If you use a frozen turkey...you MUST defrost it thoroughly. The best way is in a cold room or refrigerator, so it defrosts slowly.

You need to buy 1 lb. of uncooked turkey for each person you want to feed..plus 2 lbs to spare.

Let your turkey come to room temperature before starting to cook it if possible.

Heat your oven to gas mark 7.

If you have a big enough pan or small enough turkey, place a strong wire rack in the baking tin and put 1 cup of water and one quarter cup of white wine for every 3 lbs of turkey in the pan. Use only half a cup of water & wine for 3 lbs if you have no rack. Add the gizzard and neck to the pan. (not the liver)

In a small bowl, soften a good sized lump of butter (10-20 sec. in a microwave). Add a small amount of salt, some ground pepper, a tablespoon of finely chopped parsley and 1 tablespoon of chopped chives and mix together. Rub the mixture generously over your turkey, including on the bottom and put a lump inside the turkey if you are cooking stuffing separately.

If you want to cook the stuffing inside the turkey, stuff it now!

Put the turkey on the rack or in the pan and make a 'tent' of foil over it so it is completely enclosed in foil but so that the foil doesn't touch the turkey. Put in the hot oven for 45 minutes (4-lbs.) 1 hour (8-12 lbs) 1 and a quarter hours (13 upwards).

Turn down the oven to gas mark 3-4. Roast your bird for 15 minutes for every pound, including the weight of the stuffing, if inside.

Remove the foil and return to the oven; roast until the turkey turns light golden brown. Cover the bird generously with slices of bacon or sliced pineapple or peaches with some brown sugar and cloves sprinkled over the fruit.

The sight of cranberry sauce, of turkey and all the rest; the smells that rose steaming, from the mulled wine, From 'Christmas Dinner' by Mike Daniels.

Continue to roast until the bacon or fruit is well done.


Test to see the bird is fully cooked by putting a skewer into the meaty part of the leg and pressing down. If the juices run clear..it's done. If not, cover again with foil and roast for segments of 20 minutes, testing each time to make sure it's cooked.

Let the bird 'rest' out of the oven (for the juices to sink back into the meat) for 15-30 minutes.

You can make stock with a stock cube and water or buy ready made stock at most supermarkets.

Add 1 cup of stock to the contents of the roasting pan and stir well; then either put it in a separator jug (which has a spout near the bottom, allowing you to pour the meat juice out); or into a tall glass; wait until the juice and fat separates and spoon the fat into a heavy sauce pan. You need

1 tablespoon of fat small 1 tablespoon of flour 1 cup of liquid 1 tsp. tomatoes puree+ 1 tsp dark soysauce

2 tablespoons medium 2 " " 2 cups " 1 and a half " "

Gravy and custard were her betes noires: she would often approach the table with a jug of gravy or custard in one hand, a spoon in the other and a worried expression on her face. From 'A Christmas Cruel' by Arthur Looseley.

3 tablespoons.. generous 3 " " 3 cups 2 tsp " 2

4 tablespoons huge 4 " " 4 cups 2 and a half

If you don't have enough fat, add 1 or more tablespoon of butter.

When the fat is bubbling, stir in 1 level tablespoon of flour for each tablespoon of fat, stirring well. When all the flour is added, continue cooking on a medium flame and stirring for at least two minutes.

Put approximately one sixth (a good slug) of stock and pan juice into the mix, stirring well. Continue cooking and stirring until the mixture thickens and bubbles, then add the next slug. At first, using this method..the gravy looks lumpy but as the mixture heats and comes to a boil, it evens out; each time you add a slug of liquid, it evens out as a thinner mixture.

Continue adding liquid until the gravy is the desired thickness;

Add salt, pepper and chopped parsley and for colour and flavour, tomato puree and dark soy sauce in the quantities above.

This is also a very good way to cook any white sauce.

Small Medium large

1 lb. of unpeeled chestnuts I and a half lbs 2 lbs.

one half pound sausage meat 1 lb 1 and a half

1 cup bread crumbs 2 cups bread crumbs 3 cups breadcrumbs

small mild onion medium onion large mild onion

stalk of celery 2 stalks 3 stalks

1 tsp. chopped sage 2 tsp. chopped sage 3 tsp. chopped sage

salt and pepper more salt and pepper plenty of salt and pepper.

one half cup milk 1 cup of milk 1 and a half cups of milk

Peeling chestnuts is a pain; you can buy a tin in a delicatessen or buy dried chestnuts from a Chinese supermarket and soak them for 24 hours to use instead. This is the least horrible method for peeling them I've found.

Cut 3 or 4 chestnuts down the middle and put in a small bowl; microwave at high for 60 seconds (or drop in boiling water) take them out and peel them immediately; when very hot, both skins come off easily; use thin latex gloves if necessary to protect your hands. Repeat the process until all the chestnuts are cleaned. Then chop them into dice sized pieces.

Heat a heavy pan and cover with thin film of oil..sunflower or vegetable. The break the sausage meat into small lumps and fry. Remove to a plate; chop the onions and celery finely and fry in the fat left by the sausage meat, adding a bit of oil if necessary. When the onions and celery are soft and a bit transparent, put the sausage meat back in with the sage, salt and pepper. Stir. Turn off the heat. Add the breadcrumbs, then let the mixture cool. Then add the milk and mix everything well with your hands. Put inside the turkey cavity or in a separate greased oven dish (the turkey cooks faster this way) one hour before you are ready to serve it gas mark 3-4.

One half pound of sausage meat plus a little oil

170 grams of good quality packaged sage and onion stuffing

10 fluid ounces of boiling chicken or turkey stock

a small tin of chestnuts, chopped

Break the sausagemeat into small chunks and fry in the oil. Turn off heat. Add the package of stuffing, the stock and the chopped chestnuts. Mix well and stuff inside the turkey or bake in a separate tin.

Preheat oven to gas mark 4

Stuffing

4 turkey breast steaks

slices of bacon

stock or wine and water

Put each turkey steak on a cutting board and bang with a meat mallet, rolling pin or similar to thin and stretch it. Then put some stuffing in the middle of the steak, roll up and fasten the turkey roll with a toothpick. Wrap plenty of bacon around it. Make the other three in the same way and put in a well greased oven dish. Pour a little stock and water plus white wine into the pan.. to a depth of about one quarter of an inch. Extra stuffing can be made into balls to sit around the turkey rolls.

Roast for 30-40 minutes. Make gravy as described above using the pan juices and extra stock.

Enjoy!

Recipe by E King

Mincemeat is the essential ingredient for mince pies, which are a traditional part of the British Cristmas menu. Mincemeat is a preserve and was originally in pre-frozen and tinned foor days another way of preserving meat for use during the winter months, when fresh food was scarce. The meat was mixed with spices and sugar, and was found to last even longer with the addition of rum, Now the only link back to the meat content is the use of suet, but this can be left out without adversely affecting the finished product.

Ingredients (makes enough for about 3 dozen mince pies)

4oz (100g) shredded suet
4oz (100g) brown sugar
4oz (100g) raisins
4oz (100g) sultanas
4oz (100g) currants
1 large cooking apple
2 tablespoons of marmalade
2 lemons
1 teaspoonful of mixed spice
1/4 teaspoonful grated nutmeg
2 tablespoongsful of dark rum or brandy

Method

Put the suet, sugar and dried fruit into a bowl and mix evenly. Peel core and chop the apple finely - add it to the other ingredients and mix well. Add the marmalade and mix. Into a separate bowl grate the rind of the lemons, add the spice and nutmeg and mix together. Add the juice of the lemon and the rum/brandy. Continue to mix and then add to the main mixture (dired fruit e.t.c.) stirring well. The mincemeat needs to be packed into clean jars sealed with either jam making tops or other airtight lids. It improves with keeping, so if you make some a few weeks before you need it, it will taste better.

They eat and they eat, then for pudding with flames Then mince pies and chocolate, followed by games From 'Just Another Christmas' by E King.

Rich short crust pastry

8 oz. Plain flour
pinch salt
5 oz. Butter
1 oz. Shortening or lard
1 rounded tablespoon of icing sugar
1 egg yolk
2-3 tablespoons of VERY cold water

Put the flour into a food processor or bowl; add the salt and fat. Process or cut the butter with two knives until the mix looks like fine bread crumbs. Mix the egg yolk with the water and add to the mixture along with the sugar. Mix in the processor or with a fork into a firm dough.. Put the dough in a plastic bag and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes -2 hours.

Heat oven to 400’ Fahrenheit or Gas mark 6.

You need two round cutters, one larger than the other; two drinking glasses will do and a ‘patty’ tin. Grease the tin.

Roll out half the pastry and cut with the smaller cutter put the rounds to one side. Add the trimmings to the second half of the dough and cup into larger rounds.

Put larger rounds into patty tin and place a good spoonful of mincemeat on top of the pastry. Put a smaller round of pastry over the mincemeat. Using a fork, pinch edges of pastry together and brush lightly with cold water.

Cook for 15-20 minutes until nicely brown.

Let the pies cool, take out of the pan and dust generously with icing sugar.

1 jar mincemeat
2 oz. Brandy
Package of frozen short crust pastry

Mix the brandy and mincemeat together. Defrost the pastry and roll out; proceed as described above

1 package quality mince pies
rolling pin
icing sugar

Put the pies on a plate. Gently batter them with the rolling pin until pies look uneven. Sprinkle generously with icing sugar.

Note; Clement Freud once told me to buy good quality bread, heat it in the oven and bury the wrapping in your garden to pass the bread off as your own.