The holiday season from Thanksgiving to New years will soon be upon us. Roast turkey with all the trimmings is, in America the traditional festive dish of choice for most of us. Here is a roast turkey recipe, I’m certain you will enjoy.
Amateur chefs are continuously experimenting with various culinary dishes with a desire to improve them in taste and texture so as to enhance and entice our senses through aroma, and taste. This Roasted Stuffed Turkey is a sensational entree for the holidays, or for whenever you choose to enjoy a turkey.
Ingredients:
Choosing your turkey:
1 – 7 to 15 pound turkey or bigger if required, preferably pre-basted with butter either frozen or fresh.
If frozen defrost for at least 12 to 24 hours until fully thawed.
Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees F.
Cooking time: 1/2 hour per pound until your meat thermometer registers an inner temperature of 175 to 180 degrees F.
Preparing the StuffingIngredients:
1/2 a loaf of white bread 1/2 a loaf of brown bread break into small pieces
1 and a 1/2 tablespoons each salt, pepper, celery salt
1- 1 inch cube of salted butter
4 tablespoons sage powder
2 tablespoons each savoury, and poultry seasoning
2 tins plus 1 cup liquid chicken broth or chicken stock
1 medium sized onion (finely diced)
1 pound of pork sausage meat
20 to 30 large mushrooms (sliced)
Mix the bread, salt, pepper, and celery salt together in a large bowl or the top of your roasting pan. You should have a strong taste of the sage and a lightly salted taste.
In a large frying pan saute the sausage meat until lightly browned. To add extra flavour to the sausage meat you can season it with some salt and pepper and dried sage to taste.
Add the sausage meat to the bread mix
Saute together onion and mushrooms and add to breading
use your hands and toss all of this together gently rubbing these ingredients together.
Pour your 1 cup of chicken broth or stock over the mixture to moisten it.
Melt the cube of butter and add it to the stuffing mix
Preparing for roasting:Remove the bag of turkey parts and the neck from inside the bird. Rince the neck, gizzard and heart under cold water
Take a handful of salt and rub the inside of the bird vigorously with the salt spreading it all over the inside (into the front and rear cavities)
Carefully and lightly sprinkle some black pepper and some poultry seasoning inside the wide rear cavity and gently rub it into the flesh on the inside.
Put the Heart,Gizzard, and Neck back into the bird first, into the large cavity.
Stuff your bread mixture into the large cavity until full push down hard to get as much as possible in.
Stuff the remainder into the neck end.
Take a handful of soft butter or margarine and spread it all over the outside of the bird making certain to rub some on the legs and wings. Sprinkle the outside with some extra salt, pepper, celery salt, and poultry seasoning.
Ready for cooking
Loosely Cover the breast part of the bird with foil wrap this helps to keep the breast meat moist and juicy, by cooking a little slower. Insert your meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast keeping away from the bones.
Place the turkey breast side down inside your roasting pan and load it into the oven. For extra flavor pour in 2 tins of chicken stock.
By placing it breast side down this allows the injected butter once melted to settle around the breast meat to keep it moist and tender. Also once the turkey is done cooking and you invert the turkey rightside up, the juices will flow back into the meat keeping it moist and tender.
For doneness if you have a meat thermometer the inner temperature of the bird should be between 180 to 185 degrees F. and the outside should be a golden brown.
Remove bird once cooked from roasting pan and let sit to rest.
Once your turkey is cooked, remember to remove your stuffing from the cavities to make it easier for carving and serving also for health reasons.
pour off 1 and1/2 cups to 2 cups of meat juices. Strain out the pan drippings disposing of the unneeded juices but keeping the meat drippings for your gravy.
In a small bowl get 2 tablespoons of flour and blend with water until it liquifies and is blended together.
Re heat your roasting pan on top of the stove. Once hot Add back in the turkey juices and pan drippings, and slowly whisk the flour and water until it starts to become pasty. Carefully add in 1 cup of water and continue whisking until you have a thick creamy consistency. Your ready to serve. Turkey, Stuffing and Gravy.
This Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe is the most delicious dinner one could ever sit down to, add to it your favorite veggies some candied yams, maybe some frozen or fresh corn, and of course mashed potatoes, and dinner is ready, and don’t forget the cranberry sauce.
A special addition to this festive Thanksgiving dinner would be a nice hot tray of Yorkshire Pudding or some Hot dinner rolls to sop up some of the delicious gravy, or at the beginning of dinner.
For a delicious side dish to go with this dinner, try my recipe for “Sweet potato Casserole”. It will add a totally different dimension to this festive dinner that will tantalize your tastebuds.
Pumpkin Pie is a delicious ending to a delicious dinner.
Enjoy!
Making the gravy:
Sauteed Ingredients: