Chef Gareth Mullins gives us tips for Christmas Day Dinner and he has given us the tips and recipes below for you to follow.

Turkey

• 5 kg turkey , preferably free-range or organic
• olive oil
• 200g soft butter
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• a few Sprigs thyme
• 2 onions , peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 sticks celery , roughly chopped
• 2 carrots , roughly chopped

1. Take your turkey out of the fridge about an hour before you are ready to cook it so it comes up to room temperature before roasting. Give it a good rinse then pat it dry with some kitchen paper, making sure you soak up any water in the cavity.
2. Take the legs off the bird if you wish or it can be roasted as a full bird
3. Take the soft butter and push under the skin of the breasts as shown in the class
4. Drizzle the meat with the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and then rub this seasoning all over the bird, making sure you get in to all the nooks and crannies.
5. I like to roast the crown in one tray and the legs in another tray, this was I can ensure that I cook them both perfect
6. Pre heat the oven to 230 so it’s nice and hot before we add the bird in to cook
7. Cover the turkey with tin foil then put it in the hot oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 180°C. Cook for about 35 to 40 minutes per kilo. The 5kg bird in this recipe will take about 3 to 3½ hours.
8. Check on your turkey every 30 minutes or so and keep it from drying out by basting it with the lovely juices from the bottom of the pan. After 2½ hours, remove the foil so the skin gets golden and crispy.
9. When the time is up, take your turkey out of the oven us a thermometer to ensure that the thickest part of the bird has reached 75 degrees celicus . If the juices run clear and the meat pulls apart easily, it’s ready. If not, pop the turkey back in the oven to cook for a bit longer then check again.

When you're confident it's cooked, rest the turkey for at least 1 hour, preferably 2 hours for bigger birds. Meanwhile you can get your veg and gravy ready

Honey glazed ham with apricot and sage stuffing and Roast potatoes

Ingredients

1 gammon or ham about 2-3kg

2 onions diced

2 carrots

2 sticks celery

2 bay leaves

2 oranges

1 lemon

1 table spoon peppercorns

Glaze for ham

2 table spoons Dijon mustard

2 table spoons honey

15 cloves

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1  bottle of apple cider

Stuffing

250 g fresh bread crumbs

100g butter

2 onions finely diced

2 table spoons sage chopped

80g dried apricots diced

2kg of roosters potatoes

200g Duck fat

Method

To make the stuffing- put a medium sized pot and add the butter, sauté the onions for 2 minutes, add the herbs, cook for a further 2 minutes then add the apricots and bread crumbs and mix well, I like to put it into a oven proof dish and bake for 25 minutes until golden

Roast potatoes. Peel and cut into even size pieces. Place in a pot of boiling water and bring wop the boil, let simmer for 2 minutes and strain in a colander. Place on a cooling rack to allow to cool completely. Preheat a heavy roasting tray in the oven with the duck fat and carefully add the cooked potatoes to the tray and roast in a hot oven 190 degrees for 50 minutes or until super crispy .  wait until this point to season with salt and pepper

Cooking the ham

Place the ham in a snug fitting pot, roughly chop the carrots, celery, and onion and add to the pot with the peppercorns and bay leaf. Add the zest from the orange and lemon and cover the ham with cold water. Put on a high heat and bring to the boil, when the water boils lower to a slow simmer and cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes. When the time is up remove from the heat and allow the ham to cool in the stock for 30 minutes- this will help the ham take on some of the flavours

Pre heat the oven to 160. Place the ham onto a clean board and take off the skin. Scour the fat in a diamond shape. Spike the ham with cloves, brush with Dijon mustard, and drizzle with honey and sprinkle with brown sugar, place the tray in a tray with the bottle of cider and roast. Until the fat becomes golden and the sugar caramelises. I like to baste the ham every 10 minutes with the cider and the honey that runs off into the tray

Carrot and parsnip crush

Brussel sprouts, bacon and chestnuts 

Bacon wrapped sausages with maple glaze

Brussel sprouts, bacon and chestnuts 

1kg fresh brussel sprouts

100g belly bacon

100g peeled chesnuts

Knob butter

Brussels sprouts- peel the Brussels sprouts and blanch in boiling salter water for 4 minutes and cool in plenty of iced water, drain and dry off any excess water. In a heavy based pan, add the chopped bacon and cook till crisp, add a little butter, then add the blanched sprouts, fry the sprouts until they are golden, finish in a hot oven for 5 minutes before serving.

Carrot and parsnip crush

700g carrots peeled and chopped

700g parsnips peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic

4 spring rosemary

Place the peeled and chopped vegetables, garlic and rosemary in a pot with a lid and just cover with cold water, season with a little salt, bring up to a simmer and cook till vegetables are tender, strain off the water, discard the garlic and rosemary. Put the vegetables back in the pot, back on the heat and heat to make sure all the moisture. Mash the vegetables, add some butter and season with salt and pepper to taste

Bacon wrapped sausages with maple glaze

500g good quality coctails sausages

100g thin smoked streaky bacon

Splash of maple syrup

Delink the sausages, cut the bacon in half, individually each sausage with half a piece if bacon. Place them omto a roasting tray and drizzle with a little oil, roast for 10 minutes at 180 until golden and drizzle until golden brown, drizzle with a little maple syrup and pop back into oven and roast for 5 more minutes till sticky and caramelize.

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