Christmas Special

During last Christmas, a friend of mine decided to hold a small dinner gathering at her place just to celebrate this festive season. Thou, I never really celebrate Christmas, I was kinda looking forward to it. I'm roasting my first ever turkey..:). thou it didn't turn out that well. Haha.

Baked Ham with Sweet Sauce
2.25kg of smoked Gammon
1onion (finely diced)
1carrot (Roughly chopped)
1 celery stick
1 bouquet garni sachet
6 peppercorns

For the glaze
Whole cloves
50 g of brown sugar
2 tbsp of golden syrup

Directions

1. Soaked the Smoked Ham in water overnight and removed any scum and appear on the surface.
2. On next day, bring a pot of water to simmer and add in the onion, carrot celery, 1 packet of bouquet garni, peppercorns and ham. Simmer the ham for 1 hour.
3. Remove the ham from the water and let it cool for an hour so as to let the ham regain its firmness.
4. When cooled, remove the skin of the leg ham and carve the surface into a network of diamond shape.
5. Insert the cloves in the middle of each diamond cutting as shown below..:)


6. On a pan heat the brown sugar and sugar syrup together and stirred in a little bit of water just to make it liquid. Glaze over the ham.
7. Baked the ham in the oven for 45 mins or until the surface turns golden brown.

Yakitori
(Skewered Chicken)
1kg chicken thigh fillet
½ cup sake
¾ cup Japanese Soy Sauce
½ cup mirin
2 table spoon sugar
1 cup spring onions, cut diagonally into 2 cm pieces

Directions

1. Prepare the skewer as shown the picture above.
2. On a pan, heat the sake, Japanese soy sauce, mirin and sugar together until the mixture are mixed properly.
   
3. Marinate the skewered meat with the mixture and put it overnight in the refrigerator.
4. Bake in the oven for 30-40 mins on 160 degrees
   
   

Parsnip and Bacon Croquettes
450g parsnips, cut roughly into small pieces
2 tbsp of butter
1 garlic cloves
1 tbsp of chopped fresh coriander
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 egg beaten
panko

Directions

1. Boil a pot of water and add a pinch of salt into the water.
2. Once the water starts to boil, put the parsnip into the water and boiled for 10 mins or until soft.
   
3. Remove the parsnip from the water and allow to cool.
4. If you have a food processor, blend the parsnips and the rest of the ingredient until smooth or blend it manually.
5. Shape the mixture into any shape of your liking.
6. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs for 2~3 mins.
7. Dip the croquettes into the egg and roll it in the panko.
8. Fry the croquettes in batch. Take care as to control the heat of the oil as they brown easily.
   

Roast Turkey
4.5 kg oven ready, turkey , with giblets(thawed if frozen)
1 large onion,
6 whole cloves
50g butter, softened
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the stuffing
225g rindless streaky bacon, chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp of fresh parsley
2 tbsp of dried mixed herbs
1 large egg, beaten

For the Gravy
2 tbsp Plain Flour
450ml Giblet stock

I didn't find the turkey delicious so I won't post the recipe here. The steps are more or less imaginable with the key steps below

Preheat to 200 degrees
Allow 15 mins per 450g plus 15 mins over
Lower to 180 degrees
Baste every 30 mins
Put meat ball in during the last 20 mins