festive recipes

The Great Turkey Express…

Turkey Pie....by Yudhika Sujanani

Turkey Pie….by Yudhika Sujanani

 

I was watching Mela today and I had a little giggle when Kajal and Zakkie mentioned that it’s the festive season and turkeys must be having sleepless nights!  A little light-hearted Mela humor on a Sunday arvie is just the ticket!  If you missed the episode…click here to watch our Christmas episode, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCkHE67Y8Bw and for the recipe from the show, check out the Mela facebook page!

 

There is also the trauma of the refrigerator that is heaving with leftovers which can be pretty daunting.  With turkey…it’s usually that all the good bits are gone and you’re left with the dried out turkey breasts.  This used to be a problem but I have found a few ways of turning troublesome leftovers into an absolute feast!  If you are still looking for the perfect turkey recipe, click here….https://yudhikayumyum.com/2014/12/12/turkey-time-recipes-for-the-festive-season/ or here for the turkey flattie recipe…https://yudhikayumyum.com/2014/12/04/almost-turkey-time/ !

 

Kitchen fun with Rushil Sujanani...

Kitchen fun with Rushil Sujanani…

 

 

Trawling through my kitchen….there are a few ingredients that you will always find….garlic, onions, carrots, fresh cream and Magic Masala to spice things up…in the freezer, you are bound to find a stash of buttery puff pastry…and in the garden, lots of fresh herbs!

 

I take a few ingredients and turn them into a deliciously french inspired filling for a pie….simple ingredients can make a delicious pie filling that is hearty and it can feed my hungry kids….they are the ravenous sort who just love good old-fashioned food! The best part of the pie making is that I get my kids to help out….and it can be a little messy but so much fun!

 

 

Tanvi Sujanani....the pastry princess!

Tanvi Sujanani….the pastry princess!

 

Tanvi and Rushil....helping decorate the pie!

Tanvi and Rushil….helping decorate the pie!

Thanks to the commercial pie chains and suppliers…we have forgotten how good a home-made one is…it’s just comfort food at it’s best!   After the festive over indulgences, serve this pie with a green salad and a little turkey gravy if you have.

 

Turkey pie by Yudhika Sujanani....

 

Turkey Pie

 

And the ingredients are...

And the ingredients are…

 

Ingredients

 

 

40ml sunflower oil

125ml chopped onion

2,5ml salt

2 leeks, finely chopped

75ml finely diced carrot

30ml fresh thyme, leaves only

8 rashers bacon, chopped

175g button mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

100ml white wine

400g roasted turkey meat

100ml fresh cream

5ml black pepper

60ml fresh coriander, chopped

20ml Curry Me Home Magic Masala

 

2 x 400g puff pastry sheets

1 egg, lightly beaten

 

 

Here’s how

 

Heat the sunflower oil in a 28cm Chef’s Pan and add the chopped onion.

Sprinkle in the salt and sauté until the onion is pale golden.

Add the leeks, carrots and fresh thyme.

 

Yudhika's turkey cook up in my AMC Chefs Pan....

Yudhika’s turkey cook up in my AMC Chefs Pan….

Saute until the carrots and leeks soften, add the chopped bacon.

Saute until the bacon browns.

Add the mushrooms and stir fry until they turn brown, then add the garlic and saute for a few seconds.

Pour in the wine, add the turkey and simmer until the liquid reduces by half.

Pour in the fresh cream and simmer until the sauce thickens and coats the turkey pieces.

Add the black pepper and leave the filling to cool.

Check the seasoning and add more salt if necessary.

 

Grease a baking sheet with non stick spray.

Place one sheet of puff pastry on the sheet.

Cut 4cm off the sides of the second sheet.

Place the cool turkey filling onto the first sheet of pastry.

Spicing up the pie with Magic Masala...

Spicing up the pie with Magic Masala…

 

Sprinkle the coriander and Magic Masala over the turkey.

 

Assemble the pie....

Assemble the pie….

 

Cover with the second sheet and gently enclose the filling by folding the excess pastry over the top layer.

Brush with the beaten egg.

If you have extra pastry, cut shapes out and decorate the top of the pie – I get my kids to help decorate the pie!

Brush again with the beaten egg.

Bake at 190°C for 45 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

 

 

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Stuffed…

Bling Bling Roast Chicken by Yudhika Sujanani

Bling Bling Roast Chicken by Yudhika Sujanani

 

I sometimes feel a little bleak during the festive season….it’s the end of year fatigue and tiredness, a touch of emotional sadness and well, I end up feeling a little stuffed!

 

A festive time for some and a dark time for others….around this time of year there is great excitement but there is also great sorrow.  The excitement is understandable but what about the sadness?  I was chatting to a therapist friend who told me that this is the busiest time of year!  I was chatting to a lawyer who also said that his clients ‘go mental’ during the festive season!  Tis the season to be jolly….or is it???

 

Around birthdays, christmas and any holidays…I often look back and think about all the things I missed out on as a child.  So, yes…there has been great success but the sadness strikes even while the life sparkles!  Life just wasn’t a cake walk but it’s the same for most people….we remember the people we love….the people we have lost…the worst are the people live and are missing from our lives!

 

I came across the South African Depression and Anxiety Group…their helpline is open throughout the year including Christmas Day and New Year’s Day too…for more information, take a look at the website, http://www.sadag.org and please go on and share it…they do amazing work!!!

 

I know I will be spending my Christmas with my kids and I will be feasting with them too!!!  My daughter, Tanvi, is not much of a turkey fan and loves a stuffed roast chicken…so here is one of her favourite recipes for a ‘pull out all the stops’ bling bling roast chicken!

 

On SABC 2’s Mela this Sunday, stay tuned….Christmas gets a spicy Indian twist with a delicious rice stuffed roast turkey, semolina roast potatoes and a cranberry Christmas Cake!

 

Bling Bling Roast Chicken

 

Ingredients

 

1 whole chicken, 1,2 – 1,3 kg

Pinch of salt, to season

50ml sunflower oil

250g bacon rashers (streaky or back)

 

A buttery rub....

A buttery rub….

For the rub:

75g soft butter

8 cloves garlic, crushed

10ml Curry me Home red chilli

10ml Curry me Home ground coriander

5ml Curry Me Home ground cumin

5ml Curry me Home garam masala

20ml Curry Me Home Magic Masala, optional

15ml fresh thyme leaves

30ml lemon juice

 

The Stuffed Part....

The Stuffed Part….

 

For the stuffing:

30ml breadcrumbs

125g sausage meat or chicken mince

75g finely chopped onion

1 egg yolk

30ml chopped fresh coriander

 

Here’s how:

Go easy on the salt for this recipe…the bacon that goes on top of the chicken adds salt to this recipe and so does the sausage meat in the stuffing.

 

Rinse the chicken under running water and pat dry with absorbent paper towel.

Season with salt.

Prepare the buttery rub my combining all the ingredients and creaming them until smooth.

 

Combine the stuffing ingredients  – the sausage meat should be quite salty so don’t over season the mixture.  If you are using chicken mince, season with salt and black pepper.

 

Stuff the chicken cavity with the mixture and secure the drumsticks in place with butcher’s twine.

 

Place the chicken on a greased roasting pan with the breasts facing up.  Gently lift the chicken skin and smear the butter over the breasts.  Smear some of the butter over the chicken wings and drumsticks.

 

Drizzle sunflower oil over the chicken. Layer the rashers over the chicken breasts.

 

Roast the chicken at 200 degrees celsius for ten minutes, then lower the temperature to 180 degrees.  Roast the chicken for 60 – 65 minutes or until the juices run clear when the chicken is pierced.

 

 

Festive feuding…..

Yudhika visits the Fourways Farmers Market on SABC 2's Mela...

Yudhika visits the Fourways Farmers Market on SABC 2’s Mela…

The festive season…some people love it…some people dread it!  The producer of Mela, is always full of brilliant ideas….and one of our themes was what to make when the inlaws….or should I say ‘outlaws’ come to visit!

Mother in law blues….it’s awful but over the holidays we all seem to overdose on it….yes, yes…they are perfect and they are the best cooks too….so, we first had a look around to see what we could come up with….first stop was our local ‘Fourway’s Farmers Market’.  The produce is amazingly fresh and it is a must for any ardent foodie.  I happened to come across a chocolatier stand.and they had fabulous white chocolate that was too tempting to resist.

 

We decided to prepare a meltingly delicious burfee with a decadent twist….white belgian chocolate…that ought to get the tongues to stop wagging!

 

Burfee isn’t a festive must….but, a little slice served at any time of year can be just what the doctor ordered to soothe those fraying nerves…I have to agree with the Mela producer on this one!  If you missed this episode of the ‘Food Mela’, click here to view….https://yudhikayumyum.com/sabc-2s-mela-videos/yudhikas-chocolate-burfee-on-mela/

 

 

A word on milk powder…I suggest using Klim milk powder for this recipe.  For more on burfee check out these links on this blog….https://yudhikayumyum.com/2014/07/24/the-eid-burfee-challenge/ for the Coconut Burfee and here for the rose and pistachio burfee…https://yudhikayumyum.com/2013/10/29/rose-and-pistachio-burfee/  and perhaps this one for the super decadent fresh cream burfee recipe…https://yudhikayumyum.com/2013/07/29/sugar-n-spice-recipes-fresh-cream-almond-burfee-by-yudhika/ and check out the video link to watch how to make up this burfee from my show Sugar n Spice…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWFDoAJuQXI

White Chocolate Burfee by Yudhika on SABC2's Mela....

White Chocolate Burfee by Yudhika on SABC2’s Mela….

 

Chocolate Burfee

Whole almonds

Red food colouring, to tint almonds

Gold dust, to tint almonds

500g Klim milk powder

175ml tinned dessert cream

375ml sugar

250ml cold water

2,5ml ground cardamom

25ml butter

50g chopped white chocolate, chopped

50g chocolate, to garnish

Tint the almonds with red food colouring and roast in a hot oven until dry.

Leave aside to cool and then sprinkle with gold dust.

Gently rub the gold dust over the almonds.

Grease a 20 x 25cm pyrex dish or baking tray with butter.

Line the tray with plastic wrap ensuring the sides are also lined.

Grease the plastic wrap with butter.
In a mixing bowl, rub the dessert cream into the milk powder until it resembles bread crumbs.

Leave this aside for an hour to dry out.

Place the milk powder mixture into a food processor and pulse for 30 seconds or until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.

Combine the sugar and water in a small AMC pot and boil until a thick sticky syrup forms.

Add the cardamom and butter to the syrup.

Pour the syrup into the milk powder, add the chopped chocolate and stir well to combine and leave to cool just slightly.

Add the chopped chocolate and working quickly press the mixture down into the prepared dish or baking tray.

Once the mixture cools, garnish with the tinted almonds and chopped chocolate.  Refrigerate the burfee until firm and slice into blocks or diamonds.