Roast turkey with vintage bread stuffing and cranberry sauce
Ingredients
Whole turkey: 1
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Large thyme sprigs: 8
Butter: 40 gm (melted)
White chicken stock: 750 ml
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For the cranberry sauce
Dried sweetened cranberries: 100 gm
Orange, zest finely grated, juiced: 1
Red current jelly: 100 gm
Port wine/red wine: 125 ml
For the stuffing
Butter, chopped: 50 gm
Onions, chopped: 2
Celery stalks, trimmed, chopped: 2
Bacon, chopped: 300 gm
Sage, chopped: 3 gm
Flat leaf (Italian) parsley, chopped: half cup
Thyme, chopped: 1 tbsp
Breadcrumbs made from day-old bread: 480 gm
Lemons, finely grated (zest only): 2
Method
To make the traditional breadcrumb stuffing, heat the butter in a large frying pan over low heat. Add the onions, celery and bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until the onion is soft. Transfer to a large bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix to combine. Season well with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool completely.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Wash the turkey under cold running water, remove the neck and giblets and trim any pockets of fat, then pat dry with paper towels. Remove the wishbone. Spoon a quarter of the stuffing into the neck cavity, cover with the skin and tuck the skin under the wings. Spoon the remaining stuffing into the body cavity, then truss the turkey.
Place the thyme sprigs in a large roasting pan and put the turkey on top. Brush all over with melted butter and cover the legs loosely with greased foil. Pour the stock around the turkey and roast for one hour. Reduce the heat to 180°C. Baste the turkey, remove the foil and roast for a further two hours, basting every 30 minutes and covering loosely with greased foil if it is browning too much or until the juices run clear when pierced through the thickest part. Remove from the pan, cover loosely with foil and set aside in a warm place for 15 minutes to rest. Remove the excess fat from the pan juices.
To make the cranberry sauce, place the cranberries in a bowl, cover with hot water and set aside for 30 minutes. Drain the cranberries, put in a saucepan with the remaining ingredients and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. Carve the turkey and serve with the stuffing, pan juices and cranberry sauce.
Chicken liver pate with red wine poached apple
Ingredients
For pate
Uncured bacon from pastured pork: 4 strips
Livers from pastured chicken: 1 pound
Garlic, minced (use more if you like): 1 clove
Onion, minced: 1 cup
Parsley: 4 tbsp
Olive oil: to taste
Method
Cook bacon in cast iron skillet. Remove and set aside to drain and cool. Add chicken livers in bacon fat and cook until brown and well done. Add onion and cook one minute more. Add garlic and onion and sauté until browned. Remove from heat and cool. Finish with parsley.
Put into blender and process on puree till smooth, Chop bacon and stir into puree. Add olive oil as needed to create your preferred consistency.
Press into glass loaf pan or desired mould and chill it till needed and till it gets desired texture.
(The author is a sous chef at Hotel Hilton Garden Inn)