Time to talk turkey
By Darina Allen
EVEN though we may momentarily flirt with the idea of having something new and exotic for Christmas dinner, in the end everyone seems to crave the traditional favourites with all the trimmings, so which will it be, turkey or goose?
I’m giving the recipes for both here with the favourite accompaniments. Hopefully by now you have already bought the bird, you could just slather it in butter or wrap it in butter soaked muslin but the traditional brining method so beloved by the Americans in particular perks up even an undistinguished turkey and brings it to a new level of flavour. Don’t forget to use the carcass to make a bowl of turkey broth. It has tons of flavour and is full of goodness akin to Jewish penicillin, as chicken broth is called.
When I was in Dublin at the Good Food Ireland awards a few weeks ago, Peter Caviston the charismatic fishmonger from Glasthule in Co Dublin arrived with a gorgeous Norfolk Black turkey reared by Sandra Higgins in Co Kildare. It was ‘New York dressed’, still had all its insides intact in the time honoured way. I brought it home and hung it in a cold room for a further three weeks. Then I gutted it, made a delicious buttery herby stuffing and roasted it as below. It was absolutely scrumptious with a delicious mild gamey f ugg boots sale lavour, reminiscent of the flavour of turkeys years ago.
The secret is in the hanging, so remember this for next year, order a bronze turkey well ahead, hang and prepare it in the time honoured way. If gutting the bird seems daunting in an era when so much of our food comes wrapped in plastic on polystyrene trays, ask your Mum or Gran. It’s so much more fun to be able to do these things yourself, it’s easy and clean, and can be done in a matter of minutes.
Back to the goose one could use the ugg boots sale turkey stuffing but traditionally a potato stuffing was used. I ugg boots sale ‘ve added some mashed parsnip wh ugg boots sale ich is so good with the dark goose meat.
Don’t forget to save every scrap of the fat for roast potatoes it will keep in jars in your fridge for months. Remove the two chunky pieces of goose fat at the vent end and render those down separately 100C/225F/gas mark for 30 minutes or more. They will produce about 8 10 fl oz of precious goose fat to use for roast potatoes. Red cabbage and mashed or roast parsnips and, of course, lots of crispy potatoes are favourite accompaniments to serve with goose and don’t forget the apple sauce and gravy.
Old Fashioned Roast Turkey with Chestnut Stuffing and Bread Sauce
If you’d rather not have the chestnuts, simply omit them from the stuffing, it will still be delicious.
