I'm dreaming of a white Christmas and a 17 pound turkey...

Yes that's right, courtesy of my employer I was given a 17-pound turkey on Christmas eve. Due to this fact, S and I decided that we should host Christmas lunch to give his mum the day off. We had his mum, dad, brother and granddad. So a feast was definitely in order.

Now as happy as I would have been with noodles for lunch, with a turkey in hand, and the family expecting all the trimmings, that wasn't going to happen. So for the two weeks leading up to Christmas the TV was permanently set to the Food Channel for some inspiration and the internet was scoured for turkey cooking advice. In the end I combined a recipe from the Food Network and some advice from Jamie and the result was a mouth-watering juicy bird and complements to the chef.

Now while a roast lunch is one thing, what I wanted to do to make things special was the canapés (smoked salmon & cucumber bites, marinated mini boconccini with Parma ham, roast beef & horseradish cream blinis and goats cheese & caramelised onion blinis), the trimmings (perfect roast potatoes, parmesan parsnips, festive carrots, Brussels with bacon, skewers with stuffing balls and bacon wrapped chipolatas), and of course the dessert, which I am happy to admit is not my forte (I went with individual berry trifles with home-made custard). Oh this is making me want to eat it all over again!

I will post the recipe, which I doubled as my turkey was enormous. Once difference was that I added a little water to the bottom of the pan to help keep the bird moist. Also the best tip which I think made a massive difference was advice from Jamie Oliver. After the turkey is cooked, take it out of the oven cover it in foil and as many tea towels as you can get your hands on and leave to rest for at least an hour and a half (I left for two hours). Trust me it will still be piping hot when you serve it and in that time you have a free oven available to cook all the veg. Brilliant!

Creamy lemon, pancetta & rosemary turkey

4.5-5kg oven-ready turkey
25g pack each rosemary and thyme
2 lemons , finely zested
80g pack sliced pancetta , chopped
150g pot mascarpone
2 onions , thickly sliced

FOR THE GRAVY
1 tbsp flour
100ml white wine
600ml turkey or chicken stock

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Wash the turkey and pat dry. Strip the leaves from half the rosemary and thyme stalks and finely chop. In a bowl, combine the lemon zest, chopped herbs, pancetta and mascarpone. Season well.

Halve the zested lemons and stuff into the cavity, along with the remaining herb sprigs. Use your hand to loosen the skin lying over the breast of the turkey, to create a pocket. Push the mascarpone mixture under the breast skin to create a thick, even layer.

Put the onion slices into a large, flameproof roasting tin, place the turkey on top and cover loosely with foil. Cook for 3-3¾ hrs, until the juices of the bird run clear. Baste every 30 mins and uncover for the last 30 mins if needed, to brown the bird. When cooked, take the turkey from the oven, remove from the tin and leave to rest on a platter, covered loosely with foil, for 30 mins.

To make the gravy, pour away any excess fat from the roasting tin and discard the onion slices. Set the tin over a medium heat, then sprinkle over the flour. Stir through and cook for 2 mins. Slowly whisk in the wine and stock. Bring to a boil, scraping the bits from the bottom, then simmer over a low heat for 15 mins. Serve the gravy with the turkey.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and here's to a great 2010!!