Recipes

Dear readers, the following are a few recipes and tips which will make your Christmas  lunch that extra bit special and stress free. I wish you and your families a very happy Christmas.

Cranberry and orange stuffing
This stuffing is sufficient for a 12lb turkey.

• 50g Butter
• 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
• 300g fresh bread crumbs
• Juice and zest of one orange
• A handful of  dried cranberries

Hear the butter in a pan , add the onion and cook gently for 7-10 minutes, add the breadcrumbs, orange juice and zest and cranberries. Season well with salt and pepper.

Roasting the Turkey

1. When I am roasting my Turkey I pre heat the oven to 190Cpreheat the oven to 170 ° C 
2. Rub the skin of the turkey all over with the butter and season with salt and pepper. 
3. Stuff the neck cavity of the turkey with the stuffing. Fold the skin back over the stuffing and place under the turkey. 
4. Weigh the turkey to calculate required cooking time (approx 20-25 minutes per 1lb and add 20 minutes. Resting time 20 minutes). I usually ask the butcher to weigh the Turkey for me and write it on the wrapper.
5. Loosely wrap the Turkey in foil,. Baste. (Spoon over juice every 40 minutes). Unwrap foil for final 40 minutes to one hour. 
6. When you push a point of a knife into the leg of the turkey and the juices run clear, it’s ready.
7. Remove the Turkey from the oven, loosely wrap in foil and allow to rest for 20 minutes.;

Gravy 
Remove the Turkey from tin. Heat juices in roasting tin over a gentle heat. Slowly stir in 1 tbsp flour. Cook for two minutes. Pour in 3 tbsp of port or red wine, gradually slowly add 1 pint stock if you don’t have Turkey stock, use chicken and bring to the boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes until reduced and thickened. Season to taste.

Cranberry and orange Sauce
I absolutely love cranberry sauce, it is delicious with cheese, pate and of course Turkey.

• 350g Cranberries
• 150 mls of freshly squeezed orange juice 
• 150 mls sugar

Place all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer until the cranberries burst, about 158-20 minutes. All to cool and store in the fridge.

Pan-fried Brussel Sprouts & Celery with Hazelnut Butter
These little miniature cabbages are in season at this time of the year. They are difficult enough to grow as I discovered this year. When choosing your sprouts choose small ones with tightly packed head. This recipe is a real quicky and makes the most of the wonderful flavour of the sprouts.

Serves 6

• 750g lbs brussel sprouts, washed and sliced
• 2 stalks celery, washed and sliced
• 50g butter
• 75g hazelnuts, skinned
• squeeze of lemon juice
• a little freshly grated nutmeg

Toast the hazelnuts in a dry pan until golden.  Place the hazelnuts between two pieces of grease proof paper and tap gently with a rolling pin to break up the nuts.

Melt the butter in a large hot pan, add the Brussel sprouts and celery, stir fry until tender but with a slight bite, add the hazelnuts and nutmeg and stir fry for a further 2 minutes.

Check the seasoning and add a squeeze of lemon juice.  Tip into a warmed dish to serve.

Tropical Fruit Trifle
This dessert is a big hit in our house. Its multiple layers with its colors, textures and flavors delight the senses. A pretty glass bowl shows the trifle at its best. Once you are organized with your ingredients, the trifle takes less than 10 minutes to assemble. It is hard get the amount of ingredients exactly right as it really depends on the size of your trifle bowl, so you may need to scale up or down slightly. I mix Greek yogurt and whipped cream together for the topping, the  Greek yoghurts gives a lovely shiny finish and balances the sweetness of the fruit.

Serves 8-10

• 1 small pineapple, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 x 425g can mango slices in syrup, drained, syrup reserved (I found tinned Mango in Marks and Spencers, if you can’t get your hands on a tin use tinned apricots as an alternative) 
• 3 passion fruit, halved
• 300g sponge, such as Madeira cake, thinly sliced 
• 2 tbsp dark rum (optional)
• 425g ready made custard
• 250g tub Greek yogurt
• 275ml carton cream - whipped
• 2 tbsp dark muscovado sugar

1. Strain the mango slices reserving the syrup and roughly chop into chunks. In a bowl mix the chopped pineapple pieces, chopped mango slices and passion fruit pulp. Mix the rum with half of the reserved mango syrup.  
2. In a large glass trifle bowl, spoon half the fruit mixture, cover with half the sliced sponge, drizzle with the rum infused syrup. Pour half the custard on top and spread over the sponge with a spoon.
3. Spread the remaining fruit over the custard, top with the remaining sponge, drizzle with the rum infused syrup and pour over the remaining custard. Don't worry if the layers mix together as this is the way Trifles are supposed to look 
4. Whisk together the Greek yogurt and whipped cream in a bowl until thick.  Spoon over the custard mixture and sprinkle with muscovado sugar. 
5. Cover and chill for at least 1hr before serving.

This decadent trifle can be made a day in advance, cover with cling film and store in the fridge.