Changing faces

Madonna has always been a bit of a chameleon but perhaps never more so than just lately.  At 50 I fully accept that the youthful bloom will have gone from her face – we none of us can hold back the march of time, try as we might – but, as someone who is close to the same age as her, I’ve been saying for years now that she actually needed to pile on a few pounds in order to look better. Perceived wisdom is that as nature has a way of stripping fat from our ageing faces, in order to remain youthful looking we must allow ourselves to gain a little weight for each decade that passes.  

As Madonna has aged she has fought hard to keep her svelte figure and good for her, but she has paid the price on her face which in recent years has become sunken-cheeked, bony and, dare I say it, haggard.  The overall effect has been to actually make her look (facially) older than she really is. 

What a difference a few months can make in the life of a celebrity.  Here is a sequence of photos I’ve put together, beginning with last Summer, when she was undoubtedly under considerable strain. (It also has to be said that it’s a brutally honest ‘pap’ photo of the type that makes you realise that she is, after all, human like the rest of us).  I think the other two images are in sequence, although you never can tell with celeb photos what was taken when.  In the second, to me at least, she looks a good 10-15 years older than her actual age.  In the third she’s back to the polished but bony look we’ve become accustomed to.    

 

Then today I came across the photo below.  Oh wow.  This is so radically different that I actually initially wondered whether it was someone else impersonating her.  Has she put on that much needed weight?  Or has she had a date with a surgeon and a syringe?  If it’s the latter (which I strongly suspect, looking at those ‘Jolie-esque’ lips), then I wish she’d give herself a break and just try eating a bit more for a change.  At 50, I think she has earned the right to be a bit kinder to herself.

Madonna – the latest incarnation:

She's too big, now she's too thin*

I was looking up a news story on a totally unrelated subject when I came across the Daily Mail’s article on the appearance of actress Gemma Arterton at yesterday’s BAFTA nominations, calling her ‘Jowly Gemma’. 

I feel insulted for her.  She’s gorgeous looking and although not rail thin at the moment I happen to think she looks just stunning – healthy and curvy and in a beautiful outfit that I think is totally appropriate to the occasion.  Instead of just reporting on the event and focusing on the positive, the bitchy reporter takes several side-swipes at the actress. 

I’m tired of this type of cheap reporting and I’m tired of the hypocrisy of the media.  As a female celebrity it seems you just can’t win in the weight stakes. On the same page is a link to a story on ‘superskinny’ Lindsay Lohan, and you just know that as soon as this year’s international fashion shows are reported again, there will be yet more column inches devoted to how we need to get over this fixation with weight and promote a healthy image to young girls.  Yeah, right!  So sincere.

*”She’s too big now she’s too thin”  (Britney Spears, ‘Piece of Me’)

Turkey Roasting Times

The safest way to cook turkey and stuffing is to cook them separately as a stuffed bird may not cook as evenly.  Cook the stuffing in a separate little casserole dish therefore. 

If you’re going to ignore me (!) and stuff the bird anyway, you’ll need to calculate cooking times by weighing your bird after it’s stuffed – you might well have to use bathroom scales in order to do this.  There is a cooking chart below but as an example, for an 8 – 12 pound bird allow 20 minutes per pound (40 minutes per kg) at 170C (325F), gas mark 3. 

Remember that if you are usng a fan oven, cooking temperatures are generally lower (usually 20C lower than in the conventional oven…consult your manufacturer’s manual).  

If you don’t have a meat thermometer, the way to test whether the bird is cooked is to pop a knife into the area between the turkey body and leg (drumstick).  If the juices coming out look clear and not pink or bloody then the bird is done.  

If it isn’t ready yet, return it to the oven for 20 minutes and test again.

A good meat thermomter will show when the meat is cooked.  Latest guidlines state that the minimum safe temperature is 165F. Check the temperature by placing the thermometer probe in the thickest part of the inner thigh.

The folowing chart is for a whole turkey cooked at 325F / 170C. In all cases the temperature of the meat (if you have a meat thermometer) will be 160 – 170 degrees.

4 – 8 lbs……….325F / 170 C ………2 – 3 hours

8 – 12 lbs……..325F / 170C ……….3 – 4 hours

12 – 16 lbs…….325F / 170C ………4 – 5 hours

16 – 20 lbs…….325F / 170C ………5 – 6  hours

20 – 24 lbs …… 325F / 170C ……..6 – 7 hours

There are some great recipes available for cooking the turkey.  If you don’t have one don’t be scared by the whole prospect of doing one just because it’s The Big Day. 

For the novice cook – remove the bag of giblets from the body cavity (these make wonderful stock but now may not be the time to be telling you that)!  Now just think of the turkey as a large chicken that you have to roast.   Maybe loosely pop some pieces of raw onion,  and herbs (say, thyme) in the body cavity, rub the outside of the body with butter, season with salt, pepper and perhaps a further sprinkling of herbs and then put the bird in the roasting tin (I tend to roast my birds on a base of root vegetables – onions, carrots etc).  Cover loosely with foil to stop the breast burning.  Cook for the required time (chart above), removing the foil for the last 20 minutes to allow the bird to brown. 

All roast meat benefits from ‘resting’ for a period after being taken from the oven.  This allows some of its juices to be re-absorbed back into the meat. Turkey is no exception. If you can manage to tip the bird to drain any juices from the body cavity into the roasting tin then do so (enlist someone’s help if you can).  Put the bird on a warm plate, cover loosely with foil and let it sit while you finish off things like the roast potatoes and gravy.  You can leave it like this for 30-60 minutes.  

There are some helpful notes here and charts here. 

Happy Christmas!

Bird? What bird?

What size of bird (turkey) should you buy for you and your guests?  Aim on 1 pound of turkey for each adult guest (1-1/2 if you’re aiming to have leftovers).  Many people just go ahead and buy a great behemoth of a bird, regardless of this calculation – it’s no wonder they get sick of the sight of the thing by day two!  (A simple ‘What size turkey to buy’ chart is posted at the end of this article for quick reference).

If you only have a small group to cater for, you may like to consider an alternative.  Nowadays you can buy just a ‘turkey crown’ – this is literally just the turkey breast meat, so if you don’t like the brown meat anyway, this may suit you better.  Disadvantages: You’re unlikely to find it complete with giblets so you won’t easily be able to make your own turkey stock for the gravy (normally well worth doing), it won’t look as impressive if you usually take the bird to the table to carve (!) and it won’t cook in the same way.  Nevertheless, it’s a simpler option for a smaller family get together.

Steering away from turkey entirely, did you know that a growing number of people in the UK are opting for chicken on Christmas Day?  There is absolutely no reason why you can’t still do all the traditional trimmings  like ‘pigs in blankets’ to serve alongside the humble chicken. 

If your group is too big for a single chicken but too small to warrant an entire turkey, there is a kind of half-way-house option of a capon.   A capon is basically a castrated cockerel, the meat of which is succulent and tender.  They are, unfortunately, hard to find and big poultry producers use hormones to induce caponization (never something I’m happy with).  If you’re lucky enough to find a small supplier, and like me you’re bothered by hormones in food, check whether the bird has been surgically or chemically castrated.  You may find capons available through small, quality butchers or farm shops.

If you pick the ‘chicken option’ don’t feel you are cheating your family by the way.  I, for one, far prefer the flavour of chicken to the rather bland and often dry turkey.

Moving away from chicken and turkey, on continental Europe goose is the traditional choice in many countries.  It’s moist, tasty and has the added advantage of rendering a supply of fat to use for delicious roast potatoes and veggies.  See chef Gordon Ramsay’s roast goose recipe here.  (Cook the goose on a raised rack in the roasting tin to keep it out of the fat …not mentioned in this recipe).

Those are the most obvious bird alternatives for your Christmas meal.  No rule book says, however, that you need a bird at all.  A tasty roast of beef or pork would be very nice and judging by the number of hits I’ve been getting to this site lately for ham cooked in coke, I’d say that if that takes your fancy then you’d be in good company!

………………………………….

If you’re going down the turkey route, here is a quick reference chart to tell you what size turkey you’ll need to buy:

5 lb / 2.25 kg                    serves 4 – 6

8 lb / 3.6 kg                       serves 6 – 8

10-12 lb / 4.5 – 5.6 kg   serves 10 – 12

20 lb / 9 kg                        serves 12 – 15

Cooking dilemmas: Plain / All purpose / Self-raising flour

Anyone who bakes fairly regularly has probably come across a situation where your recipe calls for ‘self-raising flour’ and all you have is plain.  (Plain flour is ‘all purpose flour’ in the United States).  Self-raising flour is simply flour to which raising agents have been added during the packaging process.  So…to make your plain (or all purpose) flour into self raising flour:

UK VERSION:

Add 1-1/4 level teaspoons of baking powder to every 8 oz of flour (and a pinch of salt if your recipe doesn’t already include that).  Sieve well to mix before adding to your recipe.

US Version:

Add 1-1/4 level teaspoons of baking powder to every cup of all purpose flour (and a pinch of salt if your recipe doesn’t already include that).  Sieve well to mix before adding to your recipe.

To reverse the situation, i.e. you have self-raising flour when what you need is plain flour, use self-raising but reduce the baking powder and salt that it states in the recipe.