Antony Worrall Thompson's turkey
Look out for more Christmas cookery videos in the weeks running up to Christmas.
Roast Turkey with Spiced Rub
Serves 10-12
Ingredients
- 1 head garlic, cloves separated but not peeled, about 75g/3oz in total
- Olive oil, for drizzling
- 3 tbsp caraway seeds
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 4 tbsp Maldon sea salt, plus extra for seasoning
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 3 tbsp ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
- 1 and a half tsp ground turmeric
- 6 tbsp harissa or chilli sauce
- 6.5 kg/14 lb oven-ready turkey, at room temperature (preferably Kelly Bronze)
- About 40 g/1 and half oz unsalted butter, for greasing
- About 600ml/pint fresh turkey or chicken stock (from a carton is fine)
- 4 tbsp plain flour
- 300ml/half a pint white wine
Method
- For the marinade: Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6; fan oven 180°C from cold. Place the garlic cloves in a small roasting tin and drizzle over a little oil. Roast for 20 minutes until it’s completely tender. Remove from the oven and set aside until they are cool enough to handle.
- Push the roasted garlic pulp out of the skin, using the back of a knife - you’ll need three tablespoons in total.
- Heat a heavy-based frying pan and roast the caraway and cumin seeds for a couple of minutes until aromatic.
- Use the Antony Worrall Thompson by Breville 3-in-1 hand blender with the mini chopper attachment to blend the salt, oregano, rosemary, pepper and turmeric together or you could use a mini chopper.
- Grind the spices to a powder and then tip into a bowl. Add the garlic pulp and harissa or chilli sauce and mix well to combine.
- Using both hands, rub the mixture all over the skin of the turkey and into the cavity. Cover with a plastic film and leave to marinate at room temperature for 1-2 hours or for up to 24 hours in the fridge or in a cool place is best.
Roasting the turkey method
- Preheat the oven to 230°C/Gas 8; fan oven 210°C from cold.
- Wrap the roasting tin with foil so it’s much easier to get all the meat juices out to make the gravy.
- Add chopped up celery, carrots and onions into the tray. These all add to the flavour when you come to the gravy. When that’s all done then wrap up the turkey in the foil.
- Lay a large cross of foil under a large roasting tin lengthways leaving enough at each end to wrap over the turkey, then lightly butter the foil or ideally use non-stick foil.
- Repeat this exercise with another sheet of foil, this time across the roasting tin then lightly butter once again. Place the marinated turkey, breast side up in the centre of the foil, pour in the stock and wine; this will keep the turkey lovely and moist.
- Place the turkey in the oven and roast for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 190°C/gas mark 5 and roast for another 2 hours.
- About 30 minutes before the end of the estimated cooking time, fold back the foil, baste well and return to the oven until golden - just make sure that the ends of the drumsticks are still covered or they may burn.
- To be sure that the turkey is cooked, either insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh to check the temperature (75 - 80°C), or insert a fine skewer - the juices should run clear, but if they are still pink, return to the oven, laying a fresh sheet of foil over the turkey until it is well browned.