ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS TURKEY

Now that we're into a new year, it's safe to mention the "T" word again!

I'm normally the first to squeal, when Jamie or Gordon or Uncle Tom Cobleigh suggests something new to do with sprouts, "Stop messing with Christmas Dinner - it's meant to be a traditional roast!"...... So it's a bit rich of me to admit that I did something different with my turkey this year. And pigs-in-blankets/stuffing.......

 I'd stocked the freezer up with reduced-price turkey breast steaks when everybody else was buying whole birds or rolled crowns. This was cooked "en papillote-style" in foil on a bed of crushed cranberries - a small handful of fresh berries, broken up in pestle & mortar; add 1 scant tsp sugar, a pinch of cinnamon and leave to infuse. Spread on a sheet of foil, place turkey on top, wrap securely and bake for 15-20mins in a hot oven. Drain the excess juice from meat and  cranberries and add to gravy - I was lucky that I just happened to have a tub of turkey stock in the freezer!

Instead of  of pigs-in-blankets and stuffing I did a combination of the two!
300g sausagemeat and reconstituted sage & onion stuffing mix (50/50), 100g finely chopped bacon, 100g minced onion, 1 kitchenspoon flour, 1 dstsp breadcrumbs, 1 tsp dried chives, 1 tsp dried sage, a shake of pepper and 1 dstsp beaten egg. Mix well together and form into balls or sausages - I always fill a bowl of luke-warm water to moisten my hands. This makes approximately 20 "things". Deep-fry to seal and then bake in a medium oven for about 15 minutes.

Everything else was traditonal - I love sprouts when they're still firm with a sweet, nutty flavour. The tablecloth, as my mother would have said, was doomed!