[recipe] Roast Turkey
This is how I roasted turkey for 10. When 6 people were eating. Still lots of turkey leftovers for Christmas Day turkey sandwiches (I'm cooking beef), turkey risotto, and other turkey meals!
First of all, I made a trivet. Even though I'd forgotten the word, I remember it worked well last year.
I peeled and chopped a couple of carrots. I chopped a leek or two, and a large onion, and picked a few large garlic bulbs, and put them in the roasting dish. I also put the neck from the giblets bag in the trivet. Peta made a Paxo stuffing, which I stuffed into the breast via the neck cavity, until it was almost full, at which point I put the turkey normal side up, and Peta coated it in butter, and then I stuck it in the oven at about 220, for 20 mins, for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's 'High Heat Sizzle'.
After the 20 mins, I turned the heat down to 190, and I turned the turkey over, poured a third of a litre of decent cider (Aspall's rather than Strongbow) into the roasting dish, and covered the whole lot in foil. I then let it cook for what I thought was half the cooking time(remember, this was a BIG turkey, over 5kg).
So, after another hour and a half, I turned the turkey back the right way up. At what I thought was turkey removal time, I looked at the turkey, and it looked a bit pale and not very interesting, so I removed the foil, Peta coated it in juices, and we gave it another half an hour. After that half an hour, I left it rest, back under the foil with some tea towels on top for added insulation, for another half an hour, at which point everything else was ready, and I let childeric loose with a carving knife!
For the gravy, I just added some more water and gravy granules to the trivet base, and then sieved it before serving.
First of all, I made a trivet. Even though I'd forgotten the word, I remember it worked well last year.
I peeled and chopped a couple of carrots. I chopped a leek or two, and a large onion, and picked a few large garlic bulbs, and put them in the roasting dish. I also put the neck from the giblets bag in the trivet. Peta made a Paxo stuffing, which I stuffed into the breast via the neck cavity, until it was almost full, at which point I put the turkey normal side up, and Peta coated it in butter, and then I stuck it in the oven at about 220, for 20 mins, for Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's 'High Heat Sizzle'.
After the 20 mins, I turned the heat down to 190, and I turned the turkey over, poured a third of a litre of decent cider (Aspall's rather than Strongbow) into the roasting dish, and covered the whole lot in foil. I then let it cook for what I thought was half the cooking time(remember, this was a BIG turkey, over 5kg).
So, after another hour and a half, I turned the turkey back the right way up. At what I thought was turkey removal time, I looked at the turkey, and it looked a bit pale and not very interesting, so I removed the foil, Peta coated it in juices, and we gave it another half an hour. After that half an hour, I left it rest, back under the foil with some tea towels on top for added insulation, for another half an hour, at which point everything else was ready, and I let childeric loose with a carving knife!
For the gravy, I just added some more water and gravy granules to the trivet base, and then sieved it before serving.