food, reviews and of course coffee
Well the Four Bird Roast was a great success.
Three and half hours in the oven and resting for forty minutes did the trick. Beautifully moist and very tasty.
Not sure if I would get it again, there was too much turkey in comparison to the other meats stuffed in there, but still very nice to have a mix of meats. Stuffings were nice as well.
As the big day approaches, I am starting to make the final preparations for the festive meal.
We are going to have the four bird roast from Marks and Spencers with Parmentier Potatoes and a spread of vegetables.
Hopefully it should all go to plan.
Well my plan for a Christmas Four Bird Roast was scuppered last year. I had intended to order one from Marks and Spencers which consisted of Turkey, Goose, Duck, Chicken.
However when I went to order it was apparent that many others had had the same idea and it had sold out! I am guessing that a) a lot of people were like me and liked the concept b) the Marks and Spencers version was good value for money at £100. There was no way you could even do it yourself for £100. Waitrose’s version was £120 and only consisted of a three bird roast.
So this year I got in early and managed to order one.
Now from the description I believe that this isn’t in fact four birds one stuffed within another, but a large turkey stuffed with goose, duck, chicken and stuffing. Still it sounds nice, and according to the person at Marks and Spencers who I ordered it from, it went down well at their Christmas last year.
Well we had a really nice Christmas Dinner. We had roast chicken, roast saddle of venison and a boned and stuffed roast duck.
The chicken was a free range corn fed bird which I stuffed with a homemade herb and sausage meat stuffing. I also added butter under the skin to keep the breast meat moist. The venison I wrapped in pancetta and simply roasted on a bed of chopped veg. The duck was purchased from Sainsburys and was boned and stuffed with an apricot stuffing.
All were delicious.
I served the meats with roast potatoes, roast parsnips (which were coated in an olive oil and honey), steamed vegetables, a variety of additional stuffings, chipolatas and yorkshire puddings.
Having been woken up early I am about to start some of the preparations for our Christmas Dinner.
Last night I peeled the potatoes and the parsnips.
I now want to make some stuffing for the chicken we are having.
Alongside the chicken I have a boned and stuffed duck and a saddle of venison.
Pretty much on top of things.
Well my plan for a Christmas Four Bird Roast was scuppered this year. I had intended to order one from Marks and Spencers which consisted of Turkey, Goose, Duck, Chicken.
However when I went to order it was apparent that many others had had the same idea and it had sold out! I am guessing that a) a lot of people were like me and liked the concept b) the Marks and Spencers version was good value for money at £100. There was no way you could even do it yourself for £100. Waitrose’s version was £120 and only consisted of a three bird roast.
So instead…
We’re going to have (separately) chicken, duck and venison.
I was (as I suspect others were) with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s incredible ten bird roast he did for Christmas for this River Cottage series.
This year I am considering having a four bird roast for Christmas.
Now the key question for me is do I do it myself, or because of time constraints do I buy one in. I am considering getting one from Marks and Spencers but wondering if I can get a better one elsewhere.
Well you know how just after Christmas the large supermarkets start getting the creme eggs and other easter eggs in! They also get in the hot cross buns too!
Well Easter has just finished so guess what?
Tesco have now got in their Christmas poultry!
Hopefully it will stay fresh long enough.
The dinner I cooked this Christmas was very nice and went down well.
We had stuffed haunch of venison which was lovely and tender and full of flavour.
Served with potatoes roasted in goose fat, roasted parsnips and sweet potatoes. Along with stuffings, carrots, beans, and other trimmings.
Delicious.
Well you walk around the supermarket this Christmas, do not under any circumstances be tempted by the Christmas prepared goodies you see on the shelves. You will find that you are much better off, cooking nice recipes yourself, as often these (so-called) goodies are just full of sugar or have even less of the nice stuff in it then the label or name suggests.
The Guardian sent three foodie experts to test out the goodies from leading supermarkets.
This year, you don’t even need to peel a potato for Christmas dinner. From gourmet seafood starters to exotically stuffed turkeys and hand-decorated cakes, you can buy all your celebration food ready made from the supermarket. But do these time-saving dishes taste any good? Our three expert foodies tested ranges from the five leading chains.
One thing for example, is roast potatoes cooked in duck fat, well you would think that was roast potatoes cooked in duck fat wouldn’t you. Well they aren’t they are roast potatoes cooked with 2% duck fat and a lot of rape seed oil!
Cook your own (organic) potatoes, get some duck or goose fat and use that, don’t buy the prepared veg, cook your own!