How to Cook the Perfect Christmas Dinner

Cooking Christmas dinner can be daunting. Luckily GBR at DUKES LONDON‘s Executive Head Chef, Nigel Mendham, is here to give you advice on how to cook the perfect turkey, with all the trimmings.

Recipe: The Perfect Christmas Dinner

For serving 6 people

Ingredients

• 1 x 7 kilo turkey
• 8 rashes streaky bacon
• 1 kilo sausage meat
• 150g apricots
• 150g sultana
• 80ml brandy
• Sprig thyme
• Salt/pepper/ground nutmeg
• 2 shallots diced
• 2 kilo Brussel sprouts
• 2 kilo parsnips
• 2 kilo red skin potatoes
• 100g duck fat

Method

Turkey

1. Rub the turkey with oil and salt
2. Pre heat the oven to 185 degrees
3. Put the turkey into a large roasting tin and cook for 2 hours
4. Remove the turkey from the oven and lay the rashes of streaky bacon over the crown of the turkey
5. Return to the oven for a further 50 minutes
6. Take the turkey out and allow to rest

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Stuffing

1. In a medium sized pan cook the shallots until soft with no colour
2. Chop the apricots and add to the pan
3. Add the sultana and thyme
4. Add the brandy and flame
5. Allow to cool
6. Once cool add to the sausage meat and season with salt/pepper/nutmeg to taste
7. Put the mixture into a piping bag and pipe onto Clingfilm then roll into a sausage shape tying each end
8. Wrap in tin foil and cook for 35 minutes at 180 degrees

Brussel Sprouts

1. Peel the sprouts
2. Boil a large pan of water
3. Add a pinch of salt
4. Cook the sprouts for 4 minutes then put straight into iced water
5. Once cold remove from the water and cut in half
6. Heat a heavy based frying pan
7. Add a little oil and fry the sprouts until golden brown

Parsnips

1. Peel the parsnips and cut into 4
2. Remove the core
3. In a heavy based frying pan heat a little oil colour the parsnips on all sides then put in the oven for 15 minutes at 180 degrees
4. Remove from the oven
5. Add 1 tbsp of honey to the parsnips and return to the oven for 5 minutes

The Perfect Roast Potatoes

1. Peel the potatoes and cut into pieces
2. Wash well under cold water
3. Place in a pan with a good pinch of salt and bring to the boil
4. Simmer for 8-10 minutes
5. Strain the potatoes in a colander and gently shake them until they are dry
6. Heat the duck fat in a heavy based pan add the potatoes and colour
7. Put in the oven at 180 degrees for 25 mins