Christmas main course made easy: Max Rocha’s braised turkey legs with colcannon – recipes
Roast turkey breast is often dry and overcooked, so why not give everyone a leg instead and serve it with a traditional Irish potato-and-cabbage side?We often braise chicken and rabbit legs at Cafe Cecilia, because all the preparation and cooking can be done ahead of time, and it’s then just about heating them gently to serve.For Christmas, I often employ much the same process for turkey legs – it’s a lovely way to eat them.Serve with colcannon, although basmati rice, boiled new potatoes or roast carrots would also go great.This can easily be scaled up to feed more people – you’ll just need a larger pan.Prep 20 min Cook 1 hr 30 min Serves 2Sunflower oil Salt and black pepper 2 bone-in turkey legs 1 tbsp butter 5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped2 shallots, peeled and halved 5 slices streaky bacon, diced8 sage leaves 70ml white wine60-100ml chicken stock ½ tbsp dijon mustard1 tbsp creme fraicheFor the colcannon500g large floury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks.
100g unsalted butter2 garlic cloves, peeled and diced ½ savoy cabbage, thinly sliced Salt and black pepper 100ml milkHeat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6.Heat two tablespoons of sunflower oil in a 23cm wide x 7cm high cast-iron frying pan or similar.Season the turkey legs, then lay them in the pan and fry, turning once, until nicely coloured on both sides.Transfer the legs to a plate, then pour out and discard the fat.Add the butter to the pan, followed by the garlic, shallots, bacon and sage, and cook on a medium-high heat for five to 10 minutes, until the shallots and bacon take on some colour.
Pour in the wine, then lay the turkey legs on top of the vegetables.Pour in the stock so the turkey legs are covered halfway, then carefully stir in the mustard and creme fraiche.Cover the pan with foil and roast for an hour, or until the turkey legs can bend in half with ease.Meanwhile, put the potatoes in a pan of boiling water and cook for 20 minutes, until tender when pricked with a sharp knife.Meanwhile, in a second pan, melt two tablespoons of the butter, then add the garlic and cook, stirring, for two minutes.
Add the cabbage and cook on a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes, until soft.Season, then set aside.In a third saucepan, warm the milk and the remaining butter.Drain the cooked potatoes, then return them to their pan.Mash the potatoes with the warm milk and butter until smooth, then add the cabbage and stir it through.
Season again to taste, and keep warm (or reheat gently just before serving).Once the turkey is cooked, serve with the colcannon and the vegetables and juices from the cooking pan.Max Rocha is chef-owner of Cafe Cecilia, London E8
HSBC has a new chair but the succession process should have been slicker
It turns out that Sir Mark Tucker, 67, retired as chair of HSBC in September to make way for an older man. Say hello to Brendan Nelson, 76, a former KPMG partner, who has been doing the job on an interim basis for a couple of months but was regarded as a rank outsider to get the gig permanently.Just how permanent remains to be seen because the HSBC chief executive, Georges Elhedery, clearly unaware that Nelson had thrown his hat into the ring, appeared to rule him out when speaking at an FT conference only on Monday. He said Nelson didn’t wish to do a full term of six to nine years, a remark that didn’t feel controversial at the time. After all, while US presidents may go on into their 80s these days, chairs of globally important banks tend not to
UK using more wood to make electricity than ever, Drax figures show
Britain’s reliance on burning wood to generate electricity has reached record highs, even as the government moves to curb the controversial use of biomass power.The latest figures supplied by the owner of the huge Drax biomass plant in North Yorkshire have revealed that power generated from burning biomass wood pellets provided 9% of the UK’s electricity in July, its largest ever monthly share.Weeks later, biomass provided almost a fifth (17%) of the UK’s electricity for the first time during one morning in September when renewable energy resources were particularly low.Britain’s record reliance on biomass generation has reached new heights as the government set out its plans to dramatically reduce the controversial energy source under a new subsidy agreement with the FTSE 250 owner of the Drax power plant.Under the deal, Drax will continue to earn more than £1m a day from energy bills in exchange for burning wood pellets at its power plant
Thames Water profits surge on higher bills; Prada buys Versace for $1.4bn – as it happened
Time to wrap up…Thames Water reported its first half earnings this morning, warning that crisis talks to secure its future with lenders are taking “longer than expected” and will drag into 2026 as it faces the prospect of a collapse into government control.Britain’s biggest water company on Wednesday said it had swung to a profit of £414m for the six months to September helped by bills rising by nearly a third, after losing £149m in the same period in 2024.Despite the jump in reported profits, the company said there was “material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt” on its status as a going concern. A collapse into government control under a special administration regime (SAR) – a form of temporary nationalisation – “could occur in the very near term” if it is unable to agree the terms of a formal takeover by its controlling lenders.HSBC has appointed the former KPMG partner Brendan Nelson as its chair after a prolonged search process that left one of the world’s biggest banks without a permanent executive in the top role for months
Design boss behind new Jaguar leaves JLR weeks after change of CEO
The Jaguar Land Rover design boss behind the Range Rover and the polarising Jaguar relaunch has abruptly departed the business just four months after its new chief executive took charge.Gerry McGovern left the role of chief creative officer on Monday after 20 years at the business in which he oversaw the design of some of the company’s most successful cars as well as the launch of a new-look, pink electric Jaguar that drew the ire of Donald Trump.Britain’s largest carmaker appointed PB Balaji as chief executive in August. Balaji, an Indian national, was previously the chief financial officer of Tata Motors, the Indian owner of JLR.Balaji was due to take over the reins of a business that was performing well, generating nearly three years of consecutive quarterly profits
HSBC appoints interim chair Brendan Nelson to permanent role
HSBC has appointed the former KPMG partner Brendan Nelson as its chair after a prolonged search process that left one of the world’s biggest banks without a permanent executive in the top role for months.The decision to appoint Nelson, who has been serving as interim chair, came as a surprise, after a protracted hunt for a permanent successor for Mark Tucker which involved courting external candidates including the former chancellor George Osborne and the head of Goldman Sachs’s Asia-Pacific division, Kevin Sneader.HSBC failed to find a permanent chair before Tucker left at the end of September, raising questions about the succession planning and the board’s effectiveness, with Tucker having first announced his decision to leave in May.Tucker, a former trainee professional footballer, left after eight years, outlasting three chief executives, to join the Hong Kong-based insurer AIA. The role of HSBC chair has become increasingly politicised, with Tucker navigating simmering tensions between the west and Beijing
Thames Water faces collapse as crisis talks take ‘longer than expected’
Thames Water has said crisis talks to secure its future with lenders are taking “longer than expected” and will drag into 2026 as it faces the prospect of a collapse into government control.Britain’s biggest water company on Wednesday said it had swung to a profit of £414m for the six months to September helped by bills rising by nearly a third, after losing £149m in the same period in 2024.Despite the jump in reported profits, the company said there was “material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt” on its status as a going concern. A collapse into government control under a special administration regime (SAR) – a form of temporary nationalisation – “could occur in the very near term” if it is unable to agree the terms of a formal takeover by its controlling lenders.Those creditors have asked the regulator, Ofwat, and the government for Thames to be let off future fines for pollution, arguing the prospect of hundreds of millions of pounds of extra costs is making a turnaround impossible
Australia’s eSafety commissioner rejects US Republican’s assertion she is a ‘zealot for global takedowns’
Sam Altman issues ‘code red’ at OpenAI as ChatGPT contends with rivals
The fight to see clearly through big tech’s echo chambers
‘The biggest decision yet’: Jared Kaplan on allowing AI to train itself
Charlie Kirk tops Wikipedia’s list of most-read articles in 2025
Age of the ‘scam state’: how an illicit, multibillion-dollar industry has taken root in south-east Asia