Waitrose and celebrity chef partner Heston Blumenthal have already revealed details of their 2011 festive dinner range, despite there being over five months to go until Christmas .
The ‘Heston From Waitrose’ range, which will go on sale from November 16, includes a turkey with herb butter and gravy, and a brining kit to help keep the meat moist.
“Turkey tends to dry out so brining it makes a huge difference,” Blumenthal explained.
“Traditionally, brine is 25 per cent salt. I have created a kit with just 6 to 8 per cent salt, which helps retain the water in the meat, keeping it moist and adding flavour.”
Other festive treats put together by the award-winning chef for this year’s Christmas dinner range at Waitrose include duck and sour cherry stuffing balls, mulled cider, chocolate and passion fruit popping candy tart, crystallised pistachio, and golden syrup and ale cured ‘pigs in blankets’.
Shoppers also hoping to enjoy Blumenthal’s unique Hidden Orange Christmas pudding will be pleased to hear that Waitrose has ordered three times as many of the £13.99 treats this year.
The pudding, which contains a whole candied orange in its centre, proved to be a huge success last year, selling out within weeks of going on sale.
Waitrose Managing Director, Mark Price, said: “We’ve never sold out of a Christmas pudding in November before but Heston’s innovative take on the traditional favourite has really captured the imagination of our customers.”
