Christmas Plans

I apologise for my lack of posts of late - some medical issues in the family. It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks, what with an era ending as I watched Paul lug the baby crib (cot) mattress up to the attic, to the drama of doctor and hospital visits to just long hours all around. But thankfully all is resolved and over with for now so it's time to get ready for Christmas!

This will be my first time hosting Christmas and I am super excited. I have to say that after Thanksgiving I am quite calm about Christmas. It will be just us four, my parents and my brother and his girlfriend. They are all coming in the afternoon, which gives us the morning to ourselves to see the girls delight in Santa and head to Mass. I am going to do some very light hors d'oeuvres throughout the afternoon with dinner itself at around seven. The girls will nap for a couple of hours before dinner, allowing the adults to exchange gifts and giving us some extra time with them after dinner.

In Ireland we traditionally eat a Turkey and Ham dinner for Christmas. It's very similar to American Thanksgiving meals, just minus the sweet potatoes, green beans and corn! Traditionally there would be a large stuffed roast turkey, a large boiled then glazed ham, roast potatoes, brussel sprouts, and other vegetable side dishes.

I've been hearing about turkey brining for years, but never really saw the point as my turkey always comes out fine. However this year, my sweet mother-in-law brought me a turkey brining mix from the luscious Williams-Sonoma and I tried it. Wow! I did everything else how I always did, but brined it for twenty-four hours first and what an incredible difference it made. I will never go back! I also felt I overcooked it a tiny bit, but because of the brine, you couldn't tell. See for yourself, doesn't she look good? We named her Tina Turkey! ;-)


You can find some turkey brine recipes here, here and here. After the brining period I rinse
my turkey and let her hang out at room temperature for about an hour before stuffing her. Some people are nervous about stuffing the bird, due to bacteria and what not, but it's never been a problem for me. I always line the cavities with foil, both top and bottom to minimize any risk, if there is any in the first place. I stuff her as full as possible in both ends (Sorry Tina) and then either sew her up with twine, or use toothpicks / skewers. Then it's time for the herb butter.

I make a compound butter using fresh parsley, thyme, salt, pepper and softened butter. I mix it all together and slide it betweent the skin and meat of the turkey. Dig your fingers in to separate the skin from the meat and then slather it with butter, focusing on the breast area, but if possible, getting in towards the legs as well. Any remaining butter is then rubbed all over the outside of the skin.

I then lay streaky bacon all over the bird, covering her up. If you want to be fancy, you can do this in a lattice pattern, but I rarely bother, since I remove it before the final browning. This gives the bird and gravy a lovely flavour and helps in browning. I then cover her very loosely in foil, creating a tent to allow steam to build up and in she goes! I won't presume to tell you how long to cook your bird, as everyones ovens are so different. Some people prefer to roast all day in a low oven, whereas I start it off in a very high oven, lower the heat down for a couple of hours, then give her a final high heat blast at the end.

About forty minutes before she's due to come out I remove the foil and bacon. At this point we have a wee "cooks treat" as Nigella says, which is the bacon. It is the strangest phenomenon, because the bacon tastes just like turkey and gives your palette a nice taste of what's to come!

At this point I add about a cup of chicken stock to the roasting tin, turn up the heat and begin basting. I also check the internal temperature in a few different places. Once she's done, I cover her with foil and allow her to sit while I make the sides and roast potatoes.

The Menu this year consists of the following:

Pre-Dinner Nibbles

• Smoked Salmon and Brown Soda Bread
• Crab Cakes with Red pepper Aioli
  
• Veggies and Dip
• Curried Devilled Eggs

Dinner

• Turkey
• Ham
• Roast Potatoes
• Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Mom's Stuffing
• World's Best Brussel Sprouts*
  
• Maple Mustard Glazed Carrots
• Sautéed Garlic Mushrooms
• Orange Spiced Cranberry Sauce
• Caramelised Onion Gravy **

Dessert

• Christmas Pudding w/ Vanilla Cream
• Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (courtesy of Heather)
  
• Mince Pies (courtesy of Tesco, damned if I'm making the dreadful things DAD! ;-))

* - Yes, pretentious claim, I know, but seriously, these are phenomenal. People who hate brussel sprouts love these. It's my adaptation from one of those ghastly seventies microwave cookbooks! Basically you prep your brussel sprouts (I put a criss cross on the bottom with a knife, for even cooking) and add a tbsp of butter to a microwave safe casserole dish. Add the sprouts and nuke for a few minutes until slightly cooked, but not close to done. Dice a large red apple, leaving the peel on. Add to sprouts. Add about 1/4 cup brown sugar and a few gratings of nutmeg. Add another tablespoon of butter for good measure and toss. Cover with clingfilm and microwave again until sprouts are done to your liking. This is so yummy and is festively coloured as well. It doesn't take up any space on your stove or in your oven which makes it a perfect addition to any big roast!

** - Lisa referred me to this recipe for Thanksgiving. It was sublime! I will be using it all the time from now on. My husband actually made the base for me the day before Thanksgiving. He moaned and complained that it took too long, but once he tasted the result he was instantly silenced.

So that's the plan for Christmas. Always open to comments and suggestions! ;-)



On another note, I have once again had the honour of being shortlisted in a rather exciting Irish web awards, the Digital Media Awards. Other finalists include usual suspect Grandad, fellow foodies, Ice Cream Ireland, the Limerick blogger and the very pregnant Feebee from The Waiting Game! Congratulations to all of them! Do you think the judges might have been hungry when they were coming up with the list? Two food blogs! ;-)

I hope to be back with some unique turkey leftover ideas before the day itself, but if not, may I take this opportunity to wish you and yours a wonderful Christmas! I WILL be back before the new year though, with the best recipes of 2007! Stay tuned!

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