The answer to succulent Christams Turkey - Brine it!

Brined Turkey, roasted juicy and tenderly delicious

What you need to do:

Brine the turkey (4-5 kilo) a day ahead (or over night).
The brine consists of 150g salt, 150g castor sugar, handful of thyme sprigs, 1 orange halved, 1 garlic bulb halved horizontally and 1 onion halved.  Combine all ingredients in a large enough container to hold you bird with 6 litres of water or enough to submerge your bird.  Cover and refrigerate about 12 hours.
That's it, the brine is done! Easy Peasy.

Now for the roasting of turkey:

What you need:

A large roasting pan to fit your turkey.
Brined turkey pat dry and ready to go.
250g softened unsalted butter mixed with some herbs such as parsley and thyme and grated orange zest.
Your favourite stuffing.
2 onions, 2 carrots and 2 celery stalks roughly chopped.
1 cup of chicken stock or white wine.

What you need to do:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.  Stuff your bird with stuffing of choice.  Using your fingers make a pocket under the skin of the bird and gently slide the herbed butter between the skin and the meat.  Rub remaining butter mix over the bird.  Place your chopped onion, carrot and celery in the bottom of the roasting pan, place the bird on top, and pour in stock or wine.  Cover with foil and bake in oven for approximately 3 hours, checking if cooked with a thermometer.  Ensure liquid doesn't evporate, add a little more if needed.  Towards the end of cooking, remove the foil to brown the bird for the final 20 mins until skin is golden.  Rest turkey for 15 minutes before carving.
Enjoy

Why Wait for Christmas Baked Ham

Baked Glazed Ham

What you need:

Ham on the bone
Cloves to decorate
1 x 500 g jar marmalade (I used Rose's English breakfast marmalade)
1/2 cup muscat or Torquay (I used Australian Rutherglen)

What you need to do:

Put your oven shelf in lowest position and heat to 180 degrees.
Unwrap your ham, rinse and pat dry.  Remove the rind, running your fingers under the surface as you work.  Trim fat from ham leaving a 1cm layer then score the fat with a knife in a criss-cross diamond pattern.  Push a clove into the centre of each diamond.
Place the marmalade and Muscat into a saucepan and heat until marmalade has dissolved.
Place your ham in your ham baking tray, brush with half the marinade and bake for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes pour over the remaining glaze then return to oven and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes or until golden.  Let rest for a least 15 minutes before carving.

 

Serving suggestions:

1. Serve with your traditional Christmas dinner.
2. Serve as a baked ham dinner with roasted potatoes, roasted balsamic cherry tomatoes and roasted asparagus spears. Mustard or pickle of choice.

Enjoy.