The Perfect Christmas Turkey Recipe
Cooking time
Raymond Blanc explains an easy way to prepare a show-stopping roast turkey on your all-important Christmas dinner.
Cooking time
1 x 5kg/11lb good-quality free-range turkey , preferably organically reared, wishbone removed (ask your butcher to take out the wings and neck and chop them into 2.5cm/1in pieces to work with in the dish)
40g/1½oz unsalted butter , softened to room temperature
200ml/7fl oz water
1-2 tsp ground arrowroot (depending on how thick you enjoy your gravy), dissolved in 1 tbsp cold water
roast potatoes and steamed seasonal vegetables, to serve
Method
Remove the turkey from your fridge and provide to room temperature - this can take no less than an hour.
When you are ready to prepare, preheat the oven to 230C/220C fan/Gas 8.
Heat the rapeseed oil within a large, heavy-based roasting tray about the stove top. Add the chopped turkey wings and neck and fry for 8-10 minutes, turning the pieces over every 2-3 minutes, or until evenly browned across.
Meanwhile, in the small bowl, soften the butter using the back of an dessert spoon, then season together with the salt and freshly ground white pepper. Using a pastry brush or perhaps your hands, smear the seasoned butter everywhere the turkey. Add any remaining butter for the roasting tray when the chopped wings and neck have browned.
Place the turkey in addition to the wing and neck pieces, then roast within the oven for thirty minutes.
Remove the turkey in the oven and baste everywhere with the cooking juices.
Reduce the oven temperature to 160C/150C fan/Gas 3.
Pour the stream into the roasting tray, then return the turkey towards the oven and continue in order to smoke for a further one hour, basting the bird using the cooking juices every twenty or so minutes (accomplish this quickly in order to avoid the heat escaping on the oven).
At the tip of the cooking time, test how the turkey is cooked through by inserting a skewer or roasting fork into your thickest component of its thigh; should the juices run clear, the meat is cooked. Alternatively, make use of a meat thermometer; if cooked, the temperature ought to be 74°C or over. If the turkey isn't fully cooked, return it to your oven to get a further twenty minutes or prior to the juices run clear.
Remove the turkey from your oven and transfer the bird into a large, deep-sided tray, reserving the roasting tray the turkey was cooked in along using the cooking juices. Set the turkey aside to rest for the minimum of half an hour and nearly 1½ hours.
While the turkey is resting, cook your roast potatoes and vegetable dishes.
When you're almost able to serve the meal, return the roasting tray used in order to cook the turkey for the stove top. Bring the cooking juices for the boil more than a medium heat, scraping up any burned bits on the bottom in the tray employing a wooden spoon.
Collect the juices released because of the turkey because it was resting and add them towards the gravy. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper, as required.
Reduce the temperature until the gravy is simmering, then stir from the dissolved arrowroot and cook before gravy has thickened.
Strain the gravy by way of a fine sieve right into a warmed jug. Keep warm.
To serve, bring the turkey towards the table and carve into slices. Serve using the roast potatoes and vegetables. Pour within the gravy.
Recipe Tips
Tip 1: As is frequently the way with regards to cooking, purchasing the best quality things that you can afford is the vital thing to making this dish taste spectacular. If you are unable make use of a fresh turkey, ensure your frozen turkey is thoroughly defrosted prior to starting. Whether you're having a fresh or frozen bird, give it time to return to room temperature for before cooking.
Tip 2: Resting the turkey is a process that enables the meat to get tender and succulent as being the juices within the meat are more evenly distributed through the entire bird - so don't skip this stage!
Tip 3: You may be just a little concerned about the cooking time (or not enough it). Believe me, it's been tried, tested and tried again. During the cooking process the Turkey will absord the heat from your oven this also absorbed heat will continue to prepare the bird since it rests which could increase the internal temperature by approximately 10C, depending for the size with the Turkey.
Find a recipe on BBC Food
Quick & Easy
0 Response to "The Perfect Christmas Turkey Recipe"
Post a Comment