Merry Christmas! With My First Ever Turkey.

More recipes & treats for the season.

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

Hello Sunshine,

My memory of Christmas as a child is one of solemnity and celebration, with mass celebrating the birth of Christ ~ the reason for the season! After which came an abundance of food, cooked in our home and that which we shared with family and friends and vice versa. The big day is very important to us especially as Catholics, but it’s not just the day, we see it as a season that does not end until January, and so I don’t put a lot of pressure on myself for one day alone. I may have also picked up this trait from my mum, who always made sure she was present, enjoying it all, and not stuck cooking and baking all day long. Some holidays we spent Christmas travelling or even driving just a few minutes away to a hotel for a few days. I loved it as a child.

Now I love Christmas at home, because at other times of the year I am travelling or often away from home. Cooking our family favourites from all the places we love visiting and all the places we call home, from Lagos to Nairobi, Amsterdam to Accra, Germany to England and beyond. No matter how prepared one is, there is always something forgotten, unless you are truly a super planner who never ever forgets anything. Are you? And for those last minute people like me, check out the shop on my website for gift cards, which can be used towards a private cookery class, our virtual masterclasses, cookery holidays or a signed cookbook.

However, you choose to enjoy the season, with a grand feast on the day or feasting over several days, enjoying your own space or with friends or family, I hope you enjoy wonderful food, I hope you treat yourself, because you deserve it all. Like I said in my previous letter, what better blessing is there than to be alive?    

My First Ever Turkey

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

On the 23rd of December 2023, I cooked a turkey for the first time in my over 30 something years on earth. Mum never cooked turkey, even though family and friends did, typically fried with extra crunchy skin. A 5kg heritage Turkey was recently sent as a gift from Kelly Bronze, They are known as the most awarded Turkeys in the U.K made super popular after Delia Smith recommended them in her cookbook. Also sold in the US, these are prized turkeys, free roaming and known for their darker feathers, maturity and fuller flavour.

As recommended by Paul Kelly (who took over from his father who founded Kelly Bronze) when he showed us how to cook and carve his turkeys recently, at Jamie Oliver’s HQ in London, no brining is needed as the quality of the meat means it does not need help, which other less mature turkeys often do. Help with more flavour and help to avoid drying out. After getting over the initial nerves, I trusted the instructions on timing, and added a few spice touches of my own for a very delicious roast that I have just devoured with my Aromatic & Bejewelled Fried Rice from Africana. Similar recipe here.

In 2 hours (recommended time for a 5kg Kelly Bronze) and about 15 minutes of disobedience, the turkey was perfectly cooked. With Hibiscus Mulled Wine wafting around the house and keeping us warm, with gratitude I’d love to share the recipe for my very first turkey with an easy gravy with all the wonderful drippings, amongst a few others to inspire you this week, like my Tamarind & Herb Glazed Lamb with Baked Jollof in Delicious Magazine, Yassa Dauphinoise in The Observer Food Monthly and Malva Pudding from Africana!

Happy Christmas dear friends!

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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!

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.)

6. 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.

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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 the December 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.

Yassa Dauphinoise. Photograph: Kate Whitaker/The Observer

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.

Malva Pudding

Sticky Apricot Pudding with an enchanting spiced cream. One of the most popular recipes from Africana and always a crowd pleaser.

Malva Pudding from Africana

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Illustration by Kathleen Murray. Author & Africana Recipe Photo by Tara Fisher.