Christmas Brunch Menu and a Recipe

Christmas preparation can be very simple with this easy and delicious Christmas menu.

Menu

Starter

Smoked trout pate

Main Course

Roast turkey with chestnut and sage stuffing
Roast potato
Pigs in blankets
Festive red cabbage
Brussel sprouts with chestnut butter
Cranberry sauce and turkey gravy

Dessert

Eggnog trifles

Roast Turkey With Chestnut and Sage Stuffing Recipe

Recipe adapted from Good To Know.

Ingredients

For the stuffing

• 30g (1oz) butter
• 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 500g pork sausage meat
• 60g fresh white breadcrumbs
• 1 medium egg
• 1 cooking apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh sage
• 200g packet chopped vacuum-packed chestnuts

If you like lots of stuffing, double the quantity to have plenty of stuffing balls to serve with the turkey and also with cold meat.

For the turkey

• 5-6kg organic free range turkey
• 600ml turkey giblet or chicken stock
• 30g butter, melted
• Sprigs of fresh rosemary, to garnish

Instructions

1. To make the stuffing, melt butter in a pan and add the onion. Cook it over a medium heat for 5-7 mins until the onion has softened. Remove the pan from the heat and leave the onions to cool.
2. Mix together the sausage meat, breadcrumbs, egg, apple and sage, then add the onion mixture. Stir in the chestnuts, taking care that they don't get completely mashed and retain some texture.
3. Use stuffing to fill neck cavity of turkey. (Shape any extra stuffing into balls and cook on a baking tray for 20-30 mins, after turkey has been taken out of the oven.) Pull neck skin tight over stuffing without tearing it, and, if necessary, secure it with a fine skewer or a couple of cocktail sticks.
4. Set oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5.
5. Weigh turkey to calculate the cooking time, allowing 20 mins per 500g (we based our timings on the metric weight, as imperial conversion charts are not exact weights and will give different results). A 6kg turkey with stuffing will take 4 hours to cook.
6. Place the turkey in a roasting tin and pour the stock around it. Brush the melted butter over the skin of the turkey. Cover with foil and place towards the bottom of the pre-heated oven. The shelf at the top will be used for the roasted vegetables.
7. Keep the turkey covered with foil until the last 30-40 mins of the calculated cooking time, then remove the foil, baste the turkey and return it to the oven until cooked through. A thermometer can be used to check the turkey is cooked, or pierce the thickest part of the flesh on the thigh with a skewer. if the juices that run out are clear, it's cooked. If the juices are still pink, then the turkey needs further cooking.
8. Remove the bird from the oven and transfer it to a warmed serving plate. Cover with clean foil and leave it to rest in a warm place for 20-30 mins before carving. Garnish with sprigs of rosemary.