Christmas Day Roast Turkey & Duck Fat Roasted Potatoes
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I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year and I look forward to cooking for you on board again very soon.
Have a great weekend. Darren Marchant Head Chef – the Sky Fleet |
I would usually be at sea on Christmas Day with an early start to ensure all is prepared for the traditional roast turkey with all the trimmings which is served on Christmas Day on board the Sky vessels. Here are my recipes for succulent organic bronze turkey, gravy and crispy duck fat potatoes.Roast Turkey
Ingredients - Serves 6
1 Free Range Turkey 5-6kg (ask for the wings & neck to be removed and chopped up into pieces and for the wishbone removed)
2 Onions, skinned & halved
6 Garlic Cloves
1 Lemon, halved
1/2 an Orange
Rapeseed Oil
10 Rashers Smokey Streaky Bacon
6 Large Sage Leaves
3 Carrots, peeled & roughly chopped
4 Sticks Celery, roughly chopped
1 litre of water
Arrowroot
For the Butter
400 Grams Butter, softened
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
Zest of 1 Lemon
Zest of 1 Orange
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1 Tablespoon Chives, chopped
1 Tablespoon Parsley, chopped
1/2 Tablespoon Tarragon, chopped
1/2 Tablespoon Thyme, chopped
Method
1. Take the turkey out of the fridge and leave for 1 hour to get it to room temperature.
2. When ready to cook pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
3. Place the turkey onto a wooden board and start to make the butter.
4. Place the butter into a bowl with the olive oil and incorporate the two together.
5. Add all of the other ingredients to the butter and mix well.
6. Place the butter mix into a plastic piping bag.
7. Loosen then breast skin (this is best done using your fingertips under the skin to just release the it from the breast) and then cut the piping bag to the size of a five pence in diameter.
8. Pipe the butter under the skin on both sides of the breast then massage the butter evenly to cover the breast.
9. With the rest of the butter evenly rub the turkey all over with a splash of olive oil as well and sea salt and cracked black pepper.
10. Take the sage leaves and place under the skin, evenly distributed.
11. Fill the cavity with the onions, garlic, lemon and orange.
12. Place some rapeseed oil in a heavy-duty roasting tray and place on the stove. Once the oil is hot add the wings and neck bones, carrots and celery, and fry until the bones are a evenly caramelised all over.
13. Take off the heat and place the turkey onto the bones and vegetables and place in the oven for 30 minutes.
14. Remove from the oven and baste the turkey and then add the streaky bacon on top. Reduce the heat to 160 degrees. Place 1 litre of water in the roasting tray and cook for a further 2 hours and 30 minutes, basting the turkey regularly every 30 minutes.
15. Checking your turkey is cooked. Insert a skewer into the thickest part of the leg almost to the bone, remove the skewer and check that the juices are running clear. If using a thermometer place the probe into the thickest part of the leg nearly to the bone and the probe should read 74 degrees and keep that temperature for at least 2 minutes. If the turkey is not cooked the juices are pink or the probe is reading lower than the described temperature. Return the turkey back in the oven until the juices run clear and the probe has reached the 74 degrees temperature for 2 minutes.
16. Remove from the oven and leave the turkey to rest for at least 1 hour on a warm platter.
Making the Gravy
1. Place the roasting pan back on the stove and bring to the boil, scraping all the burnt bits from the pan with a wooden spoon.
2. Place a separate saucepan on the stove and reduce the red wine by half. Strain the pan juices, pressing the juices from the vegetables into the saucepan together with the juices from the resting turkey, and bring back to the boil.
3. Add some arrowroot to some water and stir into the gravy just to thicken. Remove from the stove and serve hot as the gravy will warm back up the resting carved turkey.
Duck Fat Roasted Potatoes
The perfect roast potatoes should be crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
Ingredients - Serves 6 to 8 people
2kg Maris Piper Potatoes
300 Grams Duck Fat
100 Grams Olive Oil
6 Sprigs of Thyme
6 Sprigs Rosemary
2 Bay Leaves
Sea Salt
12 Cloves of Garlic, just squashed with the side of a knife
Method
1. Peel the potatoes and cut into quarters.
2. Place the potatoes in a colander and wash with warm water for approximately 5 minutes until all the starch is removed.
3. Place the potatoes into a saucepan with cold water, four of the garlic cloves and half of the rosemary and thyme.
4. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 20- 25 minutes until the potatoes start to crack or crumble.
5. Remove carefully onto a wire rack and leave to steam out and cool completely (this is same principle used as when cooking the triple cooked chips for my “comfort of the ocean fish and chips” recipe).
6. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
7. In a thick bottomed roasting tray add the duck fat and olive oil and place in the oven for at least 10 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and carefully place the potatoes into the hot fat with the rest of the garlic and herbs, and carefully coat all the potatoes with the fat.
9. Place in the oven for 1 hour, basting or turning the potatoes every 20 minutes.
10. After 1 hour remove from the oven and sprinkle the potatoes with sea salt and cook for another 20 minutes.
11. Once crispy and golden coloured place the potatoes on kitchen paper to absorb the excess moisture and serve.