by Australian Women Online
Updated 20 December 2019
With less than one week to Christmas you may be looking for some fresh ideas on how to cook the ham and turkey this year, as well as that Aussie Christmas favourite – fresh prawns. And let’s not forget the dessert.
How does a Peach and Apricot Pavlova with Pistachios and Honey sound? Or maybe you’d prefer a delicious Cherry Cheesecake Semifreddo? These are just two of the new Jamie Oliver recipes you could be making in your own kitchen this Christmas.
Every mum’s favourite chef Jamie Oliver has created 8 new easy-to-make recipes for Christmas 2015 using fresh Aussie meat and produce from Woolworths – and Australian Women Online is delighted to be able to feature 3 of those recipes here. For these and more free recipes by Jamie Oliver visit the Woolworths recipes website – where you can also purchase everything you’ll need to follow Jamie’s recipes and have it home delivered in time for you to prepare a Christmas feast!
- Piri Piri Prawns With Feta
Jamie’s Incredible Christmas Turkey With Zesty Bacon Butter
Serves 8-10
Tip: So you can get well prepped, make the zesty bacon butter in advance – just roll into a sausage shape, roll in greaseproof paper and store in the fridge until needed. Bring it to room temperature again before using.
Ingredients
4–4.5kg Macro Free-Range Turkey
olive oil
2 brown onions
2 red onions
4 carrots
3 sticks of celery
1 bulb of garlic
2 heaped tablespoons plain flour
1.2 litres organic chicken stock
1 tablespoon Jamie’s spiced plum & cranberry sauce (see recipe, p12) or cranberry jelly
red wine vinegar
5 rashers of higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon
½ a bunch of fresh rosemary
1 lemon
1 orange
150g unsalted butter, at room temperature
nutmeg, for grating
Method
- Around 30 minutes before you are ready to cook, remove the turkey from the fridge and allow to come up to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 220°c.
- To make the bacon butter, roughly chop the bacon and place in a food processor. Pick in half the rosemary leaves and finely grate in the lemon and orange zest.
- Pulse everything together until finely chopped, cube and add the butter and a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper, then grate in ¼ of the whole nutmeg, then pulse again to combine.
- Wipe the turkey inside and out with paper towel, then place on a chopping board with the neck-end facing you.
- Find the edge of the skin that’s covering the breasts and gently peel it back. Work your fingers, then your hand under the skin, freeing it from the meat – if you’re careful, you should be able to pull all the skin away from the meat, keeping it attached at the sides. Work slowly and try not to make any holes.
- Using a spatula, spoon most of the flavoured butter between the skin and the breast, tucking the flap of skin underneath to stop the butter leaking out, then rub the remaining butter all over the top of the bird.8. Pop the zested lemon in the microwave for 30 seconds on a high heat, then carefully pierce and stuff inside the turkey cavity.
- Halve the zested orange and place both halves in the cavity, too.
- Transfer the turkey to a large roasting tray, drizzle with oil and season well.
- Peel and halve the onions, trim and roughly chop the carrots and celery, then add to the tray. Halve and add the garlic bulb along with 50ml of water and the remaining rosemary. Cover tightly with tin foil and place in the preheated oven.
- Immediately turn the heat down to 180°c, then roast for 20 minutes per 500g, or until the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced with a knife.
- Baste the bird with the cooking juices every 30 minutes or so, and remove the tin foil for the last 10 minutes to get the skin golden and crisp.
- Once cooked, move the turkey to a board, cover loosely with foil and leave to rest for around 1 hour (don’t throw the juices out). When the resting time is almost up, prepare the gravy.
- Skim and discard the surface fat from the juices in the roasting tray. Place the tray over a medium heat and stir in the flour.
- Keep stirring, mashing up the veg with the back of the spoon as you go, until the flour has turned the colour of peanut butter and is sticky and gnarly, then leave to cook for a few minutes.
- Pour in the stock and gently bring to the boil, stirring regularly. When it starts to bubble, reduce the heat to a simmer for 5 minutes, or until thickened. Stir in the cranberry sauce and a splash of red wine vinegar and season to taste.
- Sieve the gravy, pushing through all the goodness with the back of a spoon, and pour into a jug.
- Carve the rested turkey, then serve with the gravy and all the usual trimmings.
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