The main joy of Christmas for us is getting together on Christmas day for a big family feast. We don’t do presents except for KK, so there’s no rushing around having to go shopping at the last moment, trying to think of something to get someone who has everything.

Our family’s main focus is on the food and there is always plenty of that … and laughter, of course.

This year it’s our turn to host the lunch. There will be 26 people coming over but every family brings something yummy to eat.

Christmas is the one festival where we don’t have any Chinese dishes. There are no dumplings or noodles or red cooked meat, not even rice!

Steve always cooks the turkey and I do the stuffing. Last year I posted this recipe but it’s so good it I’m putting it up again. The meat is moist and the best thing is, you don’t have to cook the bird for hours.

It comes from the book “Ferment and Human Nutrition” by Bill Mollison, the founder of permaculture; but the description below is in much more detail than that found in the book. It is actually pretty similar to the famous Chinese dish “Beggar’s Chicken” in that the bird is wrapped thoroughly, moistened, heated to high heat, and then left to cook from the inside.

Here it is if you want to try it yourself.

ROAST TURKEY SLOW COOKED

The night before Christmas:

Pre-heat the oven to as high as it will go. Meanwhile, wrap the turkey’s ankles with tinfoil. Moisten a clean old single bedsheet with water, then wrap the turkey in it. Place in an oven pan. Pour a bottle of claret or other red wine slowly over the wrapped turkey, so that the sheet absorbs most of it. Cover the pan completely with tin foil, tucked in tightly around the edges.When the temperature is as hot as possible, place the turkey in the oven, and leave for one hour (50 minutes for a very small turkey, 70 minutes for a very large turkey; avoid the temptation to leave it longer or you’ll have turkey skeleton and piles of meat — still nice but not very attractive). After the hour or so, turn the oven off, and go to bed.

Yes, turn it *off*.

The next day, several hours before the event, you will need to brown the turkey. So unwrap it: it’ll be pale-red with some red stuff–that’s the wine, not blood. If you’re lucky the meat on the legs hasn’t fallen off.

If you have made stuffing this is a good time to put some in the turkey cavity. Heat the oven to 180C. Use a combination of honey and dark soy sauce (“Mushroom Soy” is best, Kikkoman is not quite dark enough, although better than nothing) to baste the turkey all over, place it in the oven to brown on one side, taking it out to baste once over the next 30-40 minutes.

Then turn it over and brown the other side, basting again once over the next 30-40 minutes.

This recipe will work for all big birds or other meats, or even several smaller birds wrapped up together.

In the beginning, it is natural to worry that it will not cook through, but after using this recipe at least 12 times already, we only had one time it wasn’t quite cooked, and that was when (after over-cooking the year before due to worry) we had a larger bird and turned the oven off at 50 minutes. So the hour is just about right for a medium-large bird, and if very large do only a little bit more than that.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Our children are now young adults so without little ones in the house Christmas time for me is always a little sad. I miss not decorating the Christmas tree with them. I miss the magic of Christmas eve when you had to wait forever for them to fall asleep. Then sneaking presents into their pillow slips at the end of their beds when they finally did. And I miss watching their sleepy little faces in the morning light up when they see what Santa has brought them. Oh the excitement was twofold because I was also remembering how it was when I was a little girl.

This year I haven’t even put up a Christmas tree. There is just a simple wreath on the door and some tinsel around the trunk of the oak tree out the front of our house.

At least I have been able to keep on writing and will do so right the way through. I need to with all the rewrites and edits I have to do. The only day I will have off is Christmas day when all the extended family comes together for a big family feast.

My husband, Steve always cooks the turkey. It’s a very special recipe. The turkey is delicious because it is slow cooked.

The recipe is from the book “Ferment and Human Nutrition” by Bill Mollison, the founder of permaculture; but the description below is in much more detail than that found in the book. It is actually pretty similar to the famous Chinese dish “Beggar’s Chicken” in that the bird is wrapped thoroughly, moistened, heated to high heat, and then left to cook from the inside.

Here it is if you want to try it yourself.

ROAST TURKEY SLOW COOKED

The night before Christmas:

Pre-heat the oven to as high as it will go. Meanwhile, wrap the turkey’s ankles with tinfoil. Moisten a clean old bedsheet with water, then wrap the turkey in it. Place in an oven pan. Pour a bottle of claret or other red wine slowly over the wrapped turkey, so that the sheet absorbs most of it. Cover the pan completely with tin foil, tucked in tightly around the edges.When the oven is as hot as possible, place the turkey in the oven, and leave for one hour (50 minutes for a very small turkey, 70 minutes for a very large turkey; avoid the temptation to leave it longer or you’ll have turkey skeleton and piles of meat — still nice but not very attractive). After the hour or so, turn the oven off, and go to bed.

Yes, turn it *off*.

The next day, several hours before the event, you will need to brown the turkey. So unwrap it: it’ll be pale-red with some red stuff–that’s the wine, not blood. If you’re lucky the meat on the legs hasn’t fallen off.

If you have made stuffing this is a good time to put some in the turkey cavity. Heat the oven again to 180C. Use a combination of honey and dark soy sauce (“Mushroom Soy” is best, Kikkoman is not quite dark enough, although better than nothing) to paint the turkey all over, place it in the oven to brown on one side, taking it out to paint once or twice over the next 30-40 minutes.

Then turn it over and brown the other side, painting again once or twice over the next 30-40 minutes. At the end you should have a nicely browned turkey that is cooked and very moist all the way through, with not much work (certainly not work at all compared to struggling with a salt-water turkey soaking bag and all that stuff). It is also quite energy efficient.

This recipe will work for all big birds or other meats, or even several smaller birds wrapped up together.

In the beginning, it is natural to worry that it will not cook through, but after using this recipe at least 12 times already, we only had one time it wasn’t quite cooked, and that was when (after over-cooking the year before due to worry) we had a larger bird and turned the oven off at 50 minutes. So the hour is just about right for a medium-large bird, and if very large do only a little bit more than that.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Here are some photos from my mum’s cooking class on Saturday. I was official dish washer and taste tester. All the students are in the children’s book world either authors, editors or publishers. It was a fun day.

Dumplings or Potstickers waiting to be cooked

Katie Evans and Bernadette Kelly making dumplings

Sizzling potstickers

Woodears, snowpeas and rockling ready to be stirfried

Roasted Spatchcock just out of the oven

Roasted spatchcock cut up and ready to eat

My all time favourite - Lions head meatballs and Chinese cabbage

And now it's time to eat!

Thank you to Claire Saxby for the great shots she took of all the food dishes.

No dandelions growing around where I’m staying but Catsears are prolific and just as good to eat. Catsear and dandelions make great salads. In Chinese medicine dandelions are cooling and work to detox the body.

This waffle recipe is the best I’ve tasted. I think it’s the oats that make all the difference. They are light, crunchy and so delicious.

INGREDIENTS

3/4 Cup rolled oats

3 Tblsp butter diced

1 1/4 Cups plain flour

1 Tblsp caster sugar

1 1/2 teasp baking powder

1/2 teasp bicarb soda

2 eggs

1 Cup buttermilk or 3/4 Cup yoghurt mixed with 4 Tablsp of milk

METHOD

In a medium saucepan combine oats with 1 1/4 cups of water. Bring to simmer stirring for 3 minutes. Remove and stir in butter.

Mix flour, sugar, bicarb and baking powder in a bowl.

Mix 2 eggs with the buttermilk and add to the porridge. Then stir the porridge mixture into the dry ingredients.

It is important not to overbeat.

Add 3/4 cup to the waffle iron.

Serve with pure Maple Syrup

INGREDIENTS

125 gms unsalted butter

125 gms drinking chocolate  3/4 cup

125 gms almond meal or hazelnut meal

125 gms castor sugar  1/2 cup

3 free range eggs

METHOD

Beat all ingredients together until smooth

Bake for 40 to  50 mins at 180 degrees C.

Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with vanilla icecream or freshly whipped cream.

STIR FRIED SWEETCORN

This is one of my favourite dishes because it’s easy and delicious. I love the crunchy, sweet taste of the corn.

Ingredients:

3 corn on the cob

1 T chopped spring onions

11/2 T cooking oil (I use light olive oil)

½ t salt

Method:

Wash the corn.

Stand a corncob on end over a dish and with a sawing motion cut off the kernels.

Repeat with the other two cobs.

Heat the wok until hot, pour in the oil and salt. Then stir fry the corn kernels, tossing them with a spatula for about 7 minutes. The kernels should be sweet but still crispy when done. Add the chopped spring onions and serve.

If you want to add meat you can use a small portion of mince chicken marinated in sesame seed oil and a bit of soy sauce. First cook the corn as above. Pour out into a dish. Add more oil and stir fry the mince chicken. Lastly toss the corn back in and give it a few flips with the spatula. Then the dish is done.

These are so delicious. They are crispy around the edges and so light it’s hard to know when to stop eating them.

Best served with maple syrup.

Ingredients

I cup self-raising flour

I 1/2 cups milk

6 tablespoons melted butter

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon castor sugar

2 free range eggs

Method

Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add eggs. Beat well with a spatula then add the milk. When the batter is smooth add the melted butter and stir.

Heat a frying pan. Smear a light coating of butter onto the surface then spoon in pancake mix. I cook one largish pancake at a time because the mixture is quite runny. Cook until brown then flip.

Serve with pure maple syrup.

ENJOY!

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Ingredients:

1 eggplant

Sauce:

1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon peeled ginger, minced
2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

Wash eggplant and cut off stem.

Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and score the skin with ½ inch wide crosshatching.

Place the halves face down on a heatproof dish and steam over high heat for 30 to 40 minutes or until the eggplant has a slightly sunken look.

Drain the liquid then slide the eggplant halves onto a serving plate.

Make the sauce by heating a pan until hot, add the oil, scatter in the mince ginger and garlic, turn heat to medium and cook until aromatic.

Add the vinegar, soy sauce and sugar and turn off heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Pour the sauce over the eggplant and serve.

Like stories, food is for sharing

INGREDIENTS

1 free range chicken
dark soya sauce (Mushroom soy is best because it makes the chicken a beautiful golden brown)
2 cloves of garlic
2 slices fresh ginger
2 spring onions
salt

METHOD

Place the chicken breast side down on a rack in a baking tray
Rub salt inside and outside the chicken
Brush all over with the Mushroom soy
Smash the garlic to remove the skins then place them inside the chicken cavity along with the ginger and the spring onions that have been roughly chopped into three.

Pour water into the baking pan so that the chicken sits over it but does not touch it

Place in a preheated oven at 180 C for at least ½ hour on one side or until golden then turn over. Brush some more soya sauce over the skin and roast for another 1/2 hour or longer if necessary. Ovens vary so you may need longer cooking times. If the chicken is lovely and brown it will be perfect.

Use the juice left in the pan as gravy.

ENJOY!

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