Traditional Christmas Dinner

Remove the tray from your oven. Use a potato masher to slightly break up the veggies and chicken drumsticks, then stir through the flour (amount specified in the ingredient list) and pour over the stock you made in step 2. Mix together and pop back into your oven for 45 mins - 1 hour, or until the gravy has reduced and thickened nicely. Once nice and thick, drain the gravy through a sieve or colander into a large mixing bowl. Use a large spoon to squeeze out all the meaty juices from the chicken and the veggies. Allow to cool, then cover with clingfilm and refrigerate. Either reserve the veggies and chicken drumsticks to cook our soup recipe later on, or discard.

Chop any tough bottoms off the Brussels sprouts, cut each sprout in half through the root and then in half again to make quarters. Add to a bowl, cover and refrigerate ready for tomorrow. Quarter the red cabbage and remove the tough white core (see photo). Slice as thinly as you can. Pop in another bowl, cover and refrigerate. Peel the potatoes and chop them into 3cm sized chunks. Pop them in a large saucepan of water, ensuring all the potatoes are completely submerged, and cover with a lid or clingfilm. Leave overnight at room temperature. Remove the tops and bottoms from the carrots and parsnips. Quarter lengthways and then chop into batons the size of your index finger. Pop in a third large bowl, cover and refrigerate.

Lay a bacon rasher on a chopping board and then roll a cocktail sausage up in your bacon. Repeat with the other sausages. Pop them on a plate, cover with clingfilm and put them in your fridge (you’ll cook them with the turkey tomorrow).

Preheat your oven to 180C. Pick the rosemary leaves (both the rosemary for the turkey and the rosemary for the potatoes) from their stalks. Discard the stalks and finely chop the leaves. Zest the lemon with a fine grater. In a small bowl, mix together the lemon zest with half the rosemary and the olive oil (amount specified in the ingredient list), you’ll use the remaining rosemary for the potatoes. Drizzle the lemon and rosemary oil over the turkey (you can cook it in the tray it came in). Massage the oil over the skin of the turkey. Season with a generous pinch of salt and black pepper. Cover the turkey with foil and then pop onto the middle shelf of your oven. TIP: Don’t forget to wash your hands after handling raw meat! Roast the turkey for 1 hour with the foil on. After 1 hour, increase the oven temperature to 200°C, remove and discard the foil and pop the butter (amount specified in the ingredient list) on top of the turkey. Return to the oven for 20 mins to melt the butter. After 20 mins, remove the turkey from the oven (close the oven door to keep the heat in) and baste the turkey with the melted butter. Tilt the roasting tray and use a large spoon to spoon the butter and juices over the turkey skin. Add the pigs in blankets to your roasting tray at this point to cook for the remaining 40 mins. TIP: The pigs in blankets are cooked when they are no longer pink in the middle. Repeat the basting process every 20 mins. TIP: The turkey is cooked when you stick a knife into the thickest part of the breast and the juices that run out are clear. Total cooking time: 2 hours. Once cooked, remove the turkey and the pigs in blankets from your oven and leave to rest on the side for 1½ hours, covered tightly with foil. TIP: This will make the turkey more moist and will allow you to get everything else cooked stress-free.

While the turkey cooks, pop the large saucepan of potatoes (keeping the water) on high heat, with a generous pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 10 mins. Mix the remaining chopped rosemary with the plain flour, a large pinch of salt and black pepper. Pour the potatoes into a colander and leave for 2 mins so they drain completely. Dry your large saucepan completely and return the potatoes to it, off the heat. Add the rosemary flour and shake vigorously to ‘fluff upʼ the potatoes and evenly distribute the flour. TIP: By doing this you create more surface area on the potatoes so they go crispier in the oven. Leave to one side.

Peel the apple and then grate on the coarse grater. Halve, peel and chop the red onion into small ½cm chunks. Melt the butter (amount specified in the ingredient list) in a wide bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the red onion and cook until softened, 5 mins. Stir frequently to make sure it doesn’t brown. Add the cabbage, apple, sugar (amount specified in the ingredient list), cinnamon, star anise and apple juice (amount specified in the ingredient list - serve the leftover juice to the kids!) to the pan. Stir and bring to the boil, then cover with a lid (or foil). Cook on medium-low heat until the cabbage is completely softened, 45 mins. Stir every now and then to make sure it is not catching. Remove the lid, increase the heat to medium-high and cook to evaporate any remaining liquid until the cabbage is glossy. Remove the star anise, season with salt and black pepper to taste and then remove from the heat (you’ll reheat it later on).

Once the turkey is out of the oven, add a really good glug of vegetable or sunflower oil to a large roasting tray - you need the oil to cover the whole bottom of your roasting tray. Pop it in the oven - you want the oil to get really hot so the potatoes cook better. TIP: If your tray is small, use two trays as you want the potatoes to be in a single even layer to get crispy! Once the roasting tray has been in your oven for at least 10 mins, remove it and gently tip the potatoes into it - careful not to burn yourself on any spitting oil! Make sure the potatoes are in an even layer (or they won’t get crispy). Roast on the top shelf of your oven until golden and crispy, 1 hour - 1 hour 15 mins. Turn the potatoes over halfway through cooking. Just cook for a few more mins if they aren’t golden in this time.

Once the root veggies are in the oven, peel and grate the garlic (or use a garlic press). Add the pancetta to a frying pan with a good splash of oil and cook over a medium-high heat until golden, 8-10 mins. Reduce the heat in your pancetta pan to medium (pancetta still in the pan!), add the Brussels sprouts and fry for 5 mins. Now add 3 tbsp of water, cover with a lid and steam-fry until the sprouts are just cooked, 6-8 mins. TIP: The Brussels sprouts should be tender but still a vibrant green colour with some bite. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the double cream and bubble away for 3-4 mins. Taste and add salt and black pepper if you feel it needs it, then remove from the heat (you’ll reheat it just before serving).