turkey

Christmas Recipes

2 Comments / The Ordinary Cook /

I have been looking back in my recipe archives of this site to remind me of Christmases past. There are such a lot of recipes on here, some of which I make over and over, some I need to make again.

As I remind myself I thought it might be a good idea to share them with you in case you want to make them to share with your family and friends this year.

If you want to make presents then homemade candied oranges or candied peel are real treats. If I am making a hamper I also put spicy caramel nuts in a small jar and stem ginger truffles in a gift bag.

My mincemeat makes really good mince pies or for a change why not try mincemeat bars or my mincemeat wreath.

mincemeat bars

If you have guests coming then my sausage and sage pie is wonderful on the buffet table and my ham is one from Dorothy Hartley’s 1950’s recipe book and is really good. Left over ham is fantastic in a fidget pie.

If you are making biscuits with children over Christmas then these painted Christmas biscuits make for a fun activity or you could try my stained glass biscuits that look great on a tree.

For the big day, if you have an Aga or similar then my Aga turkey makes the best one you will ever taste. For the vegetarians then my mushroom wellington makes for a delicious feast. For pudding you could choose my chocolate chestnut cake, chocolate roulade or chocolate and mint arctic roll.

Whatever you choose to make this year, I hope the preparations go smoothly and that you can spend time with family and friends. We are all hoping for a better Christmas than last year.

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Aga cooked turkey

11 Comments / meat, The Ordinary Cook /

I have had a stinking cold.  It’s the sort where only full bed rest will do, but life is just not going to let that happen and I do want to tell you about how my mum cooks the Christmas turkey.  I am only sorry I didn’t manage to post it earlier in the week. It is the best turkey I have ever tasted, moist and delicious.

The one in the picture above is from last Christmas but I never quite managed to post about it.  If you have an Aga then this is the way to cook your turkey.  This recipe is based on a 15lb (7kg) turkey.

Mum stuffs the cavity with two types of stuffing, usually prune and sausagemeat and apricot. You can stuff your turkey with your favourite stuffing. She then slathers the entire bird in butter and then on Christmas Eve night she cooks it for 1 hour in the roasting oven.  This gives it a good start, crisping the skin and bringing the internal temperature up.  She then turns it onto its breast and places it in the simmering oven under a tent of foil and leaves it there overnight. So it gets about 8 hours in the simmering oven.  When she gets up in the morning, and she is an early riser, she turns the bird over and places it back in the simmering oven for another hour or so. Then she checks the internal temperature with a meat thermometer to check it is cooked.  Then transfers the bird to the warming oven, where it sits happily until we are ready for our dinner at about 1pm.  The turkey is still hot and the juices have run back into the meat making for a very delicious turkey.

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas.  I hope you all have a wonderful time. Kath xx

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