Multi Bird Roast - Not just a Chicken Roast!

Here is my recipe for what I consider one of the best Christmas dinners we have ever had. Of course you don't have to do this just at Christmas, it tastes just as good any time of the year.

I thought this Christmas I would attempt one of the multi bird roasts that were apparently popular in medieval times. Now in the old days they would have used anything up to ten birds.

It would start with a turkey or a goose, which would be deboned and opened out. A layer of force meat stuffing would be smeared liberally around the inside. Another smaller bird deboned and opened out would be put inside this. This process would be continued with up to ten birds all decreasing slightly in size.

When as many birds as possible have been fitted into the original bird, it would be pulled back into shape and sewn together. The delight at slicing one of these apart and seeing the many different meats must have been amazing.

Not having ten birds to hand I decided to do my own theme with a turkey, goose and duck. I don`t really have the skills to debone birds, so I cheated a little by buying a large turkey crown, some duck and goose breasts.

You must have good stuffing, and plenty of it. If you make to much you can always freeze it for another day. In fact I made mine about two weeks before and froze it to save time on Christmas day.

To make the stuffing I used
half a kilo of pork shoulder, well chopped
half a kilo of pork belly, well chopped
250g of streaky bacon, well chopped
100g breadcrumbs (Good quality bread)
200g cooked chestnuts, chopped
200g grated apples
Brandy to taste
Port to taste
100ml red wine
Salt
Pepper
Mace

Mix all the stuffing ingredients together and you are ready to start assembly.

I took the turkey crown and using a sharp knife made a slit down the side to open it up like a pitta bread. I then took about half the stuffing mix and forced it into the slot.

Take the duck and goose breasts and push them into the slit ensuring they are surrounded by the stuffing. Use more stuffing as required to fill out the inside.

Cover the turkey with lots of streaky bacon to prevent it drying out.

I didn't sew the turkey up I just placed it on a large sheet of tin foil and folded the foil tight around it to create a reasonable shape. To be honest with all the stuffing it takes on much more of a turkey shape than the crown does on its own.

I then cooked very slowly in the oven until well cooked, checking with a thermometer. I uncovered the turkey for the last hour to crisp off the skin and the bacon.

The juices I drained made fantastic gravy.

If you are interested in raising poultry then please take a look at Poultry Pages