17 December 2011
Wonderful Christmas treats - Manawatu Standard Saturday 17th December
Recently I celebrated a special birthday and one of my charming assistants gave me a birthday card that said “Welcome to the Wonder Years!” inside were all these wonderful expressions “I wonder where I parked my car”, “I wonder where I put my glasses.” We have been sorting through my articles for the past 6 years and suddenly I heard peals of laughter coming from the office. It was the following paragraph that was causing such hilarity.
“Christmas is rapidly approaching and our bedroom floor is “layered” with presents wrapped and unwrapped, Christmas paper, ribbons and anything else you can think of to make the wrapping of Christmas presents a joy! Each year when the sales are on, I buy what I think what might be suitable presents for eleven month’s time. The only problem is that I hide the presents and then I wonder where I have put them!
Catering for clients does not pose such a problem for me as all our orders are systemised. This week we had the opportunity of catering for an Art, Science, and Technology event held at Te Manawa.
“Art and science, the twin engines of creativity in any dynamic culture, are commonly thought of as being as different as day and night. This is critical error. The partitioning of curiosity, inquiry and knowledge into specialized compartments is a recipe for cultural stagnation.” As quoted by Stephen Wilson, Art + Science Now.
This event was the bringing together the communities representing science, art and culture in Palmerston North.
Our role at HG Catering was to create a menu had elements of the unexpected. The drinks were tinted blue to match the logo. Liquorice hot smoked salmon served in china spoons was garnished with a fine julienne of rhubarb. Fat, juicy tips of asparagus were accompanied by wasabi mayo. Beef carpaccio was carefully placed on slithered croutes, garnished with fresh cherries, a leaf of coriander and shredded ginger. This was delicious, even though the flavours were somewhat unexpected.
Finally large strawberries dipped in chilli chocolate (available from Schoc Chocolates in Greytown.) completed the evening.
Firstly buy your chilli chocolate. Heat through slowly and carefully in microwave stirring constantly so the chocolate does not over heat. Holding the strawberries by the stalk dip into melted chocolate and place on a tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Leave to set and eat joyfully with in about four hours.
However, to return to the task in hand. Christmas is but 8 days away. The following recipe use turkey breast or the fillings would be equally as good if used with chicken. In this case I would use boneless chicken breast leaving the skin on.
A stuffing such as this is really like a savoury meat loaf and the ingredients can be varied as much as you like. Always cook off a little portion in a frypan first to check the seasoning. I sometimes put a basil leaf in a rolled strip of roasted red pepper and centre this down the middle of the stuffing for a different look, or I add chopped New Zealand apricots or dried cranberries. .....It all depends how you feel!
It is important to remember too that the onion must be chilled before adding to the stuffing mix and to keep all prepped ingredients as cold as possible
Stuffed Turkey Breast
Ingredients
1-2 skinless, boneless, turkey breasts (depending on size) usually a breast weights between 300-500g each
Stuffing
1 finely chopped onion, cooked and cooled
200g chicken mince
Couple of handfuls of fresh herbs – thyme, tarragon, parsley, basil
Grated rind and juice of 2 lemons
Handful of toasted shelled hazelnuts or lightly browned almonds
Salt and pepper to taste
Baby spinach leaves
1 egg (to bind)
6 rashes streaky bacon
1 tetrapak chicken stock or a couple of glasses white wine
Method
Place turkey breast(s) and place on a piece of plastic wrap. Butterfly the turkey breast, starting from the thin side of the fillet. Batten out breast to an even thickness. Cover breast with spinach leaves and place stuffing on spinach leaves, roll up and wrap breast in streaky bacon. (This helps to keep the breast moist). Tie at regular intervals with string. Preheat oven 160ºC and gently roast turkey breast with stock or wine for approximately 40-50 minutes, depending on the size. Cover if necessary. Let turkey breast rest for 10 minutes. Carve turkey, serve either hot or warm with pan juices, new potatoes and salad of lightly roasted courgettes with roasted cocktail tomatoes, dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Any leftover stuffing can be rolled into small sausages and bacon wrapped to serve as an accompaniment to the turkey.
The following recipe is from Jill Dupleix new book “Good Cooking”. Chorizo sausages are readily available from the supermarket delicatessen and make a robust flavoured filling for turkey breasts.
Turkey with Chorizo and Lemon
Ingredients
300g fresh chorizo sausages
2 turkey breast fillets, around 300g-500g each
Sea salt and pepper
1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
50g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 tbsp finely chopped thyme
1 egg, beaten
100g fresh white breadcrumbs
1 lemon, sliced
400ml dry white wine, stock or water
Method
To make the stuffing, skin the chorizo sausages. Pinch the meat into a frying pan and cook for 5 minutes, then cool. Heat oven to 200ºC.
To butterfly the turkey breast, lay skin-side down on a board and make a shallow cut down the centre of the meat, then cut horizontally through the thick meat to either side and open it up like a book. Cover with plastic film and bash it flat with a rolling pin, then rub with sea salt and pepper.
Lightly mix the cooled chorizo with the lemon zest, parmesan, nutmeg, parsley, thyme, egg and breadcrumbs.
Form the stuffing into a sausage on top of the turkey. Roll tightly, tuck in the ends and tie securely with string. Season well.
Place the turkey roll, skin-side up, in a roasting pan and arrange the lemon slices on top. Add the wine to the pan and roast for approximately 50 minutes or until the turkey breast is cooked. This will depend on the size of the breast. Remove the string and carve thickly. Serve with the cooking juices.
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