How will you be doing your turkey?

[JoshandJamie]

Sorry if this has already been asked. Tonight I am creating my menu/shopping list for Christmas eve, Christmas day and boxing day - and I am beginning to feel a bit ill.

Anyway, turkeys. How are you doing yours? By that I mean are you flavouring it in some specific way or going traditional with bacon lattice on top or what?

Bacon lattice on top??? That sounds yummy

Very traditional - stuffed with sausage meat, bacon fat on the breast, surrounded by chipolatas! Mmmm... mouth watering at the thought. And LOADS of parsnips, which are my favourite part of the meal.

Can't wait - I love Christmas! Don't feel ill - it will be lovely I am sure!

I usually slice the skin and smear butter under neath. Always half a lemon and stick it inside too for that extra bit of flavour. I sometimes put the turkey in the oven for a very, very slow cook through the night as well. Makes the house as warm as toast and the turkey smells wonderful first thing in the morning. Lovely !!

Mistletoe - I haven't added parsnips to my menu. I have roast pots, braised red cabbage and a green veg mix (including sprouts - which I hate). I am making parsnip hash browns for breakfast. Am I just plain wrong not doing parsnips?? Should I just bung some in with my pots??

And Liesel, bacon lattice is just strips of bacon criss crossing over the top of the bird to keep it moist.

Do you know just how much fat you consume in one Christmas meal? The sheer volume of butter alone, much less goose fat and bacon and sausage and the puddings. Good grief - feeling ill again.

also cook it upside down as the juices run into the breast meat and then for the last 1/2 turn right way to crispen up the skin. makes for a succculllennnt bird!!!

With lemons and oranges honey & Sage. Stuffed with cornbeard and pecan stuffing.

J&J - personally I would say YES YES YES do parsnips! But they are possibly my favourite vegetable of all, so I am biassed. IMO they are best done in with the bird (if you have room) as they absorb the juices and go gorgeously caramelised and tasty, then when you take the bird out to rest you stick the parsnips in with the potatoes to crisp up.

Most importantly DO NOT think about the fat! The rule is that calories consumed on Christmas Eve/Day and Boxing Day do not in fact stay in your body but are sweated out in a chemical reaction that occurs when you combine turkey with red wine and The Sound of Music. This is a little known law of nutrition scientifically proven by the prestigious Laboratoire Laplandais de Noel.

My stuffing is very traditional (to me anyway as my granny used to make it). It's sausage meat, sage and pinhead oatmeal. It tastes all biscuity and lovely - but it does need about a tonne of butter to keep it moist. I can feel myself moving up a dress size just reading this

Fabulous Mistletoe - will be ordering a copy of sound of music forthwith - have always need an excuse to get one, now I have one

Parsnip hash browns sound intriguing - how do you do them - same method as with potato?

Haven't tried making them yet - just following a recipe but it says:

450g waxy potatoes
350g parsnips
1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 egg beaten
4 - 5 tbsp sunflower oil

Peel and coarsely grate the potatoes and parsnips. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can with your hands and put in a bowl.

Stir in the onion, garlic and egg and season. Divide the mixture into six and roughly shape into flat cakes. Heat 2 tbsp oik in a large nonstick pan and fry three of the cakes on a low heat for 4 - 5 mins each side under golden and tender. Transfer to kitchen paper and leave to cool while frying the rest adding extra oil if needed.

You then leave to cool and then interleave with foil and put in a freezer bag - can stay in freezer for one month. To heat: put oven onto 190C, unwrap cakes and spread out on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Brush with a little oil and reheat from frozen for 15 mins. Serve with grilled bacon rashers, vine tomatoes and poached eggs.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Not sure I am up to doing them for Xmas breakfast (gin and tonics and croissants is the usual breakfast fare in this house) but perhaps for Boxing Day to spruce up the leftovers. Thank you J&J!

Ahem, that should of course have read "the usual CHRISTMAS breakfast fare". I do not have pre-prandial G&Ts year-round

Yeah right Mistletoe - I believe you, thousands wouldn't

Honesht guv it's jusht a Chrishmush thing. Hic.