Roast Turkey is always absolutely delicious at Christmas. First steamed with aromatics, then roast until the skin is crisp, it is beautifully tender, moist and full of flavour. As well as Apricot stuffing, I like to serve cranberry and bread sauce with my turkey, plenty of beautiful vegetables and roast potatoes with lots of Gravy.
Serves 6
6kg Bronze Turkey
170g Softened butter
250 Sliced pancetta or streaky bacon
1 Onion
1 Leek
1carrot
2 Sticks of celery
½ Bulb of garlic
10g Thyme and 3 bay leaves
Apricot Stuffing
Bread Sauce
Roast Potatoes
Buttered Sprouts
Savoy Cabbage
Carrots
Gravy
Chipolatas Sausage (Optional)
Cranberry Sauce
Method
Preheat the oven to 210°C. Season the Turkey well inside and out. Fill cavity with stuffing. Place bird into a roasting tray and spread butter over the entire bird, now cover with bacon.
Cut in half: 1 onion, 1 leek, 1 carrot, 2 sticks of celery and half a garlic bulb and place around the turkey. Add 10g of thyme and 3 bay leaves. Now pour 1 litre of water into the roasting tray. Cover the entire tray with tin foil. Make sure the tin foil is tightly covering the turkey and roasting tray so that the turkey will steam.
Place in the oven and leave for 45 minutes, after 45 minutes, turn the oven down to 170oC and continue cooking for another 2 hours. For the last half hour of cooking remove tin foil from the turkey and peel off bacon. Turn the oven up to 200oC and roast until the skin of the turkey is golden brown and crisp. Once roasted remove from the oven and allow resting for 45 minutes.
(The bacon can be cut into smaller pieces fried off then served with the Brussels sprouts or kept for the amazing soup that can be made with leftovers on Boxing Day)
Chipolatas Sausage (optional)
Wrap sausage in bacon and cook in oven at 200oC until golden brown
Cranberry Sauce
40g Orange Zest
400mls Orange Juice
1kg Cranberries
0.5g Ground Ginger
0.5g Mixed Spice
0.5g Cinnamon
400g Brown Sugar
Method
Juice and Zest oranges place in a pan with spices and reduce by half. Add cranberries, bring back to the boil, simmer for 10 minutes and remove from heat.
Apricot Stuffing
1kg Pork Mince
150g dried Apricots
150g bread crumbs
1 Onion finely chopped
1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence
2 cloves Garlic chopped
50ml Brandy
Salt and Pepper
Method
Bring Apricots to the boil in the brandy and a splash of water then leave to soak until softened. Drain off liquid and dice apricots.
Combine all ingredients, correct seasoning and fill cavity of the Turkey.
Bread Sauce
250mls Milk
Half onion studded with one clove
Bay leaf
100g white bread, crusts removed
Nutmeg to taste
Salt and pepper
1 Tsp double cream
Method
Simmer milk with onion, clove and bay leaf then strain over bread. Stir until bread softens then add cream, nutmeg and season. Serve warm.
Brussels sprouts
1kg Sprouts
250g butter
Salt and pepper
Method: Peel outer leaves from sprouts and crisscross the bottom of them. Blanch Sprouts in boiling water for 3 minutes then drain and finish in a large pan with plenty of butter. Cook sprouts on a low heat until slightly caramelised and meltingly delicious.
Season and drain excess fat.
Gravy
Any Turkey bits from the bottom of the roasting tray.
1 Carrot
1 Onion
1 stick Celery
1 clove Garlic
10g Thyme
500mls Red Wine
1 Litre Chicken Stock
500mls Veal Stock
Method
Pour all excess fat from Turkey roasting tray then add carrots, celery and onion and cook until caramelised. Add red wine and reduce, add chicken and veal stock and aromatics and allow reducing to sauce consistency. Pass through a fine sieve into a clean pan then place back on the stove. Bring to the boil correct seasoning and whisk 50g butter into the gravy, serve hot.
To Serve
Serve the turkey with stuffing, Roast Potatoes, Buttered Carrots, Savoy Cabbage, Buttered Sprouts, Bread Sauce and gravy. As its Christmas, Chipolatas sausage and cranberry sauce are optional but always go down very well.
I like my roast potatoes cooked in vegetable oil but Goose fat does make them taste very nice.
Note: Keep all leftovers for Soups, sandwiches or various pasta dishes
