It's the most important part of Christmas dinner. The part that (usually) mother's slave over for hours on end. When I think back to any childhood Christmas, the two things that always stand out are the turkey and, of course, the presents! The smell of it roasting evokes warm memories of great family celebrations and playing in a sea of new toys strewn all over the kitchen floor. It does however also divide opinion. It has been labelled dry, flavourless and boring and in some families has been scrapped for a "tastier" Christmas meal.
The flavour of a turkey, or any meet for that matter, can be directly linked to the life which the animal led. The commercially produced animals have little space to move and so cannot develop the deeper flavour of their free range or organic cousins. A traditional breed of turkey can also guarantee flavour and the meet tends to be a little browner than a regular bird.
Regardless of the type of bird, the most important thing about cooking turkey is: DO NOT OVERCOOK IT! Buy a thermometer, it will be your best friend and not just for Christmas. The turkey is done when the internal temperature reaches 73 degress celcius (an organic turkey can be removed at 65 degrees). That could happen a matter of hours before you are used to taking the turkey out of the oven and once not overcooked it should keep its moisture much better. Resting is also extremely important to allow the juices to redistribute evenly throughout the turkey, 40 minutes to an hour is perfect.
There is much debate on how best to cook the turkey. Some like to cook it upside down, some like to stuff under the skin while some like to put it in a big foil tent. All of this falls a distinct second to cooking time. Once it's not overcooked everything else is secondary. I do like to stuff under the skin of the bird and, because I use a free-range/organic bronze turkey which cooks in about half the time of a conventional bird, I don't bother with a foil tent.
My grandmother's trick of putting a pound of sausages into the cavity of the turkey may sound strange but does produce the greatest sausages known to mankind. We are probably the only family that eat sausages with our Christmas dinner!
I would like to extend a massive thank you to David at Termonfeckin Delicious for supplying me with a Bronze Turkey in August!
Instructions
(free range or organic bronze turkey):
1. Take the turkey out of the fridge at least 1 hour before cooking and remove any giblets from the cavity. Season the cavity with plenty of salt and pepper.
2. Run your hands under the skin of the turkey, lifting it a little from the meat. Stuff all of this with your stuffing, trying to be relatively even.
3. Grease a large roasting tin and add thyme stalks, a sliced onion, 2 whole cloves of garlic, a chopped carrot, a bay leaf and plenty of seasoning. This will add lots of flavour to your gravy.
4. Place your turkey on top of the veg and put approx. 1 lb of sausages in its cavity. Pour 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil all over the top/legs of the turkey and season generously with salt and pepper.
5. Put into a pre-heated 170 degree (fan) oven and allow to cook for 2 hrs and 30 minutes (15lb) before checking the thigh with a thermometer. If your turkey is smaller, check it a few minutes earlier. If it’s not cooked just put it back in the oven and check at 5-10 minute intervals.
6. Remove from the oven and carefully lift the turkey onto a large plate/serving dish. Loosely cover with 3-4 layers of aluminium foil. Allow to rest for 40-45 minutes while you make the gravy.
For a standard commercial turkey the recommended cooking time is often quoted as 35 to 40 minutes per KG and should be cooked under a foil tent to avoid it drying out too much. You can take the foil off for the final hour to give a crispy skin. Basting the turkey with the pan juices every hour or so will also help to keep the bird moist.
Recipes for great gravy, stuffing, roasties, veg and ham are all coming over the next couple of weeks.
Labels: Christmas, Roast, Sausage, Thanksgiving, Turkey
