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

• 1 whole free range turkey 5.5kg

For the ballontine

• 12 lincolnshire sausages
• 12 slices parma ham
• 150g dried cranberry (rehydrated in 200ml of the cranberry juice)

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

• 1 litre cranberry juice
• 2 tsp agar agar
• 150 g sugar

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.