How much is your Christmas Turkey?

[veggiechicken]

Would they have a smaller parson's nose too - and why is it called that?
Does anyone know a Parson who looks like the back end of a fowl?

[bearded bloke]

She & I are having sirloin on the the bone (how posh are we getting in our old age) this year

[Mikey]

Would they have a smaller parson's nose too - and why is it called that?
Does anyone know a Parson who looks like the back end of a fowl?

You gotta shake yer tail feathers.... How does that song go?

[Nicos]

No Idea about the size of the breast meat Mikey, but I imagine the leg meat would have a milder flavour,and be less tough on a female compared to a male?

[Alison]

Does anyone else ask for a female turkey when they order?

The comments about cooking the 2nd largest boy got me thinking about my mother when the turkey arrived Christmas Eve. 'Oh good' she'd say it's a girl. The breast is always larger on the girls, I have no idea if this is true or not?

Never really thought about it but I think the leg meat has got more flavour. Although the white meat is better in butties, the leg is much nicer in pies etc and that's one of the highlights to me, all he lovely bits and pieces meals over the following week

[Mikey]

My mother says the legs are bigger on the male and the breast is longer and not quite so plump.

I like both breast and leg meat, though the rest of the family favour the breast.

I don't know if its true or not.

Any turkey farmers out there?

[Potstubsdustbins]

SWMBO has relented, she has just arrived home with a Norfolk black free range corn fed chicken. That's a real chicken not a VC I hasten to add

Looking at an add for a large retailer today, highest price per kilo for turkey, Lamb 2/3s the cost, beef joint half the cost. No wonder my son bought a lovely looking rib of beef yesterday for less than �12.

[Mikey]

Well I've got the first Christmas dinner tomorrow for my parents so I'll be cooking a classic Welsh Dinner. (oven roast ham and parsley sauce), with all the usual trimmings associated with a tidy dinner. (fluffy buttered leek mash, sprouts, winter cabbage, carrots, and honeyed parsnips. naturally all veg from the garden.

I does love Christmas me.

Need to get a wriggle on mind, I've still to make the Christmas gravy, cranberry sauce and candied orange mince pies, and cranberry welsh cakes all normally done by now. Tut tut....

[Potstubsdustbins]

Can you PM me the start time I need to know what time I have to leave Nottingham

[Mikey]

Kick off around 1.

Give or take about 26 seconds, you can't get the staff these days SWMBO has slowed the dishing out capacity.

[veggiechicken]

I live nearer so i get first dibs, Potty - but you're welcome to the ham.

Thinking about it, if its your parents, Mikey, I may not be much nearer than Potty - it'll be a race

[marchogaeth]

Can't stand turkey - like aerpoet, a bad experience plucking and gutting in the past (I think my uncle got up to several thousand a year at one point and nobody wanted to gut so it was down to the family).

None of us like breast meat so it will be four chicken legs. (89p each, usually enough meat on one for two of us so we are going wild!) Everything else on the savoury plate will be from the garden apart from the yorkies - you have to have yorkies, whatever!

(We did but two chickens once but that was, obviously double the breast meat and one year OH created a four legged chicken with extra legs and bits.)

[Alison]

Need to get a wriggle on mind, I've still to make the Christmas gravy, cranberry sauce and candied orange mince pies, and cranberry welsh cakes all normally done by now. Tut tut....

Can't make the gravy until I've got the turkey as I always slow cook the giblets the day before for stock and won't make mince pies till Christmas Eve but made the cranberry sauce about a month ago so have done something!

[Small pumpkin]

4 week old turkeys �12 each
Bag of food �15 each
Slaughter free
Cost of fuel and ferry going to get them ( I don't want to think about it ) was my birthday present.
So works out about �27 for a Turkey.
Will work out what that is per pound /KG after tomorrow!! he is still walking round the field at the moment

As promised I've worked out that my turkey is �4.50 Per KG. He is now all dressed and ready for the big day!

[Mikey]

Can't make the gravy until I've got the turkey as I always slow cook the giblets the day before for stock and won't make mince pies till Christmas Eve but made the cranberry sauce about a month ago so have done something!

Ahh, I start a week before. I roast about a dozen chicken wings, no liquid in the oven, then remove all the skin and bones leaving the meat, then add water and a glass of white wine to deglaze the pan, then boil some celery and a carrot in the juice until it reduces by half, stir in a table spoon of cranberry sauce and add some fresh thyme a couple of crushed black peppercorns, an handful of celery leaf. This is left to infuse for about 12 hours before being sieved and frozen. This is my stock liquid.

Like you I'll roast the giblets the night before, I'm quite fond of the liver but they dog gets the rest!!, this will be my pan for making the gravy on the day along with the defrosted prepared stock, and some additional veg water if necessary. I like a real depth of flavour.

As most of my extended family descend on us over Christmas I invariably will make at least 3 Christmas dinners on consecutive days.