Turkey Steaks with Lemon & Mint Avocado

Photo: © childsdesign

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Really, the star of the show in this dish is the avocado which is enhanced with a splash of lemon.
The flavours are fresh and bright and the meal is light, but also satisfying, as well as as being quick and easy to prepare.

You don't have to have it with turkey either. The avocado would go equally well with other meats; a beef steak or lamb, perhaps or even tuna.
It would even be perfect smeared on toast for lunch.

View recipe

Pesto, Chicken & Vegetable Tray Bake

Photo: © childsdesign

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By all means have pesto on pasta but do try it with other foods too. It is great on fish and has some simple chicken thighs and vegetables singing in the oven.

Make an all-in-one tray roast with sliced leeks, carrots some skin-on potatoes, a few tomatoes and skinless chicken thighs and spooned over some pesto Pesto 20 minutes before the end of cooking time. Delicious!

View the recipe

Take a look at our '20 Ways with Pesto' for some more ideas.

Hibiscus Lily jellies for juicy lamb

Photo: © childsdesign

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Even the best grilled meat needs a good accompaniment either to enhance, counterbalance or complement it. Sweet, spicy and tangy flavours are always a welcome addition, particularly the jellies from Hibiscus Lily.

Read full article

We are pleased to award Hibiscus Lily our 'Artisan Food Trail Approved' status for 

their Pomegranate Jelly with Rose Petals and 

Hot Chilli Jam.

To find out more about Hibiscus Lily visit their page on 
The Artisan Food Trail here.

AFT Introducing: Oakley Grange Farm

Photos: © Oakley Grange Farm

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Oakley Grange Farm, in the heart of Leicestershire, is over 200 years old, and has been run by the Mee family for the past two generations. Richard and Inger took over the farm in 2001 and farm organically, raising beef cattle, pigs, sheep and laying hens alongside wheat, fruit and salad vegetables.

Their café is part of a busy working farm and boasts views over the countryside as well as into rural life. Tractors and animals alike can be
seen from the café windows and visitors can also benefit from their local
and farming expertise.

As much food as possible is either grown or reared on Oakley Grange Farm, and if not, they try to source from local suppliers. Everything is freshly prepared and served by Inger and the team in a relaxed and welcoming environment.

In the café, breakfast, afternoon tea, coffee and cake, is served as well as a wide range of hot lunches and sandwiches. The breakfast includes their own sausages, bacon and eggs along with roast tomatoes, mushrooms and toast made from the farm's home baked bread.

Organic beef, pork, lamb, eggs produced on the farm can be bought in their shop plus other carefully sourced  groceries including biscuits, preserves, pickles and chocolates.

To find out more about Oakley Grange Farm visit their page on 
The Artisan Food Trail here

How to carve a turkey

So you've bought the best turkey and cooked it to perfection, so what's the best way to carve it?
This step-by-step guide should put you on the right track to getting those lovely slices of meat off the bird that you'll be proud to serve to your family and guests.

Step 1
With a sharp knife, cut the skin between leg and breast.
Bend leg outwards and cut straight through the joint, removing the whole leg. Repeat on the other side. If the turkey is properly cooked, the legs will fall away easily. Do the same with each wing, leaving the breast meat intact.

Step 2
With the legs removed, slice horizontally at the base of the breast until your knife reaches the carcass. Do this on both sides. Then, slice downwards in neat, even slices.

Step 3
Slice the dark meat off the legs (hold the drumstick with a piece of kitchen paper if this makes it easier). Arrange round the edge of the serving platter. Pile the slices of white meat in the centre and carry into the dining room.

Step-by-step, photos and illustrations reproduced
with kind permission of British Turkey

Tips and recipes for great Christmas stuffing

You can make your turkey even more special with some tasty stuffing by stuffing the neck end of the bird right before cooking and seal by tucking in the skin. Make sure you weigh the turkey after stuffing to calculate the correct cooking time. Alternatively spoon into a dish and cook separately.

Here are some tips and recipes for great homemade stuffing:

1. You can prepare the stuffing a few weeks beforehand and freeze, and then allow to thaw completely before using. Or prepare on Christmas Eve, allow to cool and store covered in the fridge. Always allow the stuffing to come back to room temperature before using to ensure the cooking times are not affected. 
2. Turkeys should be stuffed just before cooking. Do not stuff the night before as this can be a breeding ground for bacteria. 
3. Only stuff the neck cavity – never the body cavity – the body cavity can have sliced onion or lemon or orange and fresh herbs placed inside to infuse the meat with additional flavours. 
4. Spoon stuffing into the neck cavity and seal the end by tucking in the skin and securing with cocktail sticks or darning needle and thread. Bread based stuffings tend to swell up slightly so do not pack in too tightly. Generally 350g will be enough for a 4.5-5kg bird. 
5. Weigh the turkey after stuffing to calculate cooking time. If the bird is under 4kg allow 20 minutes per kg + 70 minutes. If the bird is over 4kg allow 20 minutes per kg + 90 minutes. 
6. If you do not want to stuff the bird or have leftover stuffing mixture simply roll into little balls (use wet hands to make this easier). Brush with oil and bake for 20-30 minutes at the end of the turkey cooking time. Alternatively, spread stuffing mixture in a baking dish, bake for 30 minutes and serve cut into squares.

Green Herb, Lemon & Onion Stuffing

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 250g fresh white or brown breadcrumbs
• 125g shredded suet
• 2 lemons, grated rind of one and juice of two
• 4 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp fresh chopped marjoram, or 1 tbsp dried
• 2 tbsp fresh chopped dill, or 1 tsp dried
• 75g chopped walnuts, optional
• 1 egg, beaten
• stock or white wine to mix
• salt and ground black pepper

Method
Boil the onions in a little stock or water for 5 minutes, then chop, reserving the liquid for use later.
Mix with all the other ingredients until you have a firm, moist mixture, using the reserved liquid or wine to moisten if necessary. Season well and chill until required.


Fruit & Roasted Nut Stuffing

Ingredients

• 125g dried, stoned prunes
• 75g dried apricots
• 1 stick of celery, finely chopped
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 medium cooking apple, peeled and grated
• 50g butter
• liver of turkey, finely chopped
• 125g fresh white or brown breadcrumbs
• 50g roasted chopped hazelnuts or almonds
• 1 egg, beaten
• salt and ground black pepper

Method
Chop prunes and apricots finely and soak for at least an hour in hot water, then drain, reserving some of the liquid. Fry celery, onion and apple in the butter for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally then add liver and fry for a further 3 minutes until firm and cooked.
Put crumbs and nuts in large bowl and stir in fried mixture together with fruit, egg and seasoning, moistening with some reserved liquid, if necessary. Allow to cool before using.


Mushroom & Bacon Stuffing

Ingredients

• 175g mushrooms, wiped and chopped
• 175g streaky bacon, de-rinded and chopped
• 175g fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 tsp mixed dried herbs
• 1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 50-75g butter or margarine, melted
• 2 medium eggs

Method
Mix the mushrooms, bacon, breadcrumbs, onions, herbs and seasoning together in a bowl
Stir in the melted butter or margarine and sufficient egg to bind the mixture together.
Use to stuff the neck cavity only. Cook any remaining stuffing separately.


Oatey Apple & Cranberry Stuffing

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 rashers smoked streaky bacon, diced
• 450g Bramley apples, peeled, cored and grated
• zest and juice 1 lemon
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 175g fine oatmeal
• 175g fresh white breadcrumbs
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh sage
• 75g dried cranberries
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and bacon and sauté for 5 mins until pale golden. Transfer to a bowl and cool slightly.
Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Season with a little salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
You can make this stuffing the day before required if liked. Simply cover the bowl with clear film and refrigerate until required.
Use the stuffing to fill the neck of turkey. Roll the remainder into balls and roast in the oven alongside the turkey for 20 mins or until golden.
Makes enough to fill the neck cavity of a 2.2kg (10lb) turkey.


Sausage, Chestnut & Bacon Stuffing

Ingredients

• 50g streaky bacon, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp dry sherry
• 250g good sausagemeat
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped sage or 1 tsp dried
• 75g fresh white or brown breadcrumbs
• 125g canned chestnuts, drained and chopped
• grated rind 1 lemon
• salt and ground black pepper

Method
Dry fry bacon in a small frying pan until the fat runs, then fry the onion in the juices for about 3 minutes.
Add sherry and cook until evaporated. Remove, tip into a big bowl and allow to cool. Mix in sausagemeat, sage, breadcrumbs, chestnuts, lemon rind and seasoning.
Chill and stuff before roasting.

Tips, photos and recipes reproduced
with kind permission of British Turkey

Moroccan Style Meatballs

Photo: © childsdesign

***  
These spicy meatballs are delicious and really simple to make. To get the best results you do need to get in there with you hands when you mix all the meatball ingredients together. You will end up with yellow fingers because of the turmeric in the Ras El Hanout but it's worth it!
The addition of semolina rather than breadcrumbs helps to bind everything together as well as adding a slight nuttiness.

Unlike most meatballs in sauce recipes there is no need to fry them first. They are just dropped straight into the sauce and simmered slowly – this releases their flavour into the sauce and everything becomes wonderfully infused, rich and delicious.

View recipe

Chicken & Spinach Curry

Photo: © childsdesign

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This is a mildly spiced Indian curry – don't be fooled by the amount of chilli powder used here as it is the Kashmiri variety. Kashmiri chilli is a lot milder than regular chilli powder with a gentle warmth and sweet earthy notes.
If you don't have any you could use paprika instead with a dash of
cayenne pepper.

As we said, this curry is not hot but rather more aromatic with a degree of warmth coming from the garam masala (we used the Spice Kitchen blend). The generous amount of spinach used creates a silky texture with rich flavour.
Serve simply either with basmati rice or chapattis or naan breads.

View recipe

Venison & Pork Chorizo with fennel and potatoes

Photo: © childsdesign

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A nice simple recipe using Great Glen Charcuterie's Venison & Pork Chorizo which would make an ideal midweek meal.
The chorizo is wonderfully meaty, smokey and savoury with a good amount of spicing (though not hot) that mixes with the aniseed-tasting fennel and juicy tomatoes for a delicious meal.

View recipe

Beef Ragu

Photo: © childsdesign

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The flavours of a slow-cooked ragu are soft and mellow, quite different from a typical quick bolognese sauce. It is important to use good quality beef mince which has plenty of fat as this all adds to the flavour and the smoothness of the sauce.
The slow cooking creates a melt in the mouth texture as the meat becomes very soft and very delicious.
The ragu is best served stirred through tagliatelle pasta.

View recipe

Photo: © childsdesign

Venison and pork perfect chorizo partners

Photo: © childsdesign

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Last month we announced a new product from Great Glen Charcuterie – Venison & Pork Chorizo.
Eager to get the word out and our opinion on their recent addition, Anja Baak made sure we received a pack to be put to the test.

Read full review

We are pleased to award Great Glen Charcuterie our 'Artisan Food Trail Approved' status for their Venison & Pork Chorizo.

To find out more about Great Glen Charcuterie visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here.

Braised Pork with Prunes and a Potato Top

Photo: childsdesign

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Choose good quality British pork for this dish and with several great producers on The Artisan Food Trail to choose from, you can’t go wrong.

It doesn't need to be an expensive cut either and we used shoulder as this seems to work best. The slow cooking makes the meat very tender and almost melting in texture.

Inspired by all things English, this recipe uses old traditional flavours that complement each other so well. Cider and apples for sharpness, prunes for sweetness and a dash of mace, thyme and juniper for warmth and fragrance.

Although optional, we can highly recommend adding Alan Coxon’s Ale-Gar
to give a nice depth to the finished flavour. To us, it just seemed very appropriate to add it as the rest of the ingredients echo the time which inspired the Ale-Gar’s recipe.

View recipe

Photo: childsdesign

Great Glen Charcuterie launches new chorizo

Great Glen Charcuterie has added a new chorizo to its line of charcuterie products.
The chorizo is made with a mixture of Wild Scottish Venison and Scottish produced Pork.

Jan Jacob Baak, Great Glen Charcuterie's director said:

"We wanted to expand our Venison & Pork range. The already well received Venison & Pork salami has now found a little brother in a full flavour packed Venison & Pork Chorizo. This new product in our Venison & Pork range adds a distinct variation to the already award winning pure venison chorizos. Working closely with local farmers to source the best of Scotland’s quality pork we have created a new exiting product that will please many of our customers." 

The Venison & Pork chorizo is made with the same high quality ingredients and unique preserving techniques that makes Great Glen Charcuterie products stand out. Over the years they have won many awards and this new product is sure to be another winner.

The chorizo is ready to eat but especially good to use in cooking and soon, some new recipe cards will be available to provide customers with inspiration.

Great Glen Charcuterie is based in the rugged Highlands of Scotland. 
They use sustainably sourced local wild venison and Scottish pork to produce a range of award winning pure venison and venison based charcuterie. 

Other products made include delicious salamis, chorizos, pepperonis, bresaola and smoked venison.
Great Glen Charcuterie is available from independent retailers 
and their online store.

UPDATE!: Read our review of this product

To find out more about Great Glen Charcuterie, visit their page on 
The Artisan Food Trail here

Aromatic Chilli Beef

Photo: © childsdesign

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It has to be said that we are lovers of spicy food. It doesn’t have to be ragingly hot but the flavour is definitely number one on the list.
This recipe uses three types of dried chillies which have their own unique flavours and fruity characteristics and when combined with Indian spices marry so well with beef.

There’s certainly nothing ‘authentic’ about the recipe but it does taste darn good. We suppose this is what you get when Mexican meets Indian.

View recipe

Casseroled Chuck Steak in a Rich Sauce

Photo: © childsdesign

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This casserole has a real depth of flavour, the gravy is rich and delicious and contains what may sound like an odd ingredient but the anchovies really do add something extra. Unless you're allergic to fish, don't leave them out and even if you think you don't like anchovies, we promise you that you'd never know they were there. They break down completely to impart a special savoury element to the dish.

Rather than cut the carrots into small dice we chose to keep them chunky to add more interest both visually and texturally.
We served ours with potato and celeriac mash with a spoonful of wholegrain mustard stirred in.
A good hunk of crusty bread would also go well.

View recipe

Photo: © childsdesign

Succulent smoked duck breasts from Morton's Traditional Taste

Photo: ©Morton's Traditional Taste

Rob Morton is carrying on his family tradition of farming and butchery, by creating local quality produce from his free-range poultry farm in Norfolk.

Hall Farm was established as far back as 1945 when Rob’s grandfather came down from Scotland with a dairy herd. Wishing to maintain the family’s farming and butchery heritage, Rob’s father and now Rob, himself are continue to provide their quality service and meats to other local meat producers, the local catering industry including fine restaurants and bistros in Norfolk and to the surrounding  local community.

The traditional Norfolk farm consists of a large family farmhouse and courtyard of barns and outhouses. Some of these buildings had largely become redundant as they were no longer suitable for modern day farm machinery. Rather than letting them sit unused, Rob converted one of them into a smokehouse with a fully hygienic area. This became an extension of their farming business in November 2012 to cure and smoke the game and meats that Morton’s farms produce.



The video shows Rob preparing and smoking duck breast.

The duck breast in placed in brine for 2-3 hours. The meat is then rinsed and washed to get rid of the excess the salt off the surface. The duck breasts are placed briefly on racks to dry out, before putting them straight into the smoker for 3 hours. The meat is smoked slowly to allow the aromas from the selected wood chippings to infuse throughout.

For a particular flavour, Rob has chosen the chippings from old whiskey barrels which are ground up finely and placed in the bottom of the smoker. After lighting, the chippings are left to smoulder allowing the smoke to permeated the duck breasts sitting above, giving the meat its distinctive taste and flavour.

Rob says: “A good smoked meat, is still moist, with a hint of the smoked flavour, that’s not overpowering just from the curing process of salt and smoke; but when you put the meat in your mouth, it melts on your tongue and  you want to taste the smokiness and moisture of the meat infused with the flavours from the smoke”.

Rob personally recommends slicing the Smoked Gressingham Duck or Morton’s own Smoked Chicken thinly on a freshly prepared Caesar Salad as a delicious summer meal.

To find out more about Morton’s Traditional Taste visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here

The Glorious Twelfth

© The Blackface Meat Company

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For those who are lovers of game the day is almost here – the 'Glorious Twelfth' signals the start of the grouse season.

Perhaps some would say the date is not a cause for jubilation, well not for the grouse anyway and also it clearly announces that autumn is not that far away.
Up until this time though, the birds have enjoyed a long and fruitful life wandering and foraging on the British heather moorlands, living an entirely natural and most importantly, wild existence. Grouse are truly wild unlike pheasants and partridge which are raised from chicks indoors.

© The Blackface Meat Company

Being highly regarded for its rich, lean meat our native grouse is a prized seasonal British delicacy at this time of year. The flavour is so unique which can be largely attributed to the grouse’s diet as it feeds only on heather and the small insects that live there.

Eating grouse also helps with the conservation of our moorlands as many of the moors are managed to increase the density of the grouse. This ensures that the habitat is maintained to allow many other indigenous birds, plants and animals to flourish, thereby protecting our native flora and fauna.

The wonderful native grouse has been added to the 'Ark of Taste' by Slow Food.  This is a rare and well deserved achievement.
It is referred to on their site as "the finest game bird in the world both from an organoleptic and a shooting perspective."

The best way to enjoy grouse is to roast it simply, rare or medium so that the natural flavour can be appreciated. Traditionally it is served with the thinnest crispiest game chips and bread sauce.
With the season being relatively short at just 16 weeks you’ve really got to seize the moment and luckily you can find grouse on The Artisan Food Trail…

Grouse on The Artisan Food Trail
Our newest addition to the trail, The Blackface Meat Company sell fully plucked and dressed birds that are delivered direct to your door.
Their grouse roams free in the Scottish Uplands and is collected from local estates.
To find out more about The Blackface Meat Company and to find links to their website/online shop visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here.

If fancy your grouse with a difference we can recommend Great Glen Game’s Smoked Grouse Breast. It is rich with a subtle sweetness from the cure and infused with the real oak smoke. Slice very thinly and enjoy with a light salad with blackberries.
To find out more about Great Glen Game visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here.

© Great Glen Game

Bacon lovers unite

Photo: © childsdesign

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How wonderful would it be if the internet had the power to transmit aromas? If it did, we’d be uploading the olfactory delight of sizzling bacon to accompany the picture.

This week is Bacon Connoisseurs Week, but why only be a connoisseur for just one week of the year? Devoted lovers of bacon will tell you that it is something they could not live without. Bacon at its best brings back memories whether it’s the holiday breakfast cooked in a dented frying pan, atop a Calor gas stove on a windy British beach or simply lazy Sunday mornings. Bacon is a satisfier of appetite, a comfort, a restorative – some would say, a hangover cure.

Whatever your relationship with bacon, choose the best and buy British at the very least.
Bacon on The Artisan Food Trail is a real step up in terms of quality, craft, animal welfare and above all, flavour. This special flavour is what you get from rare breed pigs that have led a happy, natural life. A pig’s life outdoors which allows it to root around and run about in the fresh air, added to its particular breed, produces full flavoured meat with the all important fat. Remember fat equals flavour.

The rare breeds on the food trail include British Saddleback, Tamworth, Iron Age, Gloucester Old Spot, Large Black and English Lop, Middle White, and Oxford Sandy & Black. Not all of these breeds go into making bacon but the pork is just as wonderful, so well worth a try.

The following producers all rear pigs for pork, some produce bacon and other pork charcuterie products as well as pies and sausages.

Samphire in Norfolk has bacon in either smoked or unsmoked, available in various cuts. Pork, sausages and pork pies too.

Paganum Produce in the Yorkshire Dales create their own dry-cured streaky or back bacon as well as pork charcuterie including their famous Yorkshire Chorizo and of course the best home-reared pork.

Pilkington Farms in Hertfordshire cross-breed rare breeds to produce pork which has just the right amount of fat and flavour that their customers prefer.

Orchard View Farm in Buckinghamshire produces smoked streaky or back bacon as well as their award winning pork along with pies, sausages and ham.

Learn butchery and charcuterie skills in The Yorkshire Dales

A start of a new year is often full of resolution making and one that's always good to go for is to learn something new.
There are several Artisan Food Trail members that offer hands-on courses to enable people to broaden their food horizons, whether it is the gentle art of perfecting new recipes or really getting to grips with where their food comes from.

For those of you that have been reading our blog and saw last year's ITV series 'The Dales' with Adrian Edmondson, you'll know that after months of hard work Paganum's new artisan butchery and charcuterie building opened in September 2012.

Now in full swing, Paganum's owner Chris Wildman has started running a number of butchery and charcuterie courses to teach the skills of his trade. The courses run throughout the year and Chris has kindly given one place on his full-day butchery skills course for us to offer to one lucky Artisan Food Trail competition winner.

Paganum's one day course will cover:

• Basic pork butchery
• Primal cuts
• Knife skills
• Nose to tail uses of the pig – you can eat everything but the squeak!
• Sausage making – create your perfect sausage
• Bacon curing Basic charcuterie
• Tour of the farm, meet the pigs and other livestock
• You'll be treated to great Dales hospitality – refreshments and lunch will be provided.

The course is being held on 22nd March 2013 in the butchery on the farm near Malham in The Yorkshire Dales.
So if you'd like the chance to win a place on this informative yet enjoyable course. Sorry, this competition has now closed.

Stuffing your Turkey

You can make your turkey even more special with some tasty stuffing by stuffing the neck end of the bird right before cooking and seal by tucking in the skin. Make sure you weigh the turkey after stuffing to calculate the correct cooking time. Alternatively spoon into a dish and cook separately.

Here are some tips and recipes for great homemade stuffing:

1. You can prepare the stuffing a few weeks beforehand and freeze, and then allow to thaw completely before using. Or prepare on Christmas Eve, allow to cool and store covered in the fridge. Always allow the stuffing to come back to room temperature before using to ensure the cooking times are not affected.
2. Turkeys should be stuffed just before cooking. Do not stuff the night before as this can be a breeding ground for bacteria.
3. Only stuff the neck cavity – never the body cavity – the body cavity can have sliced onion or lemon or orange and fresh herbs placed to infuse the meat with additional flavours.
4. Spoon stuffing into the neck cavity and seal the end by tucking in the skin and securing with cocktail sticks or darning needle and thread. Bread based stuffings tend to swell up slightly so do not pack in too tightly. Generally 350g will be enough for a 4.5-5kg bird.
5. Weigh the turkey after stuffing to calculate cooking time. If the bird is under 4kg allow 20 minutes per kg + 70 minutes. If the bird is over 4kg allow 20 minutes per kg + 90 minutes.
6. If you do not want to stuff the bird or have leftover stuffing mixture simply roll into little balls (use wet hands to make this easier). Brush with oil and bake for 20-30 minutes at the end of the turkey cooking time. Alternatively, spread stuffing mixture in a baking dish, bake for 30 minutes and serve cut into squares.

Green Herb, Lemon & Onion Stuffing

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 250g fresh white or brown breadcrumbs
• 125g shredded suet
• 2 lemons, grated rind of one and juice of two
• 4 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp fresh chopped marjoram, or 1 tbsp dried
• 2 tbsp fresh chopped dill, or 1 tsp dried
• 75g chopped walnuts, optional
• 1 egg, beaten
• stock or white wine to mix
• salt and ground black pepper

Method
Boil the onions in a little stock or water for 5 minutes, then chop, reserving the liquid for use later.
Mix with all the other ingredients until you have a firm, moist mixture, using the reserved liquid or wine to moisten if necessary. Season well and chill until required.


Fruit & Roasted Nut Stuffing

Ingredients

• 125g dried, stoned prunes
• 75g dried apricots
• 1 stick of celery, finely chopped
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 medium cooking apple, peeled and grated
• 50g butter
• liver of turkey, finely chopped
• 125g fresh white or brown breadcrumbs
• 50g roasted chopped hazelnuts or almonds
• 1 egg, beaten
• salt and ground black pepper

Method
Chop prunes and apricots finely and soak for at least an hour in hot water, then drain, reserving some of the liquid. Fry celery, onion and apple in the butter for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally then add liver and fry for a further 3 minutes until firm and cooked.
Put crumbs and nuts in large bowl and stir in fried mixture together with fruit, egg and seasoning, moistening with some reserved liquid, if necessary. Allow to cool before using.


Mushroom & Bacon Stuffing

Ingredients

• 175g mushrooms, wiped and chopped
• 175g streaky bacon, de-rinded and chopped
• 175g fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 tsp mixed dried herbs
• 1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 50-75g butter or margarine, melted
• 2 medium eggs

Method
Mix the mushrooms, bacon, breadcrumbs, onions, herbs and seasoning together in a bowl
Stir in the melted butter or margarine and sufficient egg to bind the mixture together.
Use to stuff the neck cavity only. Cook any remaining stuffing separately.


Oatey Apple & Cranberry Stuffing

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 rashers smoked streaky bacon, diced
• 450g Bramley apples, peeled, cored and grated
• zest and juice 1 lemon
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 175g fine oatmeal
• 175g fresh white breadcrumbs
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh sage
• 75g dried cranberries
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and bacon and sauté for 5 mins until pale golden. Transfer to a bowl and cool slightly.
Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Season with a little salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
You can make this stuffing the day before required if liked. Simply cover the bowl with clear film and refrigerate until required.
Use the stuffing to fill the neck of turkey. Roll the remainder into balls and roast in the oven alongside the turkey for 20 mins or until golden.
Makes enough to fill the neck cavity of a 2.2kg (10lb) turkey.


Sausage, Chestnut & Bacon Stuffing

Ingredients
50g streaky bacon, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tbsp dry sherry
250g good sausagemeat
1 tbsp fresh chopped sage or 1 tsp dried
75g fresh white or brown breadcrumbs
125g canned chestnuts, drained and chopped
grated rind 1 lemon
salt and ground black pepper

Method
Dry fry bacon in a small frying pan until the fat runs, then fry the onion in the juices for about 3 minutes.
Add sherry and cook until evaporated. Remove, tip into a big bowl and allow to cool. Mix in sausagemeat, sage, breadcrumbs, chestnuts, lemon rind and seasoning.
Chill and stuff before roasting.

Tips, photos and recipes reproduced
with kind permission of British Turkey