Ready Steady Christmas cook !

I never really thought about having a Christmas dinner this year. As I have moaned about before December is not an easy month as a Chef but I think I have done the whinging " O look at me I am so tired cooking for people...O woe is poor me !" to death now and its time to lighten up ! Ha Ha !
So today for some twisted reason I fancied a Xmas dinner. Lucky for me I had obtained a beautiful piece of Turkey crown from James the butcher boy delivery driver for Butterworths on Saturday.
So to make it more interesting I thought I would try and make a full Xmas dinner in 1 hour ! Don't worry the Turkey would not explode in an Tom Cruise Mission Impossible kind of way if I didn't make it ! ha ha !

Cue Mission Impossible theme tune !

The turkey went into the oven on 200 degrees C, next I put the kettle on so I would have hot water in my pan straight away for blanching my Maris piper roast potatoes. Potatoes peeled and into pan, then on to stove done. Next prep the Brussels sprouts and put them into steamer pan.

Now prep the carrots and parsnips for roasting. Get oil smoking in roasting tray and get Carrots and Parsnips into top oven. OK Sprouts ready take them off the steamer and allow to cool. 8 minutes later the potatoes are cooked enough so need to drain them in colander. When drained shake in colander to fluff up the edges which is going to give you crunchy potatoes and then place them into your tray with hot oil spitting at you while you do so and shove them into the oven.
OK now get your cauldron out and start you gravy. Sometimes its best not to ask what goes into my witches gravy potion so Ill keep that to my self !

OK stuffing needs doing. Simply put 400 grams of sausage meat into a bowl. Sweat off an onion with a little garlic and add to sausage meat. Next add 200 grams of chestnut puree. Add 2 tablespoons of dried sage. Mix well with hands. Now place onto greased cooking foil and roll into a sausage. Into the oven that baby goes too !
OK how about some Chipolatas with smoked streaky bacon wrapped around them. I love the Porkinson Chipolatas. ( And not just because he was a top fashion photographer !) so I used them.

Under the grill they went !

OK check the meat !

Even the onions being used as a trivet were starting to look fantastic !

OK the Turkey was looking good but only at 38 degrees C it meant it was not looking likely it was going to be ready by the end of the 1 hour time limit !
Anyway it was time for an energy drink as I had been working so hard !

OK one sports drink consumed ???!!

Check Roasties.

looking good !

OK everything was cooking well a little too well and everything but the Turkey was going to be ready on the hour. Time to slow down. However my Pigs in blankets were blooming ready !

Right this was not going to happen and it was starting to feel like a busy kitchen service. So I was going to have to rely on my microwave to reheat some things for when I plated up and it was time for another sports drink !!!?

The clock whizzed past 5 and at 5.35 the turkey was a cooked to perfection. The trouble with white meat is that it can give you a nasty dose of food poisoning so most people overcook the meat which means its dry and hard work to eat.

Perfect !

Ive said it before and I will say it again. "OOO baby ! "

Time to try and let the turkey rest and reheat everything ! the roast potatoes, Carrots, parsnips and Stuffing was put back into the oven.
The Brussels sprouts were then sauteed in olive oil in a pan to which I added some diced apple, double cream and Snowdonia Cheese companies Black Bomber mature cheddar cheese !

Diced apple adds sweetness to sprouts !

Sprouts, great cheese, cream and apple its all kicking off on the flavour front !

I put the Pigs in blankets in the microwave and reheated them and then it was all ready to go !

Well it did taste pretty good even if I say so myself. However to try and rush a Christmas dinner is missing the point. It should take a long time to cook. Its a sharing meal and its perhaps the only time during the year that we come close to the long French lunch or the late night Spanish sharing Tapas menu. The Italians weekly proud family get together of celebrating good food and wine is pretty much un-heard of in Britain.
Xmas dinner is our day. An early morning glass of Bucks Fizz while the turkey goes into the oven is accompanied by a glass of beer or wine when your guests arrive at noon. A glass of sherry before you plate up lunch with the sounds of "Now that's what I call Christmas number 23" playing in the background along with people laughing and the sounds of someone biting the bullet on "Death Lord 5" while the kids play the latest £80 game on the X-Box.
Its just a pity that most of us cannot cook in this country and are far happier going for a takeaway or buying anything pre packed to speed up what should be a joyous day. Food plays with our emotions. It comforts us when we are need of comforting and keeps our body working when we are tired. So lets start setting Sunday aside again for the good old Family meal get together. God Save the Queen an all ! (thats Geordie for as well just in case you were wondering.).