Mary Berry foolproof method for perfect turkey
Mary Berry will have her turkey ready at 11am this Christmas Day – but will wrap it up like a small child in a sleeping bag and towels for a long journey to the dinner table.
The 90-year-old TV chef will eat dinner at her son Tom’s house this year along with his wife Sarah and other family members, but she insists on bringing the prized bird with her. Going through her routine, she explained: “I bring the turkey – I have it ready by 11am and then I wrap it in foil, old clean towels and a sleeping bag without a zip, and put it in the boot of the car for the drive to my son’s house. It stays piping hot and the meat is rested, even after four or five hours, because of the bulk of the thing.
“Sarah’s mother will bake the Christmas cake and her father will do a topical quiz with pictures, all about what has happened during the year. After the King’s Christmas message at 3pm we will all go for a walk, with torches for the way back because it will be dark by then.”
Asked for her tips for the big festive day, Mary told Radio Times : “I always use fresh herbs for the stuffing. I don’t like packet stuffing because the dry herbs are too strong. I make an open dish of apricots and chestnuts for vegetarians, it’s delicious.
“To give Christmas cake a difference from the pudding, I make it on the lighter side and fill it with apricots soaked in brandy.”
Mary also said she was not against short cuts in the kitchen, saying buying packets of grated cheese was fine and in the past she has also admitted using ready-made puff pastry.
Rather than being sad about getting older and hitting the milestone of being 90, she tries to see the positives. Mary said: “You have more time to think. You can go at a slightly slower pace and people don’t mind.
“You can do the things you had no time to do in the past, like learning croquet or visiting a local museum. I have time to take my grandchildren to a pantomime or the Christmas markets – things I wouldn’t have had time to do before.”
Mary will attend Christmas Day events with her husband Paul who she married in 1966. Speaking in October she said the secret of her happy marriage was walking away when an argument was on the cards.
She said: “Paul always says that the secret to our long marriage is his saying, ‘Yes, dear’ to everything, and then going his own way. But we don’t argue. If any disagreements come up, I open the back door and just go out and maybe pick some flowers or get some apples. It’s amazing if you can walk away.
“Of course, if I was living in a top-floor flat, that would be difficult. But we respect each other. And I’m very lucky. He has mellowed in his old age and he’s become very appreciative of me. So I look after him, and it’s a great pleasure. That’s what I promised to do. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer. And we are very happy in our dotage.”
Mary has more than 70 books and sold more than five million copies. She is also known for her loyalty, staying with the BBC when the Great British Bake Off moved to Channel 4.
Source: Mirror
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