Big Green Egg Christmas menu

The first course is an amuse: scallop, grilled in its shell, with hazelnuts and grilled chicory. This is followed by a prawn cocktail with a Big Green Egg twist: the prawns, avocado and tomato are grilled on the EGG, giving them that subtle smoky flavour.

The main course is an undisputed classic: stuffed turkey.

The dessert is a sumptuous chocolate pie that will be greeted with plenty of oohs and aahs. We advise you to carve the meat at the table. Enjoy!

AMUSE
Scallops, grilled in their shells, with hazelnuts and grilled chicory

STARTER
Cocktail of grilled prawns with avocado, tomato and lime cream

MAIN COURSE
Stuffed turkey with herb salt

DESSERT
Chocolate pie with bilberry mousse

Stuffed turkey (a few days in advance)

Prepare the herb salt a few days in advance, if possible. This will allow the flavours plenty of time to mingle. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Remove the needles from the rosemary and the leaves from the thyme, and chop finely. Mix all the herb salt ingredients and store in a sealed container.

Prawn cocktail

Put the prawns in a bowl. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Mix with the sunflower oil and stir into the prawns. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Chocolate pie

Ignite the charcoal in the Big Green Egg and, with the convEGGtor, the Stainless Steel Grid and on top of that the Baking Stone, heat to 180°C. Degrease a mixing bowl and the mixer beaters using half a lemon. Line the bottom of a springform tin (Ø 26cm) with parchment paper. Grease the rim with butter, dust with flour, and turn the tin over to tap out the excess flour.

Beat the eggs for the batter and gradually add the sugar, while continuing to beat. Mix in the flour and the cocoa powder. Pour the batter into the tin and place on the grid of the Big Green Egg. Close the lid and bake the cake for about 30 minutes until done. Prick the cake with a cocktail stick to check whether it is cooked. Remove the cake from the tin, let it cool down, and then cut it into three horizontal slices.

In the meantime, for the bilberry mousse, soak the gelatine sheets in cold water. Heat up the bilberry purée with the lemon juice. Squeeze the gelatine and dissolve it in the bilberry mixture.

Finely chop the bilberries. Whip the cream and sugar until thick. Mix the mascarpone into the bilberry mixture and fold, together with the chopped bilberries, into the thickly whipped cream. Spoon the mousse into a piping bag.

Pipe a layer of bilberry mousse onto the bottom cake slice. Gently press the second slice on top of it and pipe a second layer of mousse onto this slice as well. Save some mousse for decorating. Carefully cover with the third slice of cake and place the cake on a grid, which can then be placed on a platter or large plate.

For the chocolate icing, soak the gelatine sheets in cold water and break the chocolate into small pieces. Bring the cream with the sugar and the butter to the boil on a low heat. Remove the pan from the stove, squeeze the gelatine and dissolve it in the cream mixture. Fold the chocolate in and keep folding until it has melted.

Pour the chocolate icing over the cake, making sure that the top and sides are completely covered. Decorate with the raspberries, bilberries, chocolate decorations, Atsina cress or mint, edible flower petals and the bilberry mousse that you have kept aside. Allow the icing to harden. Store the cake in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

Prawn cocktail

Take the Baking Stone, the grid and the convEGGtor out of the EGG and put the Cast Iron Grid in using the Cast Iron Grid Lifter. Heat to 230°C. In the meantime, finely grate the lime peel. Squeeze the lime and mix the juice with the finely grated peel into the crème fraîche. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Halve the avocados and remove the stones. Leave the skin on and cut each half in five equal wedges. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Grill the marinated prawns without turning them for about 4 minutes. Grill the avocado wedges on both sides for 2 minutes and grill the cherry tomatoes on their skins for 2 minutes. Extinguish the charcoal in the EGG by closing the draft door and dual function metal top.

Keep 36 prawns aside. Mix about half of the lime cream with the avocado, tomatoes and grilled prawns, and divide across the glasses. Divide the prawns that you have kept aside across the glasses and spoon the remaining lime cream on top of them. Store in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

Stuffed turkey

For the stuffing, dice the turkey thigh meat and slice the chestnut mushrooms. Blend, together with the other stuffing ingredients, into a course mixture in a food processor. Fill the turkey cavity with the stuffing and truss the turkey tightly using butcher’s string. Cover and store in the refrigerator.

Grilled scallops

Open the scallop shells as follows: Hold the scallop with the flat side of the shell on your hand and the smooth edge against your fingers. Carefully pry a narrow and flat kitchen knife between the shell halves at around wrist height until you can slide the knife into the shell. Hold the knife with the cutting edge angled downwards slightly against the flat shell and carefully cut clockwise (if you are right-handed). Once the shell opens, break the halves apart. Ensure the scallop remains attached to the rounded half of the shell. Remove the intestines around the scallop by hand. Rinse and clean the scallop in its shell under the cold tap. Open and rinse all shells in this way, cover them and store them in the fridge until you start preparing them.

Stuffed turkey

Ignite the charcoal in the Big Green Egg and heat the EGG, with the convEGGtor, to 160°C. In the meantime, brush the turkey with olive oil and sprinkle all over with the herb salt.

Place the Rectangular Drip Pan on the convEGGtor and place the grid inside the EGG. Place the stuffed turkey on it. Stick the pin of the probe thermometer in the centre of the stuffing and set the temperature for 67°C. Close the lid of the EGG and leave the turkey to cook until the set core temperature has been reached. This will take approximately 3 hours.

Remove the turkey from the EGG and wrap in a few layers of aluminium foil. Prepare the scallops and cocktail while the turkey rests.

Grilled scallops

Remove the grid, the Drip Pan and the convEGGtor from the EGG. Place the Cast Iron Grid in the EGG using the Cast Iron Grid Lifter and heat the Big Green Egg to 230°C. Meanwhile, halve the chicory heads lengthwise and finely chop the hazelnuts.

Place the scallop shells upside down with the scallop on the grid and put the chicory next to them, cut side down. Grill for 2 minutes.

Turn the shells and sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts in them. Turn the chicory 1/4 turn. Grill for 2 minutes. Remove the chicory from the EGG and let the scallops cook for another 2 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the grilled chicory into strips. Sprinkle with hazelnut oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Remove the shells from the EGG, divide the chicory over them and serve immediately. Extinguish the charcoal in the EGG. You won’t need this anymore, although you could prepare the garnish for the stuffed turkey on it.

Prawn cocktail

Remove the glasses from the refrigerator. Garnish the prawn cocktail with the rocket and serve.

Stuffed turkey

Serve the stuffed turkey with a garnish of your choice.

chocolate pie

Cut the pie into wedges.