Ah, Christmas time, where the smell of chestnuts roasting over an open fire wafts in the air and Jack Frost, that little rascal, nips at your nose. Unless you happen to stay in a tropical country like mine where the only snow you get is really soap suds that leave a very suspicious stain on your clothes when dried. Well, enough about that, I'm sure that we've all had at some point one of our relatives' signature "turkey-based-carbon" along with her famous "it-came-from-a-packet-gravy". Well, this Christmas, follow these easy tips, and hopefully, this year's turkey will be better.

1.) BUTTER IS YOUR BEST FRIEND! Turkey is a naturally lean bird, and as such, very easily dried out. Try rubbing on a thin coating of butter on your turkey before roasting to baste the turkey while it roasts. For the more adventurous, try blending in some herbs to softened butter to make a herb butter rub. Alternatively, wrap the turkey's breast with some bacon. You could also inject in some brine or olive oil with a syringe. The syringe method is also very very fun.

2.) Truss the bird. This pulls the wing into the breast, forming a protective layer from the heat, preventing it from overcooking and becoming sawdust-like in terms of texture.

3.) Stuff the bird. No, really stuff it. Jam the insides of the bird with stuffing. This helps lower the internal temperature of the bird. And this helps make the skin crispy as it allows the bird to cook more slowly and as such, will not overcook before the skin crisps. Stuffing also happens to be very tasty.

4.) MAKE YOUR OWN GRAVY. Packet gravy is honestly, one of the more expensive ways to buy salt. One will often find black bits stuck to the roasting pan after the bird is cooked. That is what the French would call "fond", and it is pure unadulterated flavour. After taking the bird out of the oven,  remove excess oil from the pan and sweat some mirepoix(onions, leeks, carrots). Add some white wine and reduce it until it attains a syrupy consistency, scraping off the fond and dissolving it into the wine as you go along. This is known as deglazing. Add in some stock and reduce further. Now, add in some small cubes of cold butter, one by one, whisking all the while. Add in the next piece only after the previous is almost completely dissolved. This is known as monter au beurre and when you do this, you're basically making an emulsion of the gravy and the butter, and will result in a smoother, glossier, richer gravy. Sieve out any bits in the gravy and serve.

5.) Stuff yourself. It is Christmas after all.

Merry Christmas folks!