Turkey

Christmas Turkey

We have given up trying to eat Christmas dinner at lunch time, 5pm seems to be optimum for us, everyone is up, has had lots of presents and cava, and we have not had to get up at 3am to cook the turkey… and it gives us an excuse to eat smoked salmon and scrambled eggs and Chelsea buns for brunch too, with bucks fizz, naturally…

Boil the giblets and stuff the turkey the day before. Chestnuts the small end, thyme and parsley the big end, and sew it up. Cover with streaky bacon and wrap loosely in 2 sheets of foil, one one way, one the other.way. Leave out of the fridge overnight to get to room temperature. Cook as follows:

Preheat the oven 200C

1 hour on 200C

4-5 hrs on 170C for a 6.57-9kg turkey (2.5-3 hrs for 3.5-4.5kg turkey) (3.5 hrs for 6.5kg turkey)

Last blast, 15 mins just to brown (no foil) on 200C

Rest 1 hour at kitchen temperature.

It is cooked when the meat button says it is when poked into the widest part of the thigh, and also when the juices run clear and there is no blood.

After resting, carve it Jamie Oliver’s way, by cutting the limbs off first, then cutting down the side of the breast bone, to remove the breasts and slicing each breast fillet on a board in thin (ish) slices. Arrange on a platter with the dark meat around the edge. This is a great way to carve 2 turkeys very quickly (before everyone has died of boredom).

Chestnut Stuffing

Allow hours for this, and make sure there is plenty of sherry to keep everyone interested:

3kg Chestnuts (15 adults)

Put a cross on the top of each nut and boil for about 20mins. They are done when the inside comes out easily, don’t include the brown skin. You don’t need to add any salt or pepper. Au naturale is fine.

Thyme & Parsley Stuffing

Mum makes this and she doesn’t really know how she does it, but it always involves:

Lemon, juice and zest

White bread crumbs

Streaky bacon

Fresh parsley

Thyme (dried)

Suet

She never knows how she does it, so it’s a case of going for it and hoping for the best!

In 2011, we had 2 turkeys, one was 7.8kg, the other 4.2kg. This was enough for 30 adult portions.

Amanda

Nantgwynfaen Organic Farm