This is Somerset --I will never know why I didn't die of food poisoning at Christmas when I was young. As Christmas used to hang around for days. And so did the food.
Christmas Day was just the start of it. It was followed by at least two, if not three more days of over-consumption as we ate our way out of the austerity years and (home freezers being known only to Aunt Joan, who had had the good sense to emigrate to California) gradually ate the turkey down to the carcass until my Uncle Stan, who worked on them in the war, would remark that it put him in mind of a half-built Mosquito.
Not only was there no home freezer wherein to store the surplus turkey, the only thing remotely resembling a refrigerator was my mother's north-facing larder.
Quite when it was decided that the remains of the turkey were no longer fit for consumption I'm not sure but there would be a last, desperate attempt to squeeze another meal out of it as my mother simmered up the carcass and odd bits of meat with some tinned oxtail soup (an old wartime trick, apparently) for a surprisingly tasty lunch and then anything which was left was buried in the garden.
All of which explains why I am gripped by something close to paranoia on those occasions when we have a proper Christmas lunch with turkey. Barely have the pudding bowls been cleared away than I'm breaking the eaten remains down into white and dark meat and bagging them up and freezing them, and stuffing the carcass into a giant pot to create the real Christmas bonus: several pints of rich, deeply coloured turkey stock which will see us OK for soups most of the way to Valentine's Day.
Not only, you see, should we ensure that turkey, particularly the frozen variety, is cooked properly, we should also get it cooled down and safely stored as soon as possible because cooked meats and central heating are not happy bedfellows.
But for me the real enjoyment of turkey comes after Christmas when all sorts of opportunities present themselves – which is why we've always sought a far larger bird than can comfortably be demolished in a single meal.
Ideally turkey should be frozen in 200g batches, and labelled as to whether dark or light meat. Turkey stock can happily stay in the freezer for a year.
Turkey stock
Ingredients
Turkey carcase, any reserved cooking juices; one large onion, peeled; two large carrots; two sticks of celery, chopped; three bay leaves; large bunch fresh thyme; dozen parsley stalks; 20 black peppercorns
Break up the carcase and place the pieces in the largest pot you have. Add the remaining ingredients then add just enough cold water to cover the carcase pieces. Bring to a boil, straining off any scum, then cover and simmer gently for two hours. Allow to cool slightly and strain through a sieve or, better still, a chinois. Refrigerate when cold and freeze in plastic containers (or stout freezer bags) until required.
Turkey noodle soup
Ingredients for four
900ml strained turkey stock; two large handfuls crushed rice noodles (preferably ribbons); 225g cooked turkey meat from the carcass, shredded; sea salt; freshly ground black pepper; 1tblspn light soy sauce; 1tblspn vegetable stock granules
Place the stock in a pan with the turkey meat and bring to a simmer. Break up the noodles in your hands and add to the pot with a generous pinch of salt and about 20 grindings of black pepper. Whisk in the vegetable stock granules and soy sauce. Simmer until the noodles are cooked al dente and serve.
Turkey and herb croquettes
Ingredients for eight
450g white and dark turkey meat, very finely chopped; 225g mashed potato; heaped tablespoon very finely chopped shallot; two beaten eggs; 1tblspn mixed fresh sage, thyme and rosemary, very finely chopped; 2tspns sea salt; 20 grindings freshly ground black pepper; level teaspoon ground mace; flour; home-made white breadcrumbs; butter and olive oil for frying
Place the turkey meat in a large bowl, add the still-warm mash, the shallot, herbs and seasonings and half the beaten egg. Mix well with a fork and divide into eight. Shape into cylinders, roll in the flour, dip in the remainder of the egg and finally coat with breadcrumbs. Refrigerate for two hours. Shallow-fry in butter with a generous dash of olive oil added to prevent burning.
Turkey biryani
Ingredients
2tblspns sunflower oil' four diced carrots; two sliced red onions; 600g basmati rice; 1.2 litres hot turkey stock; 400g diced cooked turkey; 2tblspns Madras curry paste; 2tblspns fresh chopped coriander
Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole, add the carrots and onions and cook for five to six minutes until softened. Add the rice, stock, turkey and curry paste, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered for about 15 minutes until the rice is tender and the liquid absorbed. Stir in the coriander and serve.
Thai roast beef salad
Ingredients
700g cold roast beef, fat removed and cut into strips; quarter head of Chinese leaf; two ripe tomatoes; two banana shallots; half a cucumber; three spring onions; a handful each fresh basil and coriander.
For the dressing: 2tspns golden caster sugar; juice of two limes; 90ml fish sauce; two red chillies
For the salad, finely slice the Chinese leaf and place into a large bowl. Cut the tomatoes into wedges and finely slice the shallots and add to the bowl. Slice the cucumber in half down the middle, remove the seeds with a teaspoon, slice the cucumber flesh on the diagonal and add to the bowl. Slice the spring onions diagonally and add with the torn herbs. Mix well.
For the dressing, microwave the limes for 15 seconds to release more juice the squeeze into a bowl. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved, then add the fish sauce and the finely chopped chillies. Add the strips of beef to the salad, pour the dressing over, turn well to coat and serve with crusty bread. Reported by This is 39 minutes ago.