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Billy & Jack's Roast Turkey, Sausage and Cranberry Ballotine

18 Nov 2019
Home , Meat , Poultry , Chefs , Billy & Jack , Christmas

Billy & Jack‘s succulent ballotine paired with a crisp bubble and squeak fritter, pan fried wild mushrooms and steamed brussels sprouts is a simple blend of traditional and modern elements of the Christmas dinner, packed with comforting, meaty flavours and sweetened with a light cranberry gel.

Ingredients

Serves 12

For the ballontine

For the bubble & squeak

700g maris piper potatoes
250g unsalted butter, softened
100g panko breadcrumbs
100g plain flour
3 large eggs
½ hispi cabbage
3 leeks

For the cranberry gel

For the sauce

2 carrots
3 banana shallots
3 cloves garlic
3 bay leaves
10 peppercorns
5 sprigs thyme
250ml white wine
2.5 litre chicken stock
1kg chicken wings
250g wild mushrooms
250g brussel sprouts

directions

To prepare the turkey

Remove the legs from the turkey and retain the skin, debone and trim any fat. Flatten out the meat between two sheets of cling film to 10mm.
For each ballotine lay out a sheet of cling film, add 6 slices of parma ham in one row, top with the flattened turkey leg. Remove the skin from the sausages, and mix the meat with the cranberries.
Spoon the sausage mixture, about an inch wide, down the centre of the turkey, roll over the cling film to create a tube and twist the ends tightly, tie off and wrap tightly with foil. Repeat for the other leg.
Add the ballotines to a deep roasting tin, fill with water to half way, cover and roast in a preheated oven at 180˚C for 35 minutes or until the centre reaches 70˚C.
Remove and allow to rest to re-heat before serving.

To make the sauce & cranberry gel

To make the sauce, roast the chicken and turkey wings until golden. Add in 1 carrot, 1 shallot, 1 leek and 2 cloves of garlic roughly chopped and roast for a further 5 minutes. Pour over the stock, adding the peppercorns, 3 sprigs thyme, the bay leaves and roast for a further hour and a half.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly. Finely slice one shallot and sweat with a little oil over a medium heat until translucent.
Add 3 sprigs of thyme and the white wine and reduce until the pan is nearly dry, sieve in the stock and reduce by two thirds until a sauce consistency, sieve and keep warm.
For the cranberry gel, over a high heat reduce 800ml cranberry juice with the sugar until you have 400ml, add in the agar agar, bring back to the boil, whisk and pour into a blender. Once set, blend to a gel.

For the bubble and squeak

Bake the potatoes at 180˚C for one hour, remove the flesh and add to a bowl with 25g of unsalted butter and plenty of seasoning. Half a leek and char in a pan over a high heat with the hispi cabbage.
Once heavily charred, allow to cool and finely chop and add to the potato. Turn onto a floured surface, flatten out, then cut into squares about the size of a scone.
Roll each piece into a cigar shape about 8cm long and the width of a £2 coin. Cool
Roll each croquette in the flour, then in the egg and finally in the panko, chill for at least 1 hr.
To serve deep fry at 180˚C for 3 minutes or until the centre reaches 70˚C.

To cook the turkey

Make a trivet in a roasting tin with 1 carrot, 1 leek, 1 shallot and 1 garlic clove roughly chopped, add 500ml water. Place the turkey on top, smother in 225g of butter, season heavily and roast at 180˚C.
Cook until the internal temperature reads 70˚C. (To calculate the cooking time allow 20 minutes per kilogram plus 70 minutes).
Baste the turkey every 30 minutes and once cooked, remove the turkey from the oven and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes under foil before carving.
Cut the ballotines into inch thick rounds and reheat in a pan with a little of the sauce. Slice the crown and serve with the fritter, steamed brussel sprouts, pan fried wild mushrooms, the cranberry gel and pour around the sauce.