It’s been something of a slow burner, but I’m finally feeling festive – to the point where my mum had to hide the After Eights from me last night. If you’re not feeling the Christmas spirit just yet, I suggest watching this video (thanks to David Drummond for that one):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12qBoy2rhVw]
And then making this lovely stuffing, as I did, yesterday. It’s to go under the skin of the turkey tomorrow and I think it’s going to be rather good – being a mixture of fennel, onion, lemon zest and a splash of vermouth to give the bird a bit of a lift. It’s based on a recipe from Ina Garten that uses it so stuff a pork loin, which I’m going to try another time, and if you’re still stuck for a stuffing recipe it’s really quick and simple. I added some lemon zest to the equation, because I think a hint of citrus works so well with fennel and is always good with poultry.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon of decent olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cups chopped white onions (2 onions)
2 cups sliced fennel (1 large bulb)
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
2 teaspoons chopped garlic (2 large cloves)
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon Pernod, Vermouth or white wine
3 cups fresh bread crumbs

Method

First chop up your ingredients:

Then heat the oil and butter in a saucepan until the butter has melted, adding the chopped onion, fennel, salt and pepper. Cook over a low/medium heat for 10-15 minutes until the onion and fennel are soft and golden.

Add the garlic and thyme and cook for another minute, before adding a good slug (about a tablespoon of Pernod or, in my case ‘Noilly Prat’) and deglazing the pan. Then take the whole thing off the heat and allow to cool.

Then you just add the breadcrumbs – three cups full – mix it all together with another pinch of salt, and you’re away!