Roast turkeyAll recipes serve 10-12 with generous leftovers
Roast Turkey with Giblet Gravy
- 6.75kg/15lb oven-ready fresh bronze turkey with giblets at room temperature
- prepared chestnut stuffing (see previous recipe)
- 4 onions
- 1 lemon
- 4 garlic cloves
- few sprigs rosemary
- 4 bay leaves
- 100g/4oz soft butter
- 1 lemon
- 2 glasses white wine, approx 300ml/1/2 pt
For the giblet stock:
- Giblets, excluding liver, from the turkey
- 2 carrots, approx 200g/8fl oz
- 2 stalks celery
- 1 onion
- 6 black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
For the gravy:
- 1 tbsp redcurrant jelly
- 1 heaped tbsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp water
First make the giblet stock. Chop the vegetables and place in a pan with 1 litre/1 3/4 pts cold water, the peppercorns and bay leaves. Bring to the boil, skim then simmer for 1 hour. Strain, cool, skim and chill until required.
Pre-heat the oven to 425F/220C/gas mark 7. Peel the onions. Quarter one and chop the others. In a roasting tin, make a bed for the turkey with chopped onion and bay leaves. Fill the neck cavity with the stuffing and secure. Quarter the lemon and crush the garlic. Fill the cavity of the bird with the quartered onion, lemon, garlic and rosemary.
Place the turkey over the chopped onions and smear with butter. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 45 minutes. Reduce the oven to 350F/180C/gas mark 4. Remove most of the fat from the pan, squeeze the lemon over the bird and add the wine. Cover the breast, ends of the drumsticks and the stuffing with foil if it looks too brown and return for a further 2 1/2 hours, removing the foil for the last 30 minutes. Insert a skewer or meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh. If the juices run clear (or the temperature reads 72C) then you know it's done. If not return for a further 30 minutes.
When cooked, remove to a serving platter, cover with foil and leave for at least 30 minutes before carving, allowing the meat to relax, resulting in juicier flesh.
For the gravy, remove as much fat as possible from the juices in the pan. Place the pan over a medium heat and add the redcurrant jelly and wine. With a wooden spoon, loosen any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan and simmer gently as the jelly melts. Add the giblet stock, bring to the boil and stir in the cornflour until it thickens slightly. Simmer for 5 minutes, season to taste, strain into a jug and keep warm.
Chestnut Pork Stuffing with Spinach and Lemon
- 1 large onion, approx 250g/9oz
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 100g/4oz smoked rindless bacon
- 15g/1/2oz fresh thyme
- 350g/12oz young spinach
- 200g/8oz Merchant Gourmet vacuum packed whole chestnuts
- 1 kg/1 3/4lb Cumberland sausages
- 1 large unwaxed lemon
- 100g/4oz couscous
- 150ml/5fl oz boiling water
Peel and finely chop the onion then gently soften in 2 tbsp oil. Chop the bacon and strip the thyme from its stalks. Zest the lemon and chop very finely. Stir bacon and thyme into the onion. Cook for about 10 minutes to crisp the bacon. Stir the zest into the onions and leave to cool.
Meanwhile, slit the sausage skins and remove the meat to a mixing bowl. Heat 1 tbsp oil in wok, add the spinach and toss with tongs for about 30 seconds until wilted. Tip into a colander to drain and cool. Squeeze until dry then chop.
Stir the cous cous into 150ml boiling water, cover, leave for 10 minutes. Coarsely chop the chestnuts. Add onions, spinach, cous cous and chestnuts to the sausage meat. Add the
juice of the lemon, season generously with salt and pepper then mulch together until evenly mixed. Store in the fridge for 48 hours or freeze until required, allowing 24 hours to defrost and soften.
Leftover stuffing can be formed into small burgers, oiled, laid out on a baking tray and roasted for 20 minutes in a hot oven.
Traditional Bread Sauce
- 2 medium onions
- 3 bay leaves
- 18 cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 10 black peppercorns
- 1 litre/1 3/4pt milk
- 200g/8oz fresh white breadcrumbs made with stale bread
- knob of butter
- 2 tbsp thick cream (optional)
Peel and slice the onions and place in a pan with the bay leaves, cloves, salt, peppercorns and milk. Bring slowly to just below boiling point. Reduce the heat to very low and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and leave until cold. Strain, cover and chill until required. Just before serving, reheat the milk, stir in the breadcrumbs and then the butter and cream (if you like a very rich sauce).
Read more of Lindsey Bareham's recipes in her books: The Fish Store, ISBN 0718148096 and The Prawn Cocktail Years by SH, ISBN 0718149807, both published by Michael Joseph.