The big day is almost upon us and for me prepping and cooking the Christmas turkey and ham is my favourite meal to prepare for my family every year.
I couldn’t let this year go without sharing with you all, the perfect Christmas turkey and ham.
Every year I order my turkey through my local butcher in Citywest.
I go for the full bird as I find it gives better flavour and goes a long way! I order a large Heritage cured ham from Avoca.
The great thing about my ham is it’s a roasted ham, so no boiling required. It roasts low and slow on Christmas Eve for 5 hours and then on Christmas day I add all the amazing flavour and glaze and pop back into the oven for 30 minutes to become burnished and golden.
It’s simply delicious, I promise you.
I serve my turkey and ham with my heavenly crunchy roast potatoes, Nanny Rena’s stuffing and perfect mustard-glazed roasted carrots and parsnips!
I’m getting both hungry and excited juts thinking about it!
Turkey & Ham – ingredients: caters for 16-20 people
16lb turkey – Full bird
11lb Heritage-cured ham – part boned, makes for easier carving
1lb unsalted butter
1 packet of streaky bacon
Light brown sugar
Cloves
Maple syrup
Zest of 1 orange
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
Sea-salt and cracked black pepper
Freshly chopped thyme and sage – a tablespoon of each
Roasted Heritage cured ham – method
Preheat your oven to 160° Celsius
On Christmas Eve take your ham out of the fridge and allow to come to room temperature for about 45 minutes
Cover in foil and place on a large roasting tray with a little water underneath. Place onto the middle shelf of your oven and cook for 5 hours
Allow to cool completely and re-cover with fresh tinfoil and pop back into your fridge until Christmas Day
On Christmas Day when you’ve finished cooking the turkey take your ham back out of the fridge
With a sharp knife cut off the excess thick layer of outer skin leaving a thin layer of fat
Score the ham creating a diamond pattern and score each intersection with a clove
Pack on tightly the light brown sugar and liberally apply the maple syrup, Dijon mustard and grated zest of one orange
Roast in the oven at 180° Celsius for about 30 minutes until it’s burnished and golden
My Christmas turkey – method
On Christmas morning take your turkey out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature. This will take about an hour
Preheat your oven to 180° Celsius
I use a foil throwaway turkey roasting dish, saves on the washing up. Place a large piece of tinfoil lengthways and across the roasting dish and place the turkey inside. This will enable you to cover the bird, easily creating an oven within an oven
If stuffing the inside of the turkey, as I always do, gives more flavour, place your stuffing inside the cavity but remember not to pack too tightly
Smear the entire bird liberally with the unsalted butter
Place strips of streaky bacon across the breast of the bird
Sprinkle on your chopped thyme and sage and season with sea salt and cracked black pepper
Pull the tinfoil over the bird making sure to leave space between the breast and the tinfoil – these should not touch
Pop into the oven. A bird this size will take about 5.5 hours to cook. For the last 1.5 hours of cooking remember to baste the turkey every 30 minutes. You can then remove the tinfoil for the last 45 minutes of cooking and take the bacon off the breast to ensure it gets a nice even golden colour
To check your bird is cooked pierce the thickest part of the meat between the breast and the leg. Once the juices run clear your turkey is fully cooked. Cover in foil for up to 1.5 hours if required, to give you time to roast your ham, roast vegetables and heavenly roast potatoes
Christmas Food with JP Passion: with Delicious Roasted Christmas Veg