Kerrie Christmas 12 - Turkey for Christmas in July

It was a traditional Christmas roast with all the trimmings. Combining the return of our son and daughter in law from an overseas trip with a chance to celebrate, a Christmas pudding in the freezer was a deciding factor. A small affair so I couldn't justify a big turkey which would be more traditional. Instead I opted for  a turkey breast and two small turkey drumsticks which would hopefully give the the right combination of light and dark meat - products not previously purchased and in the meat section of the supermarket. Unlike the big bird of my previous turkey cooking, this roast was easily prepared, much easier to store in the fridge and relatively quick to cook.  Another good thing was the fresh and in season brussel sprouts, a favourite vegetable of mine, traditionally served at a British Christmas.   

The stuffing was made with breadcrumbs and this lemon chutney. It was easy to cut a pocket into the breast and then tie up the roast with string. The drumsticks were boned and then placed on top of each to form a flat mini roast. I wrapped the turkey breast up as a parcel which kept it moist and was very pleased with the outcome. The finished roast would serve six generously and with the ham and vegetables at least eight, we had lots to have as leftover in some sandwiches the next day.

Lemon Chutney Stuffing

2 cups coarse breadcrumbs* 1 red onion, finely chopped 1 lemon, juice and finely grated zest *preferably sour dough, I used half of a large loaf

1 egg* ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons lemon chutney, homemade or commercial such as lemon, date or mango *May need a little more egg

Method

Place breadcrumbs in bowl and cover with water. Soak for a few minutes and then squeeze out. 

Combine breadcrumbs with remaining ingredients and mix well. The mixture needs to hold together, if necessary and another egg yolk.

 The Process 

The turkey breast, stuffed and tied with a little seasoning smeared over the top.

The turkey breast wrapped in cooking parcment and tied with string. an oven bag could also be used.

Unwrapped and resting, ready to carve.

.

The carved turkey breast and the darker leg meat.

and finally

no Christmas dinner would not be complete without one of these.

served with a generous blob of some brandy cream 

Roast Duck with Marsala Figs

Duck can be a tricky thing to cook so for this dish I used my 'adapted sous vide' technique first and then roasted the duck portions in a very hot oven for twenty minutes to make the skin really crispy and golden brown. 

The figs will keep for weeks if kept refrigerated in the syrup. They are also quite nive as a dessert with some vanilla icecream or sliced into a bread and butter pudding.

To Cook the Duck

Bone duck into four portions, two breast and two leg/thick portions. 

Season each portion with a little salt and pepper.

Vacuum seal the legs into one pouch and the breasts into another.

Follow the instructions for the belly pork, The water temperature was kept to 80 deg C. 

I cooked the pouch of duck legs longer than the pouch of breast, 2 1/2 hours for the legs, 1 1/2 for the breast. 

Remove the poches from the water. Carefully drain the juices from each pouch into a saucepan and put aside to make the sauce.

Pat the duck portion dry with some paper towel

Place each portion on a tray lined with cooking parchment, spray with cooking spray and place in a very hot oven for 20 minutes. 

To make the Sauce

Combine the reserved juices with 1/2 cup Marsala or Port. Bring to the boil and then simmer until the sauce evaporates a little. Add two or three figs per person to the sauce and warm through.

Check flavour of the sauce, add some salt and sharpen with a  splash of balsamic vinegar if necesarry.

To Serve

Cut breast portion in half diagonally.

Place leg portion on the plate, tuck figs in and around the leg. You may prefer to cut each fig in half.

Add the breast portions and a little more fig.

Spoon a little sauce around the plated duck.

Dried Figs in Marsala Syrup 

1 pkt dried figs

1 cup Marsala wine / Port

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

Combine sugar, Marsala /port and water in a saucpan and bring to boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

Add figs making sure that they are covered by the syrup. Add a little more water/marsala if necessary.

Simmer until figs soften approximately 15 minutes. 

Refrigerate figs in the syrup, they are better if left for a day or two.