Elaine's Christmas Turkey

I've made this for the last 3 years, so I think I can conclude that to make the perfect turkey, the all important ingredient is.. (drum roll).. Bacon! It's so simple once you involve bacon, as that means there is no basting involved and the turkey can be out-of-sight-out-of-mind while it cooks.

This year I made a turkey to feed about 12 people - so 6.3kg worth. On top of that I purchased about 1.5kg of unsmoked streaky bacon and used that all on the bird.

step 1:
Wash turkey inside and out. I always get fresh turkey, no need to bother with defrosting! Pat dry.
Step 2:
Rub inside of turkey with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Throw in garlic, onions and any herbs you like (mine just has rosemary)
Step 3:
Gently separate the skin on the top of the turkey. insert the bacon rashes under the skin, I think I used 4 or 5 rashes each side of the breast. Make sure it spans as wide as possible. I used a spoon to help me sperate, then it's all hands on deck!
Step 4:
Weave bacon rashes all over the top of the turkey. I make it as tight as I can and cover as much as possible - there's heaps of bacon!
Step 5:
Oil the tray and place some parsnips and onions as a base (not too much!). Place the turkey on top of these. I then place more bacon around the legs and make sure I cover the enterace of the turkey with bacon. Feel free to stuff some bacon inside too!
Step 6:
Place toothpicks all over to hold the bacon weave in place. I placed so many I lost count! Peel onions and garlic and place all around the turkey.
Step 7:
Place a foil tent over the turkey and place in oven for 165degreesC. I cooked mine for 3.75hours and it came out awesome. Though this does depend on the oven and turkey size!
I do stick a thermometer in so I can check the temperature of the meat (thickest part should be at least 165f to eat).

Yum turkey for a Merry Christmas! The bacon comes out crispy and the meat is juicy. Awesome = bacon turkey.

The magical time of Christmas

So much has happened over the weekend as it's coming up to Christmas!

Went to my aunts house for a Christmas/birthday dinner and was so spoiled with yummy food.
We started with a trio of salmon: smoked, cured and salmon mousse with oysters on the side. The oysters wre huge, nothing like the ones we get in Sydney!

Then we followed that up with 2 huge plates of crab on noodles. Crab! Yum! It was cooked in black bean sauce over egg-like JLO friendly noodles. spicy but oh so good.. I guess it's not often we have crab with noodles, it's usually lobster! (which reminds me we should have that soon)

My birthday cake was green tea inspired purchased at Lanka in Hamstead. It's awesome; light and yummy. Overall a ridiculously full night, I had to lie down after dinner as I couldn't move! :) yay for the magical time of the year

Po-Cha goodness

There is something about spicy food that makes me smile.. And I'm not referring to the forced expression one has to give as a reaction to the chilli explosion that occurs. When it's cold out and we don't have much on, we like to head down to Tottenham Court Station and have some Korean food. There's about 5 such restaurants in a row just behind Centerpoint Tower and sadly we've been to all. Not all deserve your money, but there are a couple which we do return to.

Thinks to order: def get a hotpot. It's warm, yummy and great for the cold weather!
Bimbimbabs are good in most of them. Get it in the stone pot!
Topikko: rice cakes, chilli .. Yum!
Jap chae and pancakes are always a big hit.

Po-Cha.. I give you my money with a smile!

Koya - The Soho Udon adventure

The last time we went to Burger & Lobster with DrDrey, she showed us this udon place (Koya) on Firth Street in Soho. It was about 6:30pm but the place was bustling and there was already a queue outside with about 20 people waiting in the cold.

I'm a little sick of the whole queuing for restaurants thing, so I told myself to comeback during lunchtime. Also with JLO's allergies we cant have ramen, so Jap-wise udon is the next best thing!

Last Saturday about 1pm JLO and I got there and there was no queue, however once we sat down a nice little hoard of people decided to queue up! Always makes me feel special to have gotten a table when that happens :)

The menu was straightforward, udon in soup, cold udon with hot soup, udon with cold dipping sauce, udon in curry and some dons for the non-udon fans. Side dishes also available, we went with pork belly cooked with cider (£6.50) (porkalicious!) and udon with pork & miso (£9.90). I asked for an egg (£2.50) as well which was perfectly cooked the way I like; semi solid but still runny on the inside - yum. The egg comes on the side still in it's shell and cold, which was a little tricky to crack open and got a little messy.

Verdict: JLO friendly udon is a hit for cold days (and udon craving days). Udon was nice and solid and not too sticky, soup base was light and tasty, pork in my noodles was sweet and the pork belly side dish was melt-in-your-mouth good. Service was a little ho-hum, but overall I'd go back if there was no need queue.

I heart Japanese food!