Possibly the hardest things to cook and the easiest things to ruin are vegetables. The vegetable section of the kitchen is where most young chefs get their first experience of cooking and experiencing true timing and temperatures. Vegetables are in fact separated into 8 groups, flower e.g. cauliflower, fruit e.g. tomato, tuber e.g. potato, root e.g. carrots, stem e.g. celery, fungi e.g. mushroom, leaf e.g. spinach and legume e.g. peas. To cook vegetables correctly you only have to remember one rule, if they grow on top of the ground or below it. This doesn’t require the knowledge or experience of Alan Titchmarsh just a basic understanding of how vegetables grow.
Once you have separated your vegetables into the two categories then it’s a simple task to cook them. All vegetables that grow beneath the surface i.e., carrots, potatoes, parsnips, swede and turnips go into cold water, brought to the boil and simmered until cooked. This is because of the density of the vegetable needing a longer, slower cooking process allowing the heat to penetrate to the inside of the vegetable. If you were to cook these vegetables in hot water the outside of the vegetables would be destroyed before the centre was cooked. On the other hand, all vegetables that grow on the surface i.e., beans, cauliflowers, broccoli, courgettes and sprouts go into rapid boiling water. These vegetables are quite delicate and therefore need a faster cooking process to retain their colour and freshness. Never cook green vegetables with a lid on, as this prevents the acids escaping from the water, it is these acids which destroy chlorophyll, the natural colour of the vegetable. For the same reason you should never add lemon juice to water when cooking green vegetables, but you should add it to the water for white vegetables like cauliflower, celery, fennel and salsify. Confused, don’t be I’m trying to cram in 40 years of cooking vegetables into 1 small posting.
Top Tips for cooking your Turkey
Invest in a temperature thermometer, this will take the guess work out of whether the turkey is cooked or not.
If at all possible, always buy a fresh turkey, if using frozen make sure it is fully de-frosted and de-frost it in the fridge.
Always remove the turkey from the fridge and allow to get to room temperature before cooking, otherwise the bird will take even longer to cook.
Pre heat oven to 190oC/375oF.
Always check that the giblets have been removed.
Never stuff the Turkey, always cook the stuffing separate.
Season and oil the bird well inside and out and put a bunch of thyme and some cloves of garlic in the cavity if you wish.
Cover the Turkey with a sheet of greaseproof paper followed by a sheet of foil.
Cook the Turkey for 1 hour then reduce the Temperature to 160oC/320oC.
Baste the bird during cooking.
Remove the foil and paper from the breast for the last 30 minutes.
Cook the turkey until a temperature of 70oC is reached at the thickest part of the leg.
When cooked remove from the oven and rest breast side down for 1 hour wrapped in foil. This will allow the juices to run into the breast meat and not into the bottom of the tray.
Turkey Gravy
Remove the turkey from the roasting tray and add some boiling water to lift all the caramelized juices from the tray. Simmer gently on the stove scraping the base with a wooden spoon.
Strain into a bowl and add a couple of handfuls of Ice cubes this will set the fat around the cubes.
Strain again into a pan to separate the fat from the turkey stock.
Bring to the boil and thicken slightly with corn flour.
You may need to color with a little gravy browning.
For a richer gravy, substitute the water for red wine or port.
