Roast Irish turkey with truffle and walnut butter
Serves 4
Cooking and preparation time: 4 hours 30 minutes
Ingredients
4kg 'ready-to-cook' turkey
125g softened butter
125g toasted walnuts, chopped
10g fresh parsley, chopped
10g fresh sage, chopped
20ml truffle oil
Salt and pepper to season
Method
Brine the turkey overnight.
(My easy brine: 3 lts of water; 300g of salt; 50g Sugar
Bring to boil, take off heat and add 2 cloves of garlic and 5 cloves when cool.)
Pre heat the oven to 220 degrees centigrade.
To make the truffle butter, thoroughly mix together the toasted walnuts, butter, sage, parsley and truffle oil. Use blender if necessary.
Rinse the turkey under cold water and dry with kitchen towels. Rub the inside of the turkey with salt and pepper.
Next, run your fingers under the skin of the turkey breast and peel back as far as possible. Place two thirds of the truffle butter on the turkey breast and cover by pulling the skin back to its original position.
Place the turkey (breast side up) in a roasting try and cover loosely with foil. Transfer to the oven and reduce the temperature to 180 degrees centigrade. Cook for 1.5 hours
After 1.5 hours remove the foil and spread the rest of the truffle butter over the turkey. Cook for a further 30 minutes, basting occasionally
Finally, remove the turkey from the oven and allow to rest for 30 minutes before carving
Ian Orr’s Glazed Ham
Serves 4
Cooking and preparation time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Ingredients
1 large ham (around 3-5kg)
200g local honey
100g sugar
50g tomato sauce
2 tbsp cinnamon
Method
Put the ham into a very large pot with cold water and bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and cook for 1 hour 30 minutes.
When cool, lift out of the pot, take shin away and score the fat.
Preheat oven to 190 degrees centigrade.
Mix together the honey, sugar, tomato sauce & cinnamon to make the glaze.
Place ham on a tray and put the glaze on top. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes, basting the ham about 4 times until nice and glazed.
Finally, remove the ham from the oven and allow to rest for 30 minutes before carving.