My friend Deniz, who's 84, has never been able to afford a Christmas Turkey before but Aldi (who, I must say, do some stunning deals) have a fresh bird for sale for £7 so he's ordered one. I spent ages yesterday telling him all my recipes for the cooked turkey during the week after; the top three being... at 3, cold slices with ham, pickles and a large fresh salad. 2 - chunks about an inch thick tossed into a white creamy mushroom sauce for a minute or two - with mashed potatoes (actually I prefer what the French call Ecrassee - sort of lumpy but delicious - with green peas (I love sprouts with my original roast)... and at No1... make a rich stock from the carcass and bits after you get fed up with it. I simmer for literally hours - even days - until the bones turn to mush, then strain and you have truly delicious stock/soup.

I daren't tell him the price of my one ordered from Allens of Mayfair (£76! and it's a small one).

Does the turkey still taste dry after all that ?

Not if you cook it right Andrew. Rule No1 - don't overcook sprouts. Rule 2 - keep turkey succulent and juicy.

Oh and Rule 3 - get Jonathan to tell you his bread sauce recipe!

JK2006 wrote:
My friend Deniz, who's 84, has never been able to afford a Christmas Turkey before but Aldi (who, I must say, do some stunning deals) have a fresh bird for sale for £7 so he's ordered one. I spent ages yesterday telling him all my recipes for the cooked turkey during the week after; the top three being... at 3, cold slices with ham, pickles and a large fresh salad. 2 - chunks about an inch thick tossed into a white creamy mushroom sauce for a minute or two - with mashed potatoes (actually I prefer what the French call Ecrassee - sort of lumpy but delicious - with green peas (I love sprouts with my original roast)... and at No1... make a rich stock from the carcass and bits after you get fed up with it. I simmer for literally hours - even days - until the bones turn to mush, then strain and you have truly delicious stock/soup.

I daren't tell him the price of my one ordered from Allens of Mayfair (£76! and it's a small one).

Lidl have a small frozen goose for seventeen pounds. I wish I could send one to him.

We have a daft routine with the turkey. I buy a small frozen "emergency" turkey or goose "just in case" and we buy the "real" turkey/goose late on Christmas eve for next to nothing. The year before last it was the size of a Labrador and we had to stamp on it to break every bone before it would go in the oven.
We dont decorate until Xmas eve either and we always get a giant real tree for a pound. The same thing happens every year. I get struck by wild competitiveness and get a giant one that is too big for the (unusually high) ceiling. So, I tell my husband to chop a lump off it and he takes it from the top not the bottom EVERY TIME so i call him a moron and stick it back on with sellotape and he says "do it yourself then" and slopes off into the study to watch a John Wayne film.

andrew wrote:
Does the turkey still taste dry after all that ?

You can avoid dryness by snapping the legs and lying them flat and cooking it breast down.

JK2006 wrote:
Oh and Rule 3 - get Jonathan to tell you his bread sauce recipe!


Yes please, Mr King.

Because my lad was unwell last Christmas we didn't really have a "Christmas get together" so instead I bought a lovely pork joint from Aldi on Christmas Eve and had that. Absolutely lovely and it lasted a few Ploughmans type meals after.

We got tandoori chicken for Christmas.

Funnily enough I had a Thai takeaway last night and it was disgusting (usually they are excellent)... the chicken was far too spicy - killed all the mixed flavours. I love the subtleties of Thai cuisine (best in world) - lemongrass, galanga, coriander, coconut, mushrooms, all subtle and delicious. Too much spice/chilis and you can't taste the less strong flavours.

Over 500 views to this silly thread. Are all our brains in our tummies today?

Bread sauce recipe to follow in due course.

honey!oh sugar sugar. wrote:
We dont decorate until Xmas eve either and we always get a giant real tree for a pound.

Like the idea - people start decorating far too early (I've seen decorations already !)

We rarely leave it that late - usually the Sunday prior to the day - but even then the (tasteful as one would expect from ITK !) decorations will have been up for over 2 weeks by 12th night.

JK2006 wrote:
Funnily enough I had a Thai takeaway last night and it was disgusting (usually they are excellent)... the chicken was far too spicy - killed all the mixed flavours. I love the subtleties of Thai cuisine (best in world) - lemongrass, galanga, coriander, coconut, mushrooms, all subtle and delicious. Too much spice/chilis and you can't taste the less strong flavours.

Over 500 views to this silly thread. Are all our brains in our tummies today?

Bread sauce recipe to follow in due course.

500? Oh dear. I like to think hardly anybody sees my daft ramblings.

Most threads end up with around 10,000 views but it usually takes months.

I made the mistake of telling Deniz the cost of my turkey and had my ear bent for 10 minutes.

Deniz is the King (or Queen) of decorations; talk about Aladdin's cave. It's absolutely gorgeous and resplendent with baubles and bangles, some of which are 50 years old.

had some Aldi champagne last night and it was rather good- as is their Gin.

but I still say..bugger Christmas and bugger Turkey.

As for bugger turkey... well, Hedda, there are times when I am desperate but never THAT desperate.

The meal was utterly fabulous; all worked tremendously (a pinch too much black pepper in the bread sauce). Chilled white wine (Sancerre). Turkey giblet gravy (I love the liver/kidneys in the giblets). Just fabulous. Happy Christmas everybody.

on the other hand I had some amazing Duck Confit a week ago cooked by renowned chef Tony Bilson. Deeelicious.

hedda wrote:
..bugger Christmas and bugger Turkey.

I wonder what roast Hedda is like ?

something so old and tough probably needs to be simmered gently over a slow heat for several days !