You don’t have to run a Michelin-starred restaurant to make the perfect turkey and gravy for Christmas dinner, according to Mark Moriarty. 

Ahead of the big cook, the chef, TV host and author of Flavour will offer tips and tricks on Off Duty Christmas Special on RTÉ this Monday and Tuesday.  

Ahead of his demonstration, Mark told The Anton Savage Show how he makes a simple yet delicious Christmas dinner. 

“People think you need to run a Michelin-starred restaurant in their home for 20 people every year – they don’t,” he said. 

The crowning glory of the Christmas dinner, the turkey, can be a high-pressure dish, but Mark said it’s really “very simple”. 

“Butchers all around Ireland will want to kill me, but you get your butcher to take off the [turkey’s] legs and leave just the crown,” he said. 

“Then you brine the turkey, which is a fancy word for putting in a salt bath. 

Mark explained you whisk the salt in water until it's dissolved, then put the turkey crown in the brine for about an hour and a half.

“Then just take it out, pat it dry, roast it for about an hour and 15 minutes, then let it rest for half an hour," he said.

“To me, it’s the only way to achieve a really moist turkey crown.” 

You also don’t need to skip the legs in your Christmas dinner – simply throw them in with the crown on the tray and they’ll cook alongside it. 

Gravy

A moist turkey doesn’t mean you won’t want gravy with your Christmas dinner, of course. 

“People are always asking [how to make] gravy,” Mark said. 

“We keep it really simple – you've got your turkey, and you chop up a couple of onions and a head of garlic, put it in the tray put your whole turkey on top and roast it off for about two and a half hours to three hours at 200 degrees. 

After this, you let the turkey rest as it releases juices to the bottom of the tray like a “beautiful broth”. 

“Then I create a paste that is equal amounts of butter and flour,” Mark explained. “I start adding a few spoonfuls of this into gravy over heat and I whisk.” 

Once it’s thick enough, add a little bit of lemon juice and soy sauce to create the ideal gravy. 

Prepping for Christmas dinner

The top tips while preparing to make Christmas dinner, according to Mark, include shopping late at night when supermarkets are stocked up, not buying too much food and buying things that will “make the wash up easier”. 

“A few tin foil tins if you can and something as simple as baking parchment to line your tray,” Mark said. 

“So, if you make a gratin, you don’t have this awful roasted tray you’re soaking until New Year’s Day.” 

You can watch Off Duty Chef Christmas Special on RTÉ this Monday and find more tips from Mark in his cookbook Flavour: Every Day Food Made Exceptional. 

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