From Turkiye to turkey

It’s that time of year again when the big birds come to town, strutting their stuff and putting the fear of god into most of those that have been designated cooks for the festive meal!

Habit or blatant inexperience often leads to purchasing an overly large bird that looks like it has arrived from the film set of “the game of thrones”, together with an inevitable attempt to wrestle the beast into nesting within the most ill-fitting roasting trays imaginable. Its legs akimbo and wings dangling over the side is not the gastronomic look you may have been hoping for or seen in the glossy magazines or cookbooks!.

Inevitably there will be far too much of the bird leftover (unless your family numbers reflect that of a Victorian household) then here lies the big question “what to do with all that leftover meat”?

The answer is a simple and delicious “Pilaf”.

Pilaf rice can be traced back to the Persian Empire (550-330 BCE). The Persians perfected the art of cooking rice and introduced it to the regions they conquered. They discovered that by adding aromatic spices, herbs, and other ingredients, they could enhance the flavour and texture of the rice.

Today the dish is commonly made with long-grain rice, such as basmati or jasmine and many people also know the dish under its Indian guise of Pilau rice.

One of the defining characteristics of pilaf rice is its versatility and whilst it can be great as a vegetarian dish, it can be particularly good with leftover turkey, adding a rich and savoury element to the dish and possibly making it even more alluring than the bird’s original purpose.

The key to achieving the perfect Pilaf is firstly using long grain rice and secondly to wash it well in cold running water, removing as much external starch to help ensure the grains remain separated, light and fluffy when cooked.

This month’s recipe has Turkish influences, of which I find embraces all our festive flavours , reduces food waste and aptly named “From Turkie with Turkey”.

It leaves me just enough space to wish you all a wonderfully happy, healthy and extremely tasty festive season.

Serves 4

100g unsalted butter

500g leftover cooked turkey meat (roughly cut or pulled into bite size pieces) ?

2 cloves garlic (crushed)

1 small onion (diced fine)

500g Long grain white rice (well washed and drained)

700 ml Chicken stock

75g sultanas

Pinch of saffron stamens ?

? tsp ground allspice

75g Walnuts

Salt and pepper to taste.

Method...

1/ Melt the butter in a heavy based pan

2/Add the rice and stir fry until the grains of rice are well coated.

3/ Add all the other ingredients, stir well and bring to the boil.

4/ Once boiling reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently for approx. 18-20 mins

5/ Remove the pan from heat and leave to stand covered and undisturbed for 10 minutes

6 When ready, serve sprinkled with a few more nuts, fresh parsley or coriander. ??

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