Food with JP passion: Amazing Christmas Turkey and Ham

The big day is almost upon us. For me prepping and cooking the Christmas turkey and ham is my favourite meal to prepare for my family every year.

I couldn’t let this year go without sharing with you all, the perfect Christmas Turkey and Ham.

Every year I order my turkey through my local butcher in Citywest.

I go for the full bird as I find it gives better flavour and goes a long way.

I order a large heritage cured ham from Avoca. The great thing about my ham is it’s a roasted ham, so no boiling required.

It roasts low and slow on Christmas Eve for 5 hours and then on Christmas day I add all the amazing flavour and glaze and pop back into the oven for 30 minutes to become burnished and golden.

It’s simply delicious, I promise you. I serve my turkey and ham with my heavenly crunchy roast potatoes, Nanny Rena’s stuffing and perfect mustard-glazed roasted carrots and parsnips. I’m getting both hungry and excited juts thinking about it.

Turkey & Ham – Ingredients: Caters for 16 to 20 people

• 16lb turkey – Full bird
• 11lb heritage-cured ham – part-boned, makes for easier carving
• 1 lb unsalted butter
• 1 packet of streaky bacon
• Light brown sugar
• Cloves
• Maple syrup
• Zest of 1 orange
• 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
• Sea-salt and cracked black pepper
• Freshly chopped thyme and sage – a tablespoonful of each

My Christmas Turkey – Method

1. On Christmas morning take your turkey out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature. This will take about an hour
2. Preheat your oven to 180°C
3. I use a foil throwaway turkey roasting dish, it saves on the washing-up. Place a large piece of tinfoil lengthways and across the roasting dish and place the turkey inside. This will enable you to cover the bird easily, creating an oven within an oven
4. If stuffing the inside of the turkey – I always do, it gives more flavour – place your stuffing inside the cavity but remember not to pack it too tightly
5. Smear the entire bird liberally with the unsalted butter
6. Place strips of streaky bacon across the breast of the bird
7. Sprinkle on your chopped thyme and sage and season with sea salt and cracked black pepper
8. Pull the tinfoil over the bird, making sure to leave space between the breast and the tinfoil – these should not touch
9. Pop into the oven. A bird this size will take about 5½ hours to cook. For the last 1½ hours of cooking remember to baste the turkey every 30 minutes. You can then remove the tinfoil for the last 45 minutes of cooking and take the bacon off the breast to ensure it gets a nice even golden colour
10. To check your bird is cooked, pierce the thickest part of the meat between the breast and the leg. Once the juices run clear your turkey is fully cooked. Cover in foil for up to 1½ hours if required, to give you time to roast your ham, roast vegetables and heavenly roast potatoes

Roasted Heritage Cured Ham – Method

1. Preheat your oven to 160° Celsius
2. On Christmas Eve take your ham out of the fridge and allow to come to room temperature for about 45 minutes
3. Cover in foil and place on a large roasting tray with a little water underneath – place on the middle shelf of your oven and cook for 5 hours
4. Allow to cool completely and cover again with fresh tinfoil and pop back into your fridge until Christmas Day
5. On Christmas Day, when you’ve finished cooking the turkey, take the ham out of the fridge
6. With a sharp knife cut off the excess thick layer of outer skin leaving a thin layer of fat
7. Score the ham creating a diamond pattern and score each intersection with a clove
8. Pack on tightly the light-brown sugar and liberally apply the maple syrup, Dijon mustard and grated zest of one orange
9. Roast in the oven at 180°C for about 30 minutes until it’s burnished and golden

This is how I prepare and cook my Christmas Turkey and Ham with roasted veg and stuffing every year without fail.

Smearing your turkey with plenty of butter and basting regularly will ensure you won’t have a dry bird on Christmas Day.

The delicious ham glaze for the heritage cured ham gives a lovely sweetness to the meat that I’m sure your family will enjoy as much as mine do every Christmas.

It was so lovely to hear from many of you who did try my recipes when you cooked your turkey and ham last year and that you are now complete converts to this foolproof method for the perfect turkey and ham.

I hope you enjoy the two new editions this year which are my mustard-glazed roasted vegetables and my Nanny Rena’s delicious homemade stuffing.

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas – JP