lovely golden colour" - I wasn't joking either!

At the end of the cooking time, remove the turkey from the oven and leave it to sit in the roasting tin for 15 minutes, to rest, covered with foil to help it keep warm.  During this time, the juices in the meat are allowed to redistribute themselves around the meat and it may well suck up some of the cooking liquid that is in the tin.

Turkey - meet platter.  Or should that be "turkey meat platter"?

Once the 15 minutes are up, decant the turkey from the tin onto a warmed platter.  Re-wrap it in its silver foil cape and leave it to rest for another 30 minutes.

By this time, it is quite right to feel as though you've been faffing around with this damned turkey ALL FLIPPING DAY!  Believe me, it is worth it though.

Just look at that and think of the admiration of your peers - this, too, could be yours

I saved the cooking juices from the roasting tin to use in the gravy making.  I just skimmed the fat off and popped it into the fridge until I needed it.  If you are serving your turkey immediately, then there's no need to do this - just use it how you like in the gravy.

Congratulations!  Your turkey is now ready to carve!