Wishing you a very merry Christmas from John, Trish, Chris, Char, Claire, Debbie, Delene, Jackie, Jane, Jools, Liz, Lynda, Mark and Sam…and Tarmac, Boogie, Jet, Digger, Mazie and Izzy.

This office shot was taken in response to one of our old friends whose Christmas message included a "photo of the fierce Missouri Tiger stalking prey in my backyard".

The Devon office got to work and the dogs were a big challenge to Chris and the rest of us handlers. 

The secret in keeping the dogs at bay was the promise of food...

...which got us thinking!

 So here's a non-safari secret we'd like to share....

For those of you who’ve settled on turkey for a traditional Christmas dinner here’s a recipe sent by a New Zealand friend (apparently gleaned from Nigella Lawson in the UK).…moist turkey guaranteed!

The trick is to brine the bird.  Here’s how:

Fill a bucket to fit a 6kg bird with around 6 litres of water.  Add 250g non-iodised salt, mix in the juice of two oranges and their peelings, 3 tablespoons of whole black peppercorns, 1 bouquet garni, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 table spoon caraway seeds, 4 cloves, 2 tablespoons allspice, 4 star anise, 2 tablespoons white mustard seeds, 200g castor sugar, 2 quartered onions, 6 slices fresh unpeeled ginger, 4 tablespoons maple syrup, 4 tablespoons liquid honey and some parsley stalks.

For the bouquet garni: 1 bay leaf, 3 sprigs of thyme, 4 large sprigs of parsley, celery stalked with leaves, 2 pieces of leek. Place ingredients between the two pieces of leek and tie securely.

Remove giblets and add the fully thawed turkey to the brining liquid. Ensure the bird is completely covered.  Set aside in a fridge (or in cold weather place outside with a skateboard and bricks atop) for a day and let the brining mixture do its job.

Remove the turkey from the brine several hours before cooking and dry thoroughly. Prepare stuffing just before the turkey is placed in the oven, cook according to size, serve up, sit back and enjoy!

...and we'll start thinking about our safaris after dessert.

 Home     |  Safaris this season    |  News archive    |  Contact us...

Look out for invitations to our members-only website in the New Year or browse www.zambezi.com .