The Mains

And onward I trot!....To The Mains!

This was the lovely de-boned Turkey Crown I had from my local Butchers (Edmonstons). It weighed just over 2kgs and took about 1 hour 45 mins to cook in my fan oven. The quality speaks for itself  (especially as they had that many orders for them in all 3 men got lost in the walk in fridge) and the meat was delish. On Christmas day I cooked this simply with sea salt and cracked black pepper on the top, rubbed in with a little oil.

It fed me and Josh well and had plenty left over for a Turkey Gratin.

I got this recipe from the Co-op Magazine

You will need:

• Left over turkey chopped into pieces (enough to cover the bottom of your chosen dish)
• 15g unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 70g pancetta (or bacon lardons if you prefer)
• 1 clove of garlic (I upped it to 2 as i'm a garlic head)
• 25g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder
• 600mls of semi skimmed milks
• 80g of mature cheddar
• 55g flaked almonds
• 25g of parmsan cheese

The original recipe suggests using individual ramekins which I have done but this also works well in a larger dish. You will need to adapt amount of ingredients for the sauce accordingly

1. preheat oven to 180 for fan or 170 for normal oven and place the turkey into your dishes to cover the base

2.. melt butter and oil in pan and add the pancetta and fry for a few minutes (I like mine crispy) and add the garlic. Stir in the flour and coat each pancetta cube. then add mustard powder (and a splash of white wine if you fancy) and gradually stir in the milk. The sauce will quicken thickly so make sure you keep stirring. Add the cheddar and season to taste.

3. Add paramsan to the top and cook for around 25 mins. 

This can be used as the main part of a roast or even with some crusty bread. I personally added a little more mustard powder for that punch.

Honey and Mustard Rub Perfect for a Gammon joint

I laced my gammon with cloves then mixed mustard powder with water to create a thick paste. I then added a couple of tablespoons of honey and mixed together well. I used a brush to add the majority of the rub to the gammon then drizzled all over. Cook as normal but keep a keen on the honey to make sure it doesn't burn!

Sorry about the lack of piccys here but Josh is out sledging and pics are on his phone!

Eat Drink and Be Merry

H

xx

Epic blog preview

Happy New Year my lovelies….how was everyone’s holidays?

Well, the festive period was certainly a busy one – the busiest one ever in terms of food and cooking! I think that this year I may have overdone my experimenting, some of them I even forgot to photograph, and for that I am sorry.

As this post will be epic, I thought I’d give you a rundown of what to expect to keep you all excited then I can run away and write my backside off!

***drum roll please*** here goes:

Starters and sides…

·         Asparagus, Camembert and Parma ham tart

·         Curried Carrot soup

·         Brie and cranberry twists

·         Prosciutto wrapped bread sticks with pesto dip

·         Alternative parsnips

·         Bacon wrapped cranberry stuffing

·         Port and Cranberry Sauce

Mains…

·         Turkey gratin

·         Honey and mustard rubbed gammon

Puds….

·         Salted caramel chocolate tart

·         Jaffa cake pots

·         Chocolate orange ice-cream

I will also be filling you in on a couple of dining experiences over the holidays at The Parks in Uttoxeter and The Wolsely Arms near Rugeley.

I am hoping to get this all done by the end of the week at the latest. Especially as I have started content for my next instalment. I have a feeling that tomorrow will be a write off as it’s my first day back after a couple of weeks off!

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

H x

National Curry Week 2012

The story continues here... 

So in celebration of National Curry Week I cooked 3 Curries and 2 Misc dishes!

First off was Beef Massaman using the paste supplied by R and G Pastes.

The dish took around an hour in total to cook and I was pleased with the finished product.

I was taken aback with the sheer amount of milk and coconut milk that was added. The recipe recommends 1 full tin of coconut milk followed by a pint of milk. As someone that doesn't cope well with too much dairy i did feel the effects of this amount. I cant help but think that the creaminess of this combination somewhat took away from the beautiful flavours that the package promised. I personally added a chilli to give it an extra boost as well as some veg (baby sweetcorn, mangetout and runner beans) to give the dish some more texture.

I bought a sachet of the Penang paste as well. The instructions are the same as above but I will not be using as much milk product and may add extra liquid through water and see how I get on and keep you posted.



The curry company Thai Yellow Curry was the next one. I had this sauce before and really enjoyed the delicate and fragrant tastes so thought why not?! This time instead of using my go-to chicken I decided to use fish. As I am a fish fiend i felt that using a generic fish pie mix would satisfy my palette  The mix included cod, salmon and smoked haddock. I did have some reservations about whether the smoked fish would work but I'm glad i did it! Really mixed in well with the flavour of the curry!

All the curry pots I have had from here have always been to a good standard and are ideal if you want to have good curry fairly quick - I often have a hankering for them in the week and this range definetley solves the time problem. I think i'd look to add some vegetables next time, especially if opting for chicken to make the texture more interesting (and for me to feel better about the fact im eating a curry whilst on a diet).

Prices for this seem to range from place to place. At the Stone Food and Drink Festival these pots were 3 for £10 for 475g of sauce. There are good sell by dates and you have the option of freezing too!


Homemade Thai Turkey Burgers was my boyfriends highlight of the week!

This amount will make you about 4 large burgers!

Ingredients:

• 1 pack of turkey mince (Tesco's healthy living is 380g)
• Thumb sized wedge of ginger, chopped finely
• 1 red chilli, chopped finely
• A handful of coriander, chopped finely (This portion is very generous as I love coriander)
• 2 cloves of garlic (you can do 1 cloves, especially if you're at work the next day)
• 4 spring onions, chopped
• 1 egg yolk to bind
• 1 glug of Mr Vikkis' sweet jalapeno sauce ( get some here!) 
• 4 wholemeal buns

(My boyfriend, josh, loves these served with home made potato wedges - but that is up to you!)

Get a large bowl and put turkey, ginger, chilli, coriander, garlic, spring onions and egg yolk in. Get your hands messy by mixing the ingredients together and form into your chosen patty size. (i love the word patty)

I opted to griddle fry mine for about 6 minutes each side so they have the authentic burger marks. This cooking time will need changing if you have opted for smaller/larger burgers and I would always recommend checking that the middle is fully cooked and piping hot.

Cut your bun in half and add the cooked and fragrant burger. Have a good old mouthful of your burger to see if you like the balance of flavours then add Mr Vikki's to taste!

I have seen this recipe with pork mince which would be delish but turkey is cheaper and more healthy!

If you have a go let me know what you think!

My next blog will look at my year of Cornwall holidays and the delights I have stumbled across :)

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

H x