Christmas Turkey, English Style - Gordon Ramsay

Tradition to England and the UK country-states for Christmas dinner has been the goose. Depicted in the Christmas tale entitled A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens with main character Ebenezer Scrooge, the Christmas goose was a must have main dish. Americans have been serving turkey on holidays, especially Thanksgiving, since the 1600s when North America was colonized by the English.

Sometime after the English colonized North America, the American turkey, not found in Europe, was imported and raised for dinner tables. Eventually, the turkey pretty much took the place of the goose for Christmas dinner, especially after the Victorian era. 

The video following the recipe shows how Gordon Ramsay (has 24 restaurants worldwide) prepares and cooks his Christmas turkey that includes how to make his fabulous onion and bacon turkey gravy. Some families have turkey on both American holidays, while others serve lamb, roast beef, or ham for Christmas. In the UK, Thanksgiving Day is not celebrated, making Christmas the big feasting holiday.

First Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving began as part of the religion of the English colonists (who had emigrated to Holland because of religious persecution) called Pilgrims who made thanksgiving prayers a part of their religious ceremonies. It was days of prayer, not just feasting.

Contrary to belief, the first thanksgiving feast with Native Americans occurred by a spontaneous desire to celebrate and give thanks for their lifesaving harvest.The local natives had played a big part in their survival of that first winter in 1620. The colonists had landed in December at the beginning of winter, and although they had provisions, there wasn't any harvest of crops to store. Actually, it was poor planning by the London Stock Company that had financed the expedition to found a settlement.

Landing of the Pilgrims

Cracker Dressing with Cranberries and Pecan

In 19^th century America, crackers were used instead of bread for stuffing and dressing traditional holiday feasts. The cracker was a common staple in the cupboard in the 1800s, the pilot or common cracker being used.

Today's version of the cracker is either saltines or the buttery Ritz crackers. Toasting the crackers before crushing them kept them from being soggy when adding celery, onions, and sausage. The following recipe is a good side dish for the Turkey-in-a-Pot holiday feast. It serves 8 to 10.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Sweet potatoes are the traditional side dish for the holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here is a great sweet potato casserole side dish for the holiday family feast …

4 cups sweet potato, cubed

½ cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

½ teaspoon sea salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

½ cup milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1//2 cup chopped pecans

Thanksgiving Feast: Turkey-in-a-Pot

For those who would like to dispense with a full-bird turkey this Thanksgiving Day, especially for a smaller crowd and not spend hours preparing, served with traditional side dishes, like dressing, cranberry sauce, biscuits and yams – this Turkey-in-Pot recipe is for you.

The breast alone is easier to cook and carve and yet roasted. The solution is turkey breast French style: in a pot. Surprisingly it produces a very moist and tender meat; most often the method being used to cook whole chickens.

Bone-in turkey breasts will vary in size, like frozen turkeys at the grocery mart. 6 to 7 pounds is the ideal size that will feed a small crowd up to eight, yet small enough to fit into a 7-quart Dutch oven, especially when the rib bones are trimmed.