Turkey talk

CHRISTMAS Day is on Tuesday. When it comes to Christmas meals, many cooks avoid turkey and prepare instead chicken, beef or even curry duck. Turkey has received a bad rap because it is often overcooked and so becomes dry in texture. We can overcome this simply by brining. This serves to make the turkey meat moister and brings out the flavour of the meat. If your turkey is injected with butter or some sort of moisture-giving flavouring, it is not recommended that you brine.

Here’s another reason why most prefer to stay away from turkey, it’s often too large a bird, and so we are forced to eat turkey weeks after Christmas. Well then simply start with a smaller bird, it’s easier to handle and will be finished in no time! Happy Christmas and Bon Appetit!

How to brine your turkey:

Remove neck, gizzards etc. from turkey cavity, rinse your bird thoroughly. Combine one cup salt with 6 quarts of water, place your turkey in a large plastic bag, doubling up works well here. Pour in the brine solution. Tie your bag closed and then place in a large pot or roasting pan. Refrigerate for about 12 to 24 hours, flipping the turkey few times. Remove turkey from brine solution, rinse well and pat dry before seasoning.

If you’re stuffing your turkey here are some helpful hints:

Always stuff your turkey before roasting. Never use stuffing that is warm or cold; your stuffing should be at room temperature.

Stuffing should be loosely packed in the turkey cavity and neck to allow room for it to expand during cooking. If your stuffing is too tightly packed your stuffing will be dense.

When your turkey is cooked always remove all the stuffing from the cavity at once, leaving unused stuffing in the cavity could promote harmful bacteria growth if you eat it at a later date. Refrigerate unused stuffing separately.

If you have leftover unbaked stuffing, make them into patties and sauté them in a little olive oil or butter.

Roast turkey

1 12-14 lb turkey

10 cups stuffing

½ cup butter, softened

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cup minced fresh herbs pureed with ¼-cup olive oil

(¼ cup fresh thyme, ½ cup chopped chives, ¼ cup

Fresh parsley, ⅛ cup garlic)

1 cup water

The night before cooking your turkey, rinse the turkey, pat it dry and season it inside out with salt and pepper. Rub the minced herb mixture over turkey completely, cover and leave refrigerated overnight.

The next day bring your turkey to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 425F.

Pack the neck cavity loosely with some of the stuffing, fold the neck skin under the body of the turkey and fasten it with a skewer.

Pack the body cavity loosely with the remaining stuffing and truss the turkey.

Spread the turkey with the butter, place it on a roasting pan and roast it in the oven for 30 minutes.

Reduce the temperature to 325F. Baste the turkey with the pan juices and add the water to the pan.

Roast the turkey, basting it every 20 minutes for 2½ to 3 hours more. Or until a meat thermometer inserted into the fleshiest part of the thigh registers 180F, and the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced.

Transfer the turkey to a platter, remove the string and cover loosely with foil.

Remove stuffing. When turkey has cooled, then proceed to carve.

Serves 10 –12 persons.

Turkey cooking times:

Here are some guidelines for you to follow when roasting your turkey. Some recipes will tell you to start the roasting process at a temperature of about 425F, this is to brown your turkey before the cooking process begins, after this time you will lower your temperature to 325F and continue cooking.

Weight Unstuffed/Stuffed

10-18 pounds 3-3½ hours; 3¾- 4½hours

18-22 pounds 3½-4 hours; 4-5 hours

22-24 pounds 4-4½ hours; 4½-5 hours

24 to 29 pounds 4½-5 hours; 5½-6¼ hours

Christmas stuffing

1 lb chicken giblets, cleaned and finely chopped

1 tbs minced chives

1 tsp minced garlic

4 tbs vegetable oil

1 tbs finely-chopped garlic

1 cup finely-chopped onions

4 tbs French thyme, fresh

5 pimento peppers, seeded and chopped

1 hot pepper, seeded and chopped

¼ cup chopped celery

½ cup chopped fresh chives

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

6 cups, soft breadcrumbs

½ cup currants

⅓ cup French thyme

4 ozs butter, melted (optional)

½ cup chicken stock

Clean giblets and mince in food processor, season or combine with minced chives and garlic.

In a large sauté pan, heat oil, add garlic, onions, thyme, peppers, celery, chives and cook and stir until onions are tender, add giblets and stir until they have lost their pinkness, about 2 minutes, add currants and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Add bread crumbs, and combine well, add thyme and melted butter and stir.

If your stuffing seems a little dry, moisten stuffing with a little chicken stock adding only about one tablespoon at a time until moist but not wet.

Turn onto plate and cool before stuffing into bird.

Serves 8