It’s very easy to get overwhelmed with the mammoth task of cooking the perfect traditional Christmas dinner from scratch. Fortunately, Ireland now has it’s very own solution.
Ryan, Roman and Sam started DropChef.com to make cooking a healthy dinner quick and fun. Their Dublin-based start-up delivers all the ingredients you need to cook a great dinner from scratch, along with an easy-to-follow recipe meaning you can cook incredible chef-designed recipes with great quality ingredients in 20-30 minutes.
This year they have teamed up with Hogan’s Farm, a turkey farm based in Kells, Co Meath, to deliver the best quality Christmas-in-a-box you will be able to find anywhere. The DropChef Christmas dinner comes with a traditional free range Woodland Bronze turkey, a selection of fresh, organic, root vegetables grown in Wicklow, organic smoked salmon, roast ham, along with all of the trimmings and the little things you really don’t want to forget.
Sam O’Byrne, co-founder of DropChef.com, pointed out that; “Partnering with a sustainable and traditional farmer like Paul Hogan was really important to us, their family farm has raised turkeys since 1962. Last year we trialled our Christmas dinner in a box with families of various sizes throughout Ireland and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.”
Paul Hogan, co-owner of Hogan’s Farm explains that not all turkeys are equal; “Our best turkeys available are our traditional free range Woodland Bronze, these bronze turkeys are totally free to roam and forage the grass and woodlands surrounding them, all day and night. Fed on a cereal-based diet as well as foraging off the natural woodland floor of foliage, berries and kale and treats such as apples and carrots. These turkeys are reared much slower than a normal turkey for Christmas, over the course of 7 months. This slow maturity and natural diet results in a much more flavoursome bird than your average turkey.”
Paul and his brother Fintan are the second generation of Hogan’s Farm. Upon our visit to their farm, their passion and enthusiasm shone through as they taught us about their farm’s history and farming practices. The brothers developed their own breed of turkey after growing up on the farm. These turkeys were part of the Hogan’s Farm Charlesfort Turkey Range, an exclusive breed named after the grounds in which they live: Charlesfort Estate, where Hogan's Farm is situated. An idyllic setting with it's roaming grasslands and mature woodlands of oak, beech and chestnut trees - a natural paradise for turkeys. Paul's prized turkeys are partially sheltered from the bitter north wind thanks to the large stone wall remains of the estate's old walled garden. Upon visiting this farm one can’t help but feel that farming means more to Paul and Fintan than work. As we were leaving the farm we passed by a handful of belted galloway cattle and jacob sheep, it seems that traditional farmers like Fintan and Paul may not be the only rare breed to be found around these parts.
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Sam recounts that he was tasked with finding the best quality turkey in Ireland. “My team and I were blown away by the farm, we really felt that the Hogan’s family philosophy and ethos were a perfect fit for DropChef. The next step was to create a fantastic product that would compliment this incredible find. Over the last three years our team has gained a huge amount of experience in creating recipes that are easy to follow yet have that real wow factor, the Christmas dinner project gave us so much more scope than usual to really go all out. Sourcing the best quality ingredients is one of the core parts of our business and as a result we track our produce from farm to fork. Through one of our local suppliers we were introduced to a Wicklow-based organic farm who will be supplying us with nearly all of the fresh vegetables that will be included in every order”.
Attention to detail
Customers that reserve their Christmas dinner from DropChef will benefit from having all the guesswork taken out of the day. Their recipe cards are really easy to follow, meaning you can actually enjoy cooking your Christmas dinner. On top of this, all the ingredients are measured, from the stuffing and gravy to the ham, turkey and vegetables. This means that you will definitely have enough for everyone and generous leftovers for Stephen’s Day.
As the Woodland Bronze turkey is part of a small flock, numbers are limited and reservations will be made on a first come first served basis. Reserve your Christmas dinner now.
DropChef is also offering a gift voucher for you or a friend to enjoy a healthy start to the new year. This is the perfect Christmas gift idea and can even be purchased last minute.