Monday 14 November 2011

Recipe - MPW's Christmas Turkey Curry


This post is quite unusual for this blog. To start with it's a recipe aimed at Christmas and the recipe I post is not written by me. A bit of an explanation is probably in place.

As readers of this blog probably haven't missed I was invited up to London quite some time ago for some cooking, and lunch, with Marco Pierre White. This was all arranged by the nice people at Knorr.

Since then they've kept in touch and I have been provided with a couple of real nice goodie boxes with meat, vegetables and other produce together with some recipe ideas create by MPW.

Since we're getting close to the dreaded lovely time of Christmas the box contained, among lots of other good stuff, one mahoosive turkey from Forman & Field. The recipe that follows will show one way of using up some of your leftover turkey.

I must admit that I'm not the biggest friend of turkey meat. I think it stems from some rather awful Christmas dinners at my paternal grandmothers place. All I can say is that you had to be careful eating those turkeys. I'm not exactly saying that the meat was dry, however - if you manage to rub two pieces of meat together you would not be surprised if you had managed to make fire.

If you're like me and a bit less than turkey happy - why not use chicken or even go a bit freaky and go for a vegetable curry?

As I mentioned in the beginning, this recipe is written by Marco Pierre White and for once I've just copied the recipe straight across. You might notice that there are some steps that I normally would not do, much less even think of, but I quite enjoyed these 'cheffy' steps.

It is not every day that I brown flour in the oven or sieve my curries but I guess that's what separates the happy amateurs thinking from that of someone who managed to gain 3 Michelin stars. ;)

If you have you made it this far you are either a masochist or you might actually enjoy my ramblings. Before I head over to the recipe I just wanted to say that I'm now well settled in the new house and that the blog posts will hopefully start to come in more and more regularly from now on. Hopefully some posts in relation to my latest kitchen toy, a six-rack digital Bradley smoker.

Well, I think I've rambled enough - let's have a look at what Marco Pierre White thinks that you can do with some leftover Turkey.

Ingredients (serves 10)
25g plain flour
2 Knorr Chicken Stock Pots
25g unsalted butter
1/2 a large pineapple, peeled and chopped into chunks (including core)
2 Cox apples (approx 250g), unpeeled, roughly chopped
1 banana
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tbsps mild or medium curry powder
25g unsweetened desiccated coconut
75ml double cream (optional)
1kg leftover cold roast turkey, taken off the bone and chopped into chunks (you can also add in chunks of cooked ham or leftover veg like roast potatoes, parsnips or carrots, chopped into chunks)

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 220˚C/ 425˚F/ Gas Mark 7. Sprinkle the flour in an even layer in an ovenproof frying pan and place it in the oven for 12–15 minutes until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, as the flour browns, begin cooking the curry. First, take the 2 Knorr Chicken Stock Pots and mix them with a litre of boiling water, stirring until thoroughly dissolved. Set aside.

Now, heat a large, heavy-based casserole dish on the hob. Add in the butter. Once melted, add in the pineapple and sliced apple. Peel and slice in the banana. Add in the chopped onion.

Fry stirring with a spatula over a low heat for around 10 minutes until the fruit begins to break down.

Add in the curry powder, mixing it in well. Cook, stirring, for 2–3 minutes over a low heat. Add in the desiccated coconut and mix in.

Remove the lightly browned flour from the oven and add it into the curry paste mixture, mixing it in thoroughly.

Pour in 250ml of the Knorr Chicken Stock, stirring it so that the paste dissolves into the stock.

Gradually add in the remaining stock, 250ml at a time, stirring in thoroughly after each addition to make sure the sauce is free from any lumps.

Bring to the boil, simmer for 8–10 minutes, stir in the double cream if using.

Using the back of a ladle to press it down, pass the curry sauce through a fine sieve if you wish or liquidise until smooth.

Return the sieved or liquidised curry sauce to the casserole dish. Add in the cooked turkey chunks, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the turkey is heated through.

Garnish with toasted flaked almonds and fresh coriander leaves and serve at once.

Enjoy!

2 comments:

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// Mike