WHEN Man United star Marcus Rashford was a kid, his mum always made sure there was a special dinner on Christmas Day.But hard-working Melanie often had to go to the food bank for her family’s festive feast.
Happy chef Tom preparing a mouth-watering Christmas feastCredit: Bone Soup Productions
Marcus has won plaudits nationwide for his campaigning on food poverty among kidsCredit: PA
Growing up, fellow poverty campaigner Tom Kerridge never ate the lavish meals the customers of his Michelin-starred restaurants enjoy.
But at Christmas, his mother Jackie kept it traditional for him and his brother, serving up a Bernard Matthews turkey roast.
Now TV chef Tom, 48, and England ace Marcus, 24, have joined up to make sure every family, no matter their financial circumstances, can enjoy a hearty roast on December 25.
The pair have created a meal that can feed up to six people and costs just £10.
It’s been such a difficult 18 months for so many and we wanted to highlight the holidays as being a time for happiness and togetherness, as opposed to a period approached with anxiety and stress.Marcus Rashford
Marcus, who has been awarded an MBE for his anti-food poverty campaigning, tells The Sun: “It’s been such a difficult 18 months for so many and we wanted to highlight the holidays as being a time for happiness and togetherness, as opposed to a period approached with anxiety and stress.
“The holidays have the ability to put a smile on people’s faces, and the least they deserve is a hot Christmas dinner.
“Family activity can be restricted heavily by finances, so it’s nice to get them in the kitchen together creating memories.
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“People, now more than ever, also have to be super-conscious of electricity and gas bills.
“Tom has done a great job working with nutritionists to stretch ingredients as far as he can.”
As well as working several jobs, Marcus’s mum would occasionally skip meals in order to feed her five children. She turned to a local food bank in Manchester at Christmas.
He reveals: “Mum often relied on the food bank for Christmas dinner.“She was working three jobs. She was doing her best.
“We didn’t have a lot but we had each other, and mum wanted to make sure we had a Christmas dinner on the table.
“We would go and pick it up on Christmas Eve.
“There would be a massive queue. But it was all prepped and ready to go, which made it much easier. As long as we were together, that’s all that mattered.”
This month 2.3million children went to bed hungry in Britain, which is something the England hero hopes to prevent during what should be a time of comfort and joy.
Tom, who grew up on council estates in and around Gloucester, was entitled to free school meals, like Marcus.
His mum made sure Christmas felt special even when money was tight. Tom says: “Most Christmases it would be me, my mum and my younger brother, Sam.“We were very lucky, my mum never made me feel we went without. It was always a very caring and loving house.
“We normally used to have one of those Bernard Matthews turkey roasts, that would be our roast turkey dinner.”
Having worked in restaurants across the country for three decades, Tom knows all the best ingredients.
His expertise has made him a staple of television, appearing on shows such as the BBC’s Great British Menu.
Do your FareShare to fight child hungerTHE Full Time Meals campaign supports FareShare, the country’s largest food poverty charity network.
Marcus and Tom are urging people to donate £10, the cost of these Christmas meals, to fight hunger.
You can donate online via fareshare.org.uk/fulltime.
Or simply text 5FULL to 70580 to donate £5, 10FULL to 70580 to donate £10, or 20FULL to 70580 to donate £20. Texts will cost the donation amount plus one standard network rate.
For more info on the Healthy Start scheme go to healthystart.nhs.uk
For his campaign with Marcus he has devised a Christmas dinner which includes a tasty turkey roll with stuffing and traybake veggies.
For Boxing Day there is a potato and carrot hash with fried eggs — and any turkey leftovers.
The two meals feed half a dozen people and come in at less than £10 if you use a Healthy Start voucher or card.
Part of the reason for this campaign is to raise awareness of the NHS scheme, because 40 per cent of those eligible have not signed up.
Healthy Start offers vouchers or a prepaid card to help women who are more than ten weeks pregnant or who have kids under four to buy nutritious food and milk and access to free vitamins.
My childhood isn’t too dissimilar to Marcus’s in that we both grew up in single-parent families an had mums who had more than one job. We both had free school meals.Tom Kerridge
But even if you do not qualify for the scheme, Tom and Marcus’s recipes will help anyone enjoy a celebratory meal on a budget.
As well as today’s recipes, we will be publishing four more in The Sun on Sunday and you can watch cook-along videos, explaining step-by-step instructions, at 11am tomorrow on the FullTimeMeals Instagram acount.
Tom says: “My childhood isn’t too dissimilar to Marcus’s in that we both grew up in single-parent families an had mums who had more than one job. We both had free school meals.
“This campaign is about making people’s lives a little bit easier. Everyone should be entitled to a special meal at Christmas.”
His mum Jackie worked as a secretary during the day and washed up in the pub in the evening, but always took time off over Christmas.
Tom also makes sure he has plenty of quality time with his own family, including wife Beth and five-year-old son Acey, during the festivities.
While many pub restaurants serve up lunch with all the trimmings on December 25, Tom closes. He says: “Christmas Day is amazing. I will be cooking dinner, tunes will be on, kids will be running around opening presents.”
This warm and loving scene is not possible for everyone. For those in debt, the idea of buying presents and forking out for ingredients is stressful.
Tom explains: “The reality for so many people is that Christmas can be awkward and uncomfortable. It can be very expensive.”
The turkey roll and Boxing Day veggie hash can be cooked by parents who are short of pots and pans too.
Tom says: “It’s not a whole turkey, it is steaks stuffed and roast veggies. It feels very Christmassy. It can all be cooked in one tray and doesn’t need a huge amount of work.
“You need to be realistic about the ingredients and the way you cook them.”With Tom’s help, Marcus has also developed his cooking skills and the pair hope the nation’s children will find joy in the kitchen.
Tom says: “We want to encourage everyone to have a go. We want kids to say ‘I cooked this meal’.”
Christmas turkey roll with stuffing and traybake veggies
Treat your family to a tasty and affordable Christmas day meal
SERVES 4-6
TIME: 2hrs 15mins
YOU NEED:
600g packet turkey breast steaks
8 medium carrots, topped and split lengthways
400g Brussel sprouts, halved
1 savoy cabbage, sliced roughly
Zest of half an orange
2 large pinches of gravy granules
1 pinch of ground pepper
For stuffing:
400g packet sausage meat
Half packet of sage and onion stuffing (85g pack)
For roast spuds and parsnips
8 potatoes, peeled and halved
2 large parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
6 tbsp vegetable oil
Pinch of salt (optional)
For gravy
4 tbsp low-salt gravy granules
EQUIPMENT NEEDED:
Large pack of cling film
Box grater
Peeler
Sharp knife
Chopping board
Mixing bowl
Roasting tray
Saucepan
METHOD:
Place a large sheet of cling film on to a chopping board, lay the turkey steaks on the cling film so they overlap each other. Lay a second sheet of cling film over the top of the turkey steaks then, with a saucepan, bash out and flatten the turkey to make a large rectangle sheet of turkey meat. Remove the top sheet of cling film from the turkey.
In a mixing bowl, add the sausage meat and stuffing mix. Stir until the stuffing is evenly mixed.
Grate the orange zest and sprinkle some gravy granules over the top of the flattened turkey.
Place the sausage stuffing approximately 1cm from the edge of the turkey sheet, so that it’s like a long, even sausage log. This is a bit like making a sausage roll but with turkey rather than pastry. Once the sausage mix is laid out, fold the turkey around it, using the cling film to keep its cylindrical shape. Tie off the cling film ends and pop it in the fridge for 30min to 1hr to firm up. This is our turkey roll.
While the turkey roll is resting, peel and cut all your veggies. Place the carrots, potatoes and parsnips on a baking tray, drizzle with the 6tbsp vegetable oil and pop into a pre-heated oven at 190C/170C fan/gas mark 5 for 10min. This will start to cook them and heat the oil.
Take your baking tray out of the oven, toss the veggies in the hot oil again then move them to the edges of the dish, allowing room for the turkey roll.
Remove the turkey from the cling fim and lay in the middle of the baking tray. Pop in the oven for 1 hour at 1190C/170C fan/gas mark 5.
While the turkey and veggies are roasting, put 600ml of water into a saucepan and bring to the boil. With a fork, whisk in the 4tbsp gravy granules and simmer for a minute or so. This will be used to brush on to the turkey as a glaze as well.
Fifteen minutes before the 1 hour is up, brush the turkey roll with a little gravy. This will roast up nicely, giving it a lovely finish.
Pop the turkey roll back in the oven for the remaining 15min.
Place a frying pan on the stove with a little splash of oil on a medium heat.
While the pan is heating, cut your sprouts into quarters then add them to the pan and fry them off for about 2 to 3min. Don’t stir them, just let them cook through so they brown slightly. Add the sliced cabbage on top and fry both for roughly 8min.
Stir them gently to help them steam through.
When ready, simply turn off the heat and put them to the side while the turkey finishes off.
Cover the turkey with tin foil and leave it to rest for 5min.
Carve the turkey roll and serve with the spuds, veggies and loads of gravy
Boxing Day potato and veggie hash with fried egg
This Boxing Day potato and veggie hash with fried egg can serve six
SERVES 6
TIME: Done in 1hr 30min
YOU NEED:
1 kg peeled potatoes
4 carrots, peeled
Half a packet of sage and onion stuffing
½ tsp salt
5 tbsp vegetable oil
6 eggs
Seasoning optional for the top of the eggs
EQUIPMENT NEEDED:
Non-stick frying pan (make sure it doesn’t have a plastic handle)
Large tray or bowl
Box grater
Peeler
Tea towel
Sharp knife
METHOD:
Place your clean tea towel over your baking tray and grate the carrots and potatoes on the coarse side of the box grater.
Season with ½ tsp salt and massage the veg altogether.
Then leave the salted potatoes and carrots for 5 minutes – this helps draw out the moisture from the veg.
Draw up the sides of the towel, to create a bag with the mixture inside. Over the sink, squeeze the towel to drain as much liquid as possible.
Tip the veg back on to the baking tray and stir in the stuffing mix. This will act as a binding agent, making it easier for everything to stick together while cooking.
Pre-heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas mark 5 and place the frying pan on the hob with half of the oil.
Press the hash mix into the pan, making sure you level the mix out as much as possible.
Slowly fry the hash for around 10min, just to set the crust and par-cook.
Place the frying pan into the oven and bake for 1hr to 1½ hrs.
Once the hash is ready, place a plate on top of the frying pan and flip it over.
Once the hash is on the plate, put tin foil over the top to keep warm.
Wipe the pan clean with a little kitchen towel and place the pan back on to the hob over a medium heat. Pour in the remaining oil.
Once the oil is just hot, crack in the eggs and slowly cook for 4 to 5min, spooning the hot fat over the yolks every now and then.
When ready, cut the potato hash into six chunky wedges and serve the fried eggs on the side.
If you have any cold Turkey Roll left from yesterday, feel free to serve that with it – and maybe a good dollop of ketchup or brown sauce on the side.
Marcus Rashford is passionate about feeding hungry young children because he was once in their shoesCredit:
Chef Tom Kerridge grew up on a council estate and would have qualified for free school meals
Marcus Rashford receive MBE from Prince William after free school-meals campaignWe pay for your stories!Do you have a story for The Sun news desk? More
