Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to come to all
I tired these recipes this year and they were so yummy and meat was so tender I had to check to make sure it me that cooked it!!!
Roast Pork2 tablespoons fennel seeds
1 tablespoon sea or rock salt
2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and roughly chopped
4 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
3 onions peeled and roughly chopped
1 bulb of garlic, cloves unpeeled and roughly smashed
Bunch of fresh thyme
1 11�13 lb piece of pork shoulder on the bone, preferably free-range or organic, skin scored
Olive oil
750ml bottle of white wine alc or non alc no matter
1 pint chicken or vegetable stock
1. Preheat your oven to maximum.
2. Smash the fennel seeds with the salt in a pestle and mortar until fine.
3. Put the roughly chopped vegetables, garlic, and thyme sprigs into a large roasting pan.
4. Pat the pork shoulder with olive oil and sit it on top of the vegetables. Now massage all the smashed fennel seeds into the skin of the pork, making sure you push them right into all the scores to maximise the flavour.
5. Put the pork in your preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes or until it's beginning to colour, then turn your oven down to 121 C or 250 F and cook the pork for 9 to 12 hours, until the meat is soft and sticky and you can pull it apart easily with a fork.
6. Tip all the wine, non alco wine also works ok, into the roasting tray and let it cook for another hour to give you a perfect sauce.
7. Once the pork is out of the oven, let it rest for half an hour before removing it to a large board. I like to brush off any excess salt from the meat, then I mash up the veg in the pan using a potato masher. Add the stock to the roasting pan, put it on the heat and boil until you have a lovely intensely flavoured gravy (you can thicken it with a little sieved flour if you like but I prefer mine light). The pork is great served with some good beans, braised greens, your roast veg mash and tasty sauce.
Roast Turkey4 tablespoons butter
A sprig of fresh sage, leaves picked
12 strips of pancetta or thinly sliced bacon
1 bulb of garlic, broken into cloves
4 medium red onions, peeled
2 sticks of celery, trimmed and chopped
A big handful of breadcrumbs
A handful of dried apricots
10 � ounces ground pork
Zest of 1 lemon
A pinch of grated nutmeg
1 large free-range or organic egg
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 small fresh rosemary sprigs, plus a few extra
9-10 lb turkey, preferably free-range or organic, all room temperature
2 carrots, peeled
1 large orange
Olive oil
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 pints chicken or vegetable stock
Preheat the oven to maximum. Heat a saucepan until medium hot and drop in the butter, sage leaves and 6 of the pancetta or bacon strips. Peel and chop 2 garlic cloves and 1 onion. Add the garlic, celery and onion to the saucepan and fry everything gently until soft and golden brown. Take the pan off the heat, add the breadcrumbs and, while the mix is cooling down, add the pork,lemon zest , nutmeg, egg and lots of salt and pepper, and mix everything together well.
Slice the remaining strips of pancetta or bacon in half and slice 1 peeled garlic clove into thin slivers. Place a rosemary sprig and a garlic sliver on one end of a halved strip of pancetta and roll it up tightly. Repeat with the other pieces of pancetta until you have 12 little rolls. Stab the thighs and drumsticks of the turkey in 6 places on each side. Push a little pancetta roll into each hole until it just peeps out. This�ll give your turkey thighs a fantastic flavour and will keep them moist while they cook.
Chop the remaining onions in half and slice the carrots thickly. Give your turkey a good wipe, inside and out, with paper towels, and place it on a board, with the neck end towards you. Find the edge of the skin that�s covering the turkey�s breasts and gently peel it back. Work your fingers and then your hand under the skin, freeing it from the meat. If you�re careful you should be able to pull all of the skin away from the meat, keeping it attached at the sides. Go slowly and try not to make any holes! Lift the loose skin at the neck end and spoon the stuffing between the skin and the breast, tucking the flap of skin underneath to stop anything leaking out. Pop the orange in the microwave for 30 seconds to warm it up and stuff it into the cavity. Weigh the stuffed turkey and calculate the cooking time (about 20 minutes per pound).
Place the bird on a large roasting pan, run it all over with olive oil and season well. Surround with the chopped carrots, onions, remaining garlic, cover with aluminium foil and place in the preheated oven. Turn the heat down right away to 177 C or 350 F, and roast for the calculated time, or until the juices run clear from the thigh if you pierce with a knife or skewer. Remove the aluminium foil for the last 45 minutes to brown the bird. Carefully lift the turkey out of the tray and rest on a board that�s covered loosely with foil for 20 minutes while you finish off the veg and the gravy. Skim the surface fat from the roasting pan and add the flour and stock. Place the tray on the stove top and bring to a boil on high heat. When the gravy starts to thicken, strain it into a bowl. Carve your turkey, serve with the gravy and dig in!
I didn't have to cook on Xmas day but did for Boxing day as above. Each meal was supposed to feed 12 people... HA!!
I had no leftovers after 6 army types... incl husband... son and SIL...and my 3 "adopted" trooper sons ... and us 3 wife types and our 4 yr old. Anyone would have thought those men were starved.
oh and two large jars of cranberry sauce as well.
I won't list the mens booze .. you havn't enough time in the day to read it all
with all the snoring I was waiting for the noise abatement order
I mean they don't snore in the field so why do they do it at home?? I think there are some deep dark psychological reasons for it
you know driving us wives up the wall
However Dr L says it's the booze ... she gave me this long explanation why which I got lost on right after "well see mum it's the" .....
I think my explanation is far closer to the truth ... however after not being able to SLEEP for a day and a bit I may be.. just a bit ... prejudiced :MerryChristmas:
Snoring stopper =
