Place all the stuffing ingredients in a bowl. Season with plenty of salt and black pepper and mix well. If the bird has its liver and giblets, you can chop the liver and add this to the stuffing, too. Chill the stuffing in the fridge until ready to use.

To bone the bird, begin by removing the wingtips. Set them aside, together with the other bones when they are removed, to make stock. Slip your fingers under the skin at the neck hole, and work the skin back until you expose one of the shoulder joints. Using your knife, cut through the shoulder joint to separate the wing bones from the carcass. Repeat the process with the other wing.

Pull the skin a little further back over the breast, to expose the wishbone. Once you have exposed the upper part of the breast, use your sharpest knife to cut under and along the wishbone to free it of the breast meat. Remove the wishbone and add it to the stock pile.

Place the bird breast-side down, remove the parson’s nose and cut the skin from there to the hip joint of the leg. With the point of the knife, separate the hip joint. You are now ready to trim the meat from the carcass. With the breast-side down, cut down in long, gentle slices. Keep the blade near the ribs, pushing the chicken or turkey flesh back as you go; the effect will be rather like turning a sock inside out. Be careful during this phase to keep the blade of the knife pointed towards the carcass and be particularly careful when you get to the top of the breastbone, lest you inadvertently puncture the skin. When you have done both sides, hold the carcass and allow the meat to hang below. Cut horizontally to separate the carcass from the meat – don’t cut the skin!

Now, time for the legs. Grasp the thigh bone at the hip end and start to separate the meat from the thigh. Scrape the meat off the thigh bone. At this stage you can cut off the thigh bone, leaving the drumstick in, or continue stripping back the meat and taking out both the bones. Cut off the end of the leg. If we are roasting a stuffed, boned bird, we tend to leave the bones in the wings and drumsticks, as the final dish when presented at the table looks very like a normal roasted bird. And ever since Arthur’s first Christmas, he has had a drumstick as part of his Christmas traditions, though they no longer dwarf him!

Finally, take the boned meat and skin and reform it back into the shape of the bird. To stuff the bird, it is easiest to put it breast-side down and place your stuffing on the breast meat and push the stuffing into the thigh cavities. Then pull the edges of the skin together and either sew them or weave a skewer through the skin to join it together. If you have decided not to even attempt the boning (shame on you!), to stuff your bird, gently push your fingers up under the skin of the breast from the neck end. When the skin is loose, push the stuffing in so it covers about half the breast and then fill the large flap of skin with the remainder. Turn the bird over and use a skewer to hold the flap of skin to the base of the bird.

Smear the bird with butter. Most people have their own family secret approach to ensuring the perfect roast turkey. As the birds are bigger, the breast meat needs to be protected, so we always cover the bird with a layer of streaky bacon over the butter and loosely place foil over the bird until the last stages of cooking when it can be allowed to brown. All weights need to include the stuffing too! For smaller birds up to 6kg (12lb 12oz) they are best cooked like chicken on a higher heat for a shorter period of time. Preheat the oven to 190°C/Fan 170°C/375°F and allow about 10 minutes per pound. For larger birds preheat the oven to 165°C/ Fan 145°C/329°F and allow 20 minutes per 500g (1lb 2oz). Baste several times during the cooking.

Once the bird has roasted, leave it to rest as you finish all the side dishes. Do not stress about leaving a turkey for 45 minutes while you roast the potatoes in the oven; we cover our turkey in foil and set a couple of tea towels over it and it really benefits from the rest!