The bird is always the main event, the king of the table, and without it you couldn't really call it Christmas dinner! Following on from our previousblog postfor alternative festive recipes, we have also tested and tried some new methods of cooking. Showing that juicy bird some love and care rather than the same old methods you do every year.
Santa's Festive Drunk Duck
This festive holiday recipe works well with assorted gamebirds or poultry and we used a fresh duck when cooking. It's a simpleseasonal dish, loaded with tasty herbs and spices, and thedelicious fat is used to flavour the roasted vegetables.
Ingredients:
- 1 Duck
- 150ml Mulled Wine
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Grated Nutmeg
- Pinch of Cloves
- 1 tbsp Sea Salt
- 1 Orange (zested and halved)
Method:
For the seasoning rub; Combine the cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, orangezest and sea salt. Pierce the duck skin with a sharp knife in multiplelocations, although make sure not to pierce through to the meat and rub the mixture all over the duck, inside and out. Squeeze thejuice from the orange over the bird and remember to keep theorange halves for later. For best results cover with tinfoil and leavein the fridge for a few hours to let the flavours infuse. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C.Take the orange halves and stuff into the cavity, plug the duck neckopening with a shallot or potato, pour mulled wine into the BeerRoaster* and insert duck. Cooking times will vary depending on thesize of the bird. Allow approx 2 hours for cooking and always checkmeat is thoroughly cooked before serving.
Recommended Drunk Duck Kit; The Bird Beer Roaster
The Beer Roaster is designed to simultaneously cook yourvegetables in the fat and juices from the bird. For best results parboilthe veg and add to the beer roaster for approximately 1 hour.
Fill the centre cylinder then insert your bird over the top, and roast.Not only will this add a new dimension of flavour but will also helpto ensure a moist, tender, succulent, tasty bird every time.
Convection Rotisserie Oven
This beautifully constructed, motorized rotisserie is capable of cookingeverything from pheasant to fish and then some. With a convenient timer thefood can simply be left in the cooker to do its own thing.
Rotisserie cooking allows the meat to cook faster and with better results. Themeat is always very moist as it is basted throughout the cooking process withits own juices. It's a large oven with rotating spit and hot air with a 28 ltr capacity. A tray is included toallow vegetables to be roasted in the juices of your meat. It comes supplied in a beautifulretail gift box which is sure to delight upon unwrapping (and saves you a bit of time!).
Santa's Succulent Seasonal Smokin' Tips
There is no better way to prepare a Christmas turkey than toslow smoke it. The end result gives wonderfully complex anddelicious flavours; better still with this style of cooking it is almostimpossible to overcook it and dry it out! When you try it you may never putanother one of these noble birds in a conventional oven again.To help you get the job done right, we’d like to serve up someturkey smoking* tips to you this festive season.
Pick the right bird. Big is not always best and choose a realisticsize. Smoking is a slow cooking process and the bigger the bird,the longer it will take. It takes about 6-8 hours to cook a 14lb turkey.
We recommend mixing together brown sugar, salt and rosemarywith cream sherry to make a thin paste which can then be applied tothe outside of the bird and between the skin and meat. This wouldbe the time to add any other herbs or seasonings of your choice.
Important:Set the turkey in a greased,disposablecooking pan.Smoking with your usual pans will leave a smoke stain on themthat cannot be removed.
Preheat your smoker to 100°C. We recommend pecan flavor bisquettes but the choice is yours. Keep an eye on yourtemperature gauge to make sure your heat is consistent. Everyhour you should baste the turkey using the juices from inside thecavity and continue cooking and basting every hour until it’s done.
Total smoking time will run 3-4 hours or so with a 10lb turkey.Smoke until your meat thermometer reads 75°C. Check thetemperature of the meat in a few different areas to make sure it’scompletely done.
Recommended Santa's Succulent Smokin' Kit: Countertop Smoker
New from Bradley this year is a great development from their range which really doesbring home smoking within the budget and scale of all households. This compact unitis absolutely perfect for domestic use. The smaller capacity is ideally suited to those whowant to smoke fish, smaller cuts of meat, vegetables, nuts and cheeses. Oven time, oven temperature and smoke time are all programmable, a key advantage over any form ofbarbecue smoker or home made device.
Bradley Smokers
Bradley smokers are arange of natural draftsmokers designed to makesmoking food a simple,predictable, and repeatableprocess with perfect resultson every occasion. Cold smoking is done at lowtemperatures, below 30°C. For this reason, not alldays are ideal for cold smoking, so colder periods
of the year are best. Hot smoking is done at hightemperatures, between 82°C and 121°C. These hottemperatures kill any microbes throughout the food.
