The Perfect Christmas Turkey Recipe
Turkey is the most popular festive meat with around 10 million Christmas turkeys being consumed in the UK each year
. Learn how to cook the perfect Christmas turkey this year with this informative recipe.
To begin you will need the following ingredients; a 14 pound (lb)/6.5 kilogram (kg) turkey (this will feed about 12 people), 175 grams (g) of butter (this will need to be adjusted if you have a different sized turkey), 3.5 litres (ltr) of stuffing (this will need to be adjusted if you have a different sized turkey), 4 cups of water or turkey stock, salt, ground pepper, 5 chopped carrots, 500g of frozen, mixed vegetables, 500g of chopped mushrooms, 3 large, chopped onions and 3 large, chopped bell peppers.
You will also need the following cooking instruments; an oven pre-heated to gas mark 7, 425 degrees F (220 degrees C), a roasting tin, an oven proof bowl, a turkey baster and a meat thermometer.
Once you have all the above prepared follow this recipe to cook the perfect Christmas turkey:
- 1) Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 7, 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
- 2) Remove the giblets from the middle of the turkey.
- 3) Add your favourite stuffing. You should put two thirds in the neck end between the neck and skin and then tuck the neck flap against the back of the bird, securing it with a skewer. After this you will need to flip the turkey over and tuck in the wings. Then you can put the remaining third of stuffing in the body cavity. When stuffing the turkey make sure you do not pack it in too tightly to ensure that it heats properly. Once the turkey is fully stuffed you will need to tie the legs together using some heavy duty kitchen twine.
- 4) Place the turkey in a roasting tin.
- 5) Place any remaining stuffing in an oven proof bowl and cover this with foil.
- 6) Spread 175g of softened butter over the turkey's skin.
- 7) Add the carrot, mushroom, onion and pepper to the roasting tin.
- 8) Sprinkle salt and pepper over the buttered turkey and vegetables.
- 9) Pour two cups of water or turkey stock into the roasting tin.
- 10) Place the turkey in the pre-heated oven for 40 minutes.
- 11) Remove the turkey and baste it with the juices at the bottom of the roasting tin.
- 12) Reduce the oven temperature to gas mark 3, 325 degrees F (170 degrees C) and place the turkey back in the oven to cook for a further 3 and a 1/2 hours.
- 13) Every 30 minutes remove the turkey from the oven and baste it with the juices at the bottom of the roasting tin.
- 14) Increase the temperature of the oven to gas mark 6, 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and cook the turkey and stuffing for a further 30 minutes.
- 15) Remove the turkey and pierce the thigh to see if the juices run clear. If they do not then put the turkey back in the oven and keep testing for readiness every 10 minutes. Once the juices do run clear insert your meat thermometer into the turkey along the breast bone and check that the temperature is between 160 degrees F (71 degrees C) and 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Then insert your meat thermometer into the turkey leg and check that the temperature is 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Once the turkey is ready cover it and the vegetables in foil and leave them to stand for 45 minutes.
- 16) Place the bowl of remaining stuffing into the oven and cook for 20 minutes at gas mark 4, 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and then 20 minutes at gas mark 6, 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Then remove the stuffing and check that the top is golden brown. If not put the bowl of stuffing back in the oven and keep testing for readiness every 5 minutes. Once ready take the stuffing out of the oven, remove the foil and add the stuffing from inside the turkey to the bowl.
- 17) Carve the turkey and serve with a portion of vegetables from the roasting tin, some gravy and some stuffing.
by: Tom Parker
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