12 Garlic Clove, Orange & Herb Butter Roast Turkey

Lamb Jollof, Fried Rice, Malva Pudding

Dec 24, 2024

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Christmas at home with a tree of trinkets from around the world

Hello Sunshine,

Tuppence and I are in the countryside celebrating Chritmas with my dear friends. The Turkey arrived safely and we made it out of the city through the skin of our teeth.

This is the first Christmas in a very long time that I am the guest and not the host and it feels wonderful. I am slowly hibernating and looking forward to resting and soaking up the festive cheer! It has been one heck of a year! Last year I cooked my very first Christmas Turkey after meeting Paul Kelly of Kelly Bronze, the producers of highly prized heritage turkeys loved by some of your favouite chefs and by me! 🥰 These birds are exceptionally bred and the proof is in the tasting.

Check out my recipe for a moist, decadent and flavourful roast with 12 cloves of garlic, sweet orange, herb and butter alongside festive recipes from my cookbook Africana auxh as Malva Pudding, Smoky Jollof with Roasted Lamb and more published in some of our favourite magazines and newspapers like Delicous Magazine & the Guardian.

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Too impatient and cut into the turkey before remembering to take a photo

This year Kelly Bronze has kindly gifted us with a Christmas Turkey which was won as part of our Christmas competition by a member of our community.

However you choose to celebrate or spend the holidays I hope you enjoy a wonderful time, nourishing your body and heart with the very best of food.

Happy Christmas dear friends!

Last minute ideas for Christmas Gifts

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12 Garlic Clove, Orange & Herb Butter Roast Turkey

5kg Kelly Bronze Turkey
12 large garlic cloves
100 melted unsalted butter
zest of one orange
2 tbsp sea salt flakes (approx. 3 tsp fine sea salt)
2 tsp dried sage
2 tsp dried rosemary
2 tsp dried thyme

Fresh vegetables & aromatics

4 - 5 carrots, chopped
2 red onions, quartered
1 orange, halved
1 large garlic bulb, halved as a whole
Bouquet Garni (2-3 stalks of thyme, sage & rosemary tied with cooking string)

In a jug

500ml of hot water
Juice of 1 orange
6 cloves
6 allspice berries
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 star anise

Let’s get roasting!

Set the oven to 180C/160C fan/350F. Place the turkey in a large roasting tin, breast side down. Crush the garlic cloves into a purée and mix in the melted butter, orange zest, sea salt and dried herbs. I used my mortar and pestle for this, however you can whizz it all up in a food processor.
Brush some of the garlic butter over the top, over the legs and wings and spoon some of the butter into the cavity. Place the chopped vegetables and herbs in the tin, around the turkey. Mix all the spices and orange juice into the hot jug of water and pour into the tin.
Place the tin in the oven, one or two levels below the middle level, depending on the height of your oven. Leave a good amount of gap from the top heating element of your oven. Roast for 1 hour, and then carefully remove the tin from the oven and turn the turkey over. Now use the remaining garlic butter (reheat to melt slightly, 30 second in the microwave should do) and brush generously all over the top. Pierce into the outer legs and return the tin to the oven to roast for another hour. Once cooked, the juice from the leg will run clear.
Remove the tin from the oven and leave the turkey to rest for 40 minutes to an hour before carving. I halved the turkey and shared with close friends.
Remove the orange and garlic bulbs from the tin. Squeeze out the juice from the orange and squeeze out 4 garlic cloves into the tin. Squeeze out the reaming garlic into a clean and sterilised jar, top with olive oil and use within the week for everything. Discard the bouquet garni and any stalks from the remaining vegetables in the tin, pour everything into a blender with 150ml of water and blend until smooth. Add a little more water if too thick. (Depends on how much gravy you have left from your roast.)
Now pour into a saucepan and simmer for 15-20 minutes until thickened. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Devour with your roast.

Tamarind Glazed Lamb with Baked Jollof

Photograph by India Whiley-Morton, Food Styling by Emily Gussin for Delicious Magazine

Jollof could not be easier or more delicious with this baked version in a previous Edition of Delicious Magazine.

The lamb stuffed with parsley, rosemary, garlic and chilli is cooked within the tomato and pepper mix, flavouring the rice and finished with a tamarind glaze. A showstopper for the season.

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Yassa Dauphinoise

Citrus, spice & onions layered in-between creamy thin slices of potatoes. A marriage of the sunshine dish Yassa from Senegal with the sumptuous dauphinoise. A fabulous side to go with your roasts.

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