Classic Christmas Dinner

No big celebrations this year? No worries! We’ve got you covered with all the Christmas classics.
 
Impress your loved ones with a home-cooked feast of:

• Roasted Christmas Turkey
• Honey and Bourbon Ham
• Aglio e Olio Pasta
• Pomegranate and Walnut Salad
• Christmas Classic Eggnog

These classics will take 2-3 days to prepare and cook, but definitely worth every minute of wait!
2-3 days, too long? We have a contemporary Christmas recipe video coming right up. Stay tuned!
From all of us at Meatmen, we hope our recipe videos inspire you this Christmas to eat well and be well.
 

 
Recipe here:
 
Roasted Christmas Turkey – 
Ingredients

• 1 whole turkey (5kg)
• 3.5 litres water
• 3 slices bay leaves
• ¼ cup whole black peppercorn
• ½ cup salt
• 12 cloves of garlic
• 600ml buttermilk
• 400ml bottle of white wine
• Salt and pepper to taste

Stuffing for turkey: 

• 1 large onion (halved)
• 1 whole garlic (halved)
• 1 whole lemon (halved)
• 10-12 sprigs thyme

Turkey Sauce: 

• 2 cups of sauce from roasting turkey plus chicken stock
• 30g salted butter
• ¼ cup plain flour
• 600ml water to boil innards

Steps 

1. Thaw turkey 3 days ahead in the chiller before brining the process.
2. Take out all innards from turkey and set aside.
3. In a large pot add water, toss in bay leaves, peppercorns, salt and garlic and bring it to a boil. Let it cool down till brine stock room temperature.
4. Choose a vessel big enough to soak your turkey in, pour in buttermilk and white wine. Submerge the whole turkey inside the brine. Let it sit in the brine for 1 day.
5. Next day, drain and pat dry the turkey, season with salt and pepper. For best results, you may want  to “dry” your turkey in the chiller for another day to achieve crispy skin. Or minimum, dry it for at least 4 – 5 hours in the chiller.
6. Preheat the oven at 200°C.
7. Rest the turkey at room temperature.
8. Get ready to stuff turkey with stuffing ingredients.
9. Tie the turkey thighs with butcher’s twine. Tuck the wings underneath to prevent burn.
10. Lightly salt the whole turkey again and brush turkey with butter.
11. Transfer turkey to a roasting rack with the breast side facing down.
12. Roast turkey on the lowest rack of your oven for 1 hour.
13. Lower oven temperature to 180°C.
14. Continue to roast the turkey in the oven for another 1½ – 2 hours depending the size of the turkey you have purchased.
15. In a pot of water, boil the innards of the turkey to make turkey stock ready for the sauce.
16. Once the turkey is done, transfer to the cooling rack and rest it for at least 30 minutes , covering it with aluminium foil.
17. Strain the remaining sauce left on the roasting tray.
18. In a pot, melt the butter and toss in plain flour and give it a quick stir.
19. Pour in the reserve roasting sauce and stir constantly to prevent burnt at the bottom of the pan. Season sauce to taste.

 
Honey and Bourbon Christmas Ham – 
Ingredients:

• 1 whole honey baked ham 3kg
• 12 cloves for the ham

Glaze:

• ¼ cup of rice syrup
• 1 cup of bourbon
• ½ cup of yakitori sauce
• ¼  cup sweet mustard
• ¼ cup wholegrain mustard
• 100ml Pineapple juice 

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven at 175°C.
2. Score ham in a criss cross pattern and add cloves onto the ham. Then transfer to a roasting tray.
3. Mix all ingredients for glaze together and make sure they are well mixed.
4. Wrap baking tray with aluminium foil for easy clean up. 
5. Brush sauce mixture all over the ham. Pour the balance sauce all over the ham.
6. Bake in the oven lowest rack for 1 hour, basting with juice inside the pan for every 20 minutes to evenly coat the ham.
7. Cover ham with foil to prevent excessive burn if needed.
8. Remove from the oven and let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving.

 
Spaghetti aglio e olio – 
Ingredients

• 700g peeled and deveined shrimps
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 Lemon (zest and juice)
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (for shrimps)
• 400g pack of  Angel Hair
• 3 slices of anchovies (add more if you prefer)
• 3 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (for pasta)
• ½  cup of white
• ½ cup chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Steps:

1. Marinate shrimps in a bowl, adding salt & pepper, lemon zest and juice, chopped parsley, red pepper flakes & minced garlic. Mix well & set aside.
2. In a deep pot of boiling water, blanch and cook angel hair pasta until al dente.
3. In a pan, drizzle a little oil and sauté shrimp until pink and cooked. Dish up and set aside.
4. Using the same pan, drizzle a little more oil. Add in minced garlic, red pepper flakes and anchovy fillets. Sauté till fragrant.
5. Add in cooked pasta, white wine and pasta water, continue to sauté & mix well.
6. Add in cooked prawns, give it a quick mix and dish up. Sprinkle in the chopped parsley.

 
Pomegranate walnut salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette – 
Ingredients

• 2 cups roquettes
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 1 quarter Watermelon (cubed)
• arils from 1 pomegranates
• 1 cup toasted walnuts
• ½ cup feta cheese

Pomegranate Vinaigrette:

• ? cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp pomegranate juice
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Steps:

1. In a bowl add in all the ingredients for the pomegranate vinaigrette and mix well.
2. In a large salad bowl, add in roquettes, watermelon, baby spinach, watermelon, pomegranate arils, walnuts and feta cheese.
3. Just before serving, pour dressing over salad and mix well.