Christmas Cake/Pudding/Ham bake/steam/roast-a-long 2023 edition
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I was a head chef for many years and this is one of my party pieces. It always impresses.
Bacon wrapped, stuffing filled turkey leg and thigh roll. I do this every year. It can be a bit fiddly but it cooks really evenly and as it is served in slices, allows really good portion control.
If you want to try this you will need:
Couple of packs of streaky bacon - ideally smoked but not a deal breaker
2 turkey legs and thighs - These can be butchered off a full bird
Aluminium foil
Ingredients for whatever type of stuffing you want to do. For example,
Sausage meat
Chestnuts
Dried apricots or cranberries
Bread
Onions
Garlic
Celery
Fresh sage
Chicken stock cube made into stock
Ground black pepper
I'm sure you can all make stuffing. If not, then fry the onions and garlic until soft, add chopped sage and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the bread and the stock until its soaked up. Throw it in a bowl and add all the other ingredients. Mix together, put to one side and let it cool.
This all needs to be prepped the night before cooking.
Butcher the legs and thighs off the turkey. This is the fiddly bit. Get rid of all the cartilage, bone, skins and tendon. You'll be left with a couple of bits of meat that look like an ugly parallelogram and some left over chunks. It doesn't matter how this looks just that you get the inedible bits out, There are long leg tendony bits that are twats but you've got this.
Lay about 2 feet of foil shiny side down on a surface and lay the streaky bacon side by side along it. Leave about 4-6 inches of clear foil at each end.
Place the meat on the bacon, ideally leaving a little bit of bacon free at the top and bottom. You want it to be quite even so slice bits off, fill in gaps, and don't leave it too thick.
Place a thin tube (ideally about an inch in diameter) of the stuffing down the middle of this from left to right.
Here is another fiddly bit. You want to roll it up. This will take a bit of rolling from the top and bottom and bits of the bacon will stick to the foil, just peel them off and back onto the meat. There's no rush, take your time and make sure it all holds together. Fold the top and bottom ends of the foil over until flat against the meat. Close the ends and twist. You'll have what looks like a foil xmas cracker about 18-24 inches long and approx. 3 inches in diameter. Put this in the fridge overnight.
To cook, treat like a stuffed turkey and place it in a baking pan with sides that can hold any cooking juices. 30-35 mins per kg at 190C (170C if fan assisted). Cut the top of the foil off for the last 20 mins so the bacon crisps up (be wary of where the up side is when doing this). Slice and serve.
Edit: Added a couple of words to clarify where the bacon can stick. -
That does sound the business.
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That sounds fantastic, and achievable. Thanks for sharing … -
As the mrs is american, I might do this for thanksgiving this year. If I do, I'll post some pics of the various stages.
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Oooh! Please do.Come with g if you want to live...
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Our butcher bones the legs for us. Wifey has stuffed the legs and served them sliced for a few years now. Well worth getting the pro to do that knife work.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
Stuffed turkey leg is the best. Forget the other cuts. -
Pudding fruit is now soaking in the sherry and orange overnight before tomorrow.
Pedro Ximenev Sherry again. Once you try it there is no going back.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
The first time I saw people eating turkey legs was at Disneyland. I was very confused about that. Still am actually now I think about it. It didn't look appealing at all, and still everyone was walking around with these big meat clubs.
Which is not really related to Thanksgiving / Christmas turkey, but still. I have no clue yet what to do for Christmas this year, might just order a ham again, that was quite nice and easy last year. -
"big meat clubs"
Come with g if you want to live... -
Tried one of those legs when I was Orlando a couple of years ago. Mega tasty but a bit messy to eat.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009.
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Nina wrote:The first time I saw people eating turkey legs was at Disneyland. I was very confused about that. Still am actually now I think about it. It didn't look appealing at all, and still everyone was walking around with these big meat clubs. Which is not really related to Thanksgiving / Christmas turkey, but still. I have no clue yet what to do for Christmas this year, might just order a ham again, that was quite nice and easy last year.
Might be worth seeing if you can get a "turkey crown" which is just the turkey breasts separated from the bird. They are available in the UK but maybe that's just a thing here.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
Think you’ll need to stick those links in image tags to get them to appear on the forum.Come with g if you want to live...
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Huh. Showing on my screen. Will edit
Edit: and thanks for letting me know -
Doing he-haw on my phone sadly.Come with g if you want to live...
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That is an exceptionally neat job.
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g.man wrote:Doing he-haw on my phone sadly.
It is the most incredible thing I have ever seen posted on this or any other website. Drive home and get your laptop. -
The neatness comes from using the foil to roll it up for you. Grab the top edge of the foil and slowly bring it towards you and then pull downwards a bit. Put back to the start position. Repeat from the bottom edge. Keep doing this until you are happy with the way it has come together and then roll it up completely. This is where the odd bit of bacon might stick to the foil.
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Wow. That does look incredible. Great stuff mate!Come with g if you want to live...
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Top drawer stuff going on there. Happy Thanksgiving!! Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009.
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Sheesh. That’s incredible work. I think giving all the credit to the foil is being a little tough on yourself. That’s high level cooking and mine, were I to attempt it, would not look like that.
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Combo bonus!
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Magnificent.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009.
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Outstanding!Come with g if you want to live...
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Cake fed with more Brandy this evening. When I opened up the shrink wrap the smell was glorious. This one could be my best ever.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009.
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Come with g if you want to live...
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