42 — Centralian Advocate, Friday, November 30, 2012

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A turkey to begobbled up

Jamie Oliver serves up his favourite turkey recipe whichincorporates English and American flavours to create a

sumptuous centrepiece of the Christmas meal.

JAMIE Oliver serves up hisfavourite Christmas recipe for atraditional roast turkey withspiced cranberry, bacon andwalnut stuffing.

‘‘This stuffing is the best. It’skind of a cross between oldEngland and the US, with agreat cider gravy,’’ Oliver says.

‘‘If you’re a bit tired of turkeyat Christmas, this dish will soonhave you loving it again.

‘‘The stuffing is full of Christ-mas flavours and the cider gravyis delicious.’’

Serves: 6 to 8 people

Takes: 3 hours and 30 minutes

Tip: Make sure the turkey is atroom temperature beforecooking the bird.

Ingredients:

n 1 tbs unsalted butter

n 100g bacon, sliced into thinstrips

n 3 shallots, peeled and finely-chopped

n 2 sticks of celery, finely-chopped

n a sprig of fresh rosemary,chopped

n a big handful of driedcranberries

n 800ml dry cidern 1/2 tsp ground nutmegn 1/2 tsp ground allspicen sea salt and freshly-ground

black peppern a handful of chopped

walnutsn zest of 1 orangen 300g pork sausage meatn 1 eggn 2 b i g h a n d f u l s o f

breadcrumbsn 4kg turkey, preferably free-

rangen 100g softened buttern 300ml tub fresh chicken

stockn 1 tsp cornflour

Instructions:

n Step 1: To make the stuffing,melt the unsalted butter in asaucepan and add the bacon,shallots, celery and rosemary.Cook gently with the lid on forabout 10 minutes, until the veg-etables are very soft but notcoloured. Add the cranberriesand half the cider and turn upthe heat a little.

n Step 2: When the liquid hasreduced to a third of its volume,set it aside to cool. Mix in thenutmeg, allspice, some salt andpepper, the walnuts, orange zest,

sausage meat and egg, then foldin the breadcrumbs. Preheat theoven to 240C.

Pat the turkey dry with kit-chen paper, then stuff the neckend loosely with stuffing.

The remaining stuffing can becooked separately, rolled intoballs, or can be used to makefestive sausage rolls for a BoxingDay treat.

n Step 3: Chop the wings offthe turkey and place them in theroasting tray. Rub the bird withthe softened butter, season andplace in the roasting tray withthe wings. Cover with foil andpop into the preheated oven.

n Step 4: After 15 minutes,turn down the heat to 180C.

Lift up the foil and spoon thejuices from the tray all over the

turkey skin, then roast for an-other 2-3 hours. Remove the foilan hour before the end of cook-ing so the turkey goes brown allover and crispy.

n Step 5: Check the turkey iscooked through. Stick a fork intothe inside of the thigh. It shouldbe piping hot all the way throughand the juices should run clear.Remove the turkey from theoven and lift it out of the tin,leaving the wings behind toflavour the gravy.

Cover the turkey with foil,then leave to rest for 30 minutes.

n Step 6: Skim the fat off thejuices in the tin and add the restof the cider with the stock andthe cornflour, dissolved in a littlewater. Place on the hob andsimmer until thickened, sieveand serve with the turkey.

It’s not all nut roastsand tofu for vegetarians

A meat-free Christmas spread

IF you’re having a meat-free holiday,or serving vegetarians on the day,what are some interesting alternat-ives to traditional ham, turkey, beefor seafood?

There’s no reason that a veg-etarian Christmas has to feel any lesslavish, or even less traditional, justbecause it’s meat-free.

All it takes is a little more planningand forethought.

Nut roast and mock turkey tofu arecommon main-course replacements(and they’re perfectly fine) but youcan easily come up with something abit more creative.

Israeli-born, London-based chefYotam Ottolenghi has become aglobal sensation for his inventivevegetarian recipes that even themost committed carnivores aresalivating over.

His books Plenty and Jerusalemare great places to look for inspi-ration. Closer to home, Vegies byAustralian chef Simon Bryant alsooffers interesting ideas for creativevegetarian cooking.

According to Bryant, good qualityspices, oils and vinegars are thefoundation of great vegetarian cook-ing, combined with fresh, seasonalproduce and excellent quality leg-umes. Stock up on these vegetarianessentials when planning your mealand you can’t go wrong.

Top tipsInclude many of the traditional

Christmas accompaniments that arenot meat-based, such as cranberrysauce, stuffing, fruit cake, egg nog,some plum puddings and mince pies.Be careful with the final two as theyoften contain suet.

Don’t forget to check that standarditems used in cooking, such as stockand condiments, are completely freeof meat products.

Take advantage of the summerseason and incorporate interestingseasonal produce into your menu,particularly any unusual tropical

fruits or herbs you can find.

Make your meal feel more exotic by

using less-obvious produce likemixed grain quinoa, Israeli cous cousor French puy lentils.

Branch out by using our fantasticnative herbs and vegetables, such asdesert limes, quandongs, saltbush,lemon myrtle and warrigal greens, tomake your dishes different, excitingand uniquely Australian.

If you’re going to use tofu for yourmain course but you don’t cook withit often, be sure to do a bit of researchbefore attempting it.

There are several different typesavailable that suit different styles ofcooking.

Consider planning your feastaround a specific cuisine.

Countries with lots of vegetarian-friendly dishes include India, Israel,Egypt, Morocco, Thailand, Greeceand Mexico.

From taste.com.au - November 2012

Debbie Elkind

Christmaswishes

KYLE Wackerman (left), 18,Sanity: For Christmas, I’mwishing for someone tocome along and pay all myrent for me.

MC Ives (right), 17, nailartist: For Christmas, I’mwishing for more hair, morejewellery and a new car.