Nan Doing Boxing Day Roast, 3 Desserts & Mince Pies...

Nans homemade table decoration...we didn't even get round to trying this!!

Nans Roast Beef

Grandad monitoring the portions of gravy...every time!!!

Nans AMAZING mince pies

Almond Tart- Nans sending me the recipe...

Christmas Pud

My Bro

Nan...

Nan & Grandad...

That Almond Tart....

Christmas Day- Breakfast & MY ROAST.

Chocolate Panatone- Amazing under the grill with butter!

Smoked Salmon & Scrambled eggs...No bread, coz you've already had or are going to have panatone 

The Turkey....W.H Frost Butchers  (My housemates family have ran this for the last 100yrs- The meat is all AMAZING- This Turkey was SO GOOD!!)

12-14, Chorlton Place, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, Lancashire M21 9AQ Tel: 0161 881 8172

Free Range- Hung & Dry Plucked Turkey....makes all the difference

Standard Christmas booze and pickles..

The turkey went in breast side down for the first hour, with 1 sprig of rosemary, 1 pint of water, 5 shallots and the giblets that came with it & salt & pepper- Temperature 180 for first hour then it went down to 150 for the second hour and a half when I turned it breast side up. Cooked it for 2.5hrs in total & let it stand for 1.5hrs. As instructed by Paul Kelly-The turkey man from Sunday Brunch Saturday Starter.

Sprinkle with fresh oregano

Carry on cooking your juices from the turkey- you don't really need to do anything to this, the longer you cook the richer the taste.

Dads meatloaf- Just a snack for while I was cooking (seriously)

I part boiled the roast potatoes and parsnips the night before then left them in cold water over night so they didn't go grey.

Boil for 8-10 mins in salted water until the potato won't stay on a knife - make sure you dry them off before cooking/adding them to hot oil/fat.

Make sure they're this fluffy- my brothers obsessed with the crispy bits so this way you get loads of them. I sprinkled with semolina but flour works just as well and it helped dry them out having left them in water over night. Once you've done this add them to hot oil fat or beef dripping and turn them in the fat so each side gets covered. Season with salt and pepper.

Turn the potatoes a maximum of 3 times throughout the 50/1hr cooking time so the sides get a chance to crispen up.

Bread Sauce-

3 slices of white bread-crusts removed

3 cloves

1 big nob of butter

2 bay leaves

salt and black pepper

3/4 pint of milk

Let this simmer until the bread dissolves, this can be reheated when you're ready to serve it.

Crispy roasties

Roasted carrots with fresh oregano and honey & black pepper :-)

Part boiling parsnips is the only way to make them amazing...you can also add honey to them so they're sweet and crispy (I kept it simple for Christmas)

Chipolatas from the butchers (amazing on their own then SO GOOD wrapped in crispy bacon) Cook for around 40/45mins on 200

Fry up bacon lardons or smoked bacon finely sliced so they go crispy then add oregano, salt and pepper and shallots sliced into quarters so they go soft. I steamed the sprouts for 7mins then added them to cold water until I was ready to fry them up with the bacon and serve. Add butter when frying- you can add chestnuts too but we had loads of these in the stuffing. Don't over cook, they're yummy with a bit of a crunch.

Stuffing- My parents did this- The Jamie Oliver one...it was yummy! Apricots & chestnuts.

The plate...

It's weird you can't see how hot and sweaty I am here....HOT and SWEATY, but pleased!!

And my sister didn't hang about!

This is the first Christmas my parents haven't cooked...not even sure they trusted me with Christmas dinner!!

Lily loved it...

And I got two drinks up from Dad :-) 

A Veggie Feast / Something to add your left over turkey to...

Roasted Cauliflower is the best, my housemate Mikey introduced me to this and it's fit!

Add the following to a tray of sliced up cauliflower:

Olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Paprika

Roast on 200 for 35mins, give it a shake about half way through then add to a peppery rocket salad with a honey, lemon, olive oil and white wine vinegar dressing :-)

Make a quick simple fresh Salsa

Dice up: 

1/2 x Red Onion

Big bunch of parsley & coriander

Cherry tomates

(Add avocado to make it guacamole) 

Then a big glug of red wine vinegar & or a big squeeze of lime

Season with Salt & Pepper

Add 1/2 a red chilli depending on how strong it is- The size normally gives it away, the smaller the hotter!

Grated Cheese & Fresh parsley to add

Roasted Red Pepper, Courgette & Tomato

You can buy the jars of roasted red peppers, they're cheap and sweet tasting.

Crush then slice 2 cloves of garlic in a glug of olive oil

Add the finely sliced courgettes and let them fry away for a few mins until they start to soften

Add 1 x tin tomatoes 

Sprinkle of oregano or thyme

Small glug of white wine if you have (not essential)

Let this cook for 5mins then add the long strips of roasted red peppers.

Add the other half of your chilli  and it's ready to serve up.

This was a combination of a load of random bits left over in the fridge and cupboard...but it worked out!

 Combine them all in a warmed up wrap

The sour cream finishes it off and if you make it too spicy this is a good way to take out some of the heat.

Love this type of meal...and love that you get to make it up yourself and sort out all your fav bits, you could really easily add meat to this dish by either sty frying it separately or adding it to the peppers and courgettes.

YUM!

Want to eat it again...