Roast Turkey Recipe
Merry Christmas!
I made Jamie Oliver's Christmas Turkey, and it was amazingly juicy and aromatic.
There are several more turkey recipes on his website, but this one is simple to make, with amazing results!
Jamie says, "If you’re worried about cooking the perfect Christmas turkey because you’re afraid you’ll get it wrong, don’t be. This recipe is nice and simple and will help you achieve brilliant results for your Christmas meal."
Jamie Oliver's Christmas Turkey
Serves 8-10
(my notes in parentheses)
• 5kg turkey, preferably free-range or organic
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 clementine, (or a tangerine)
• a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped (quartered)
• 2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped(including leaves, cut in thirds)
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped (large pieces. If you think you'll eat them later, then peel them)
For the stuffing
• olive oil
• 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• a few sprigs of fresh sage, leaves picked and roughly chopped
• 300g good-quality pork mince (that's more than 1/2 pound, but less than one. It's just over 10 ounces. By "mince", he means ground pork)
• a large handful of breadcrumbs (I used two slices white bread with crusts removed, pulsed in the food processor)
Take your turkey out of the fridge about an hour before you’re ready to cook it so it comes up to room temperature before roasting.
Give it a good rinse then pat it dry with some kitchen paper (paper towels), making sure you soak up any water in the cavity.
Drizzle the meat with a good lug of olive oil, add a few good sprinkles of salt and pepper and then rub this seasoning all over the bird, making sure you get in to all the nooks and crannies.
Preheat your oven to full whack (as high as it goes. The key to this recipe is that initial heat, then the decrease) then get started on your stuffing.
Pour a lug or two of olive oil into a large pan on a medium heat and fry off your chopped onion for about 10 minutes or until softened.
Stir in a good pinch of salt and pepper, the ground nutmeg and your chopped sage leaves, then continue to fry and stir for another minute or two.
Spoon the onion mixture into a large bowl and let it cool completely.
Once cooled, add your pork mince (raw) and breadcrumbs and use your hands to really scrunch everything together.
Once it’s mixed really well, bring the stuffing together into a ball, then cover and chill until you’re ready to stuff your turkey.
Pull the skin at the neck-end back so you can see a cavity and push about half of your stuffing inside your turkey (meaning not the neck hole, but right beneath it near the breast. Filling that cavity gives the turkey a nicely rounded appearance). Not too much: you don’t want to pack it so tightly it slows down the cooking.
Once done, pull and fold the skin over the opening and tuck it under the bird so it looks nice. (this goes downside in your pan, so it stays without pinning)
Turn the turkey around and drop a few small pieces of stuffing into the larger cavity (small pieces torn off. Fill maybe an inch deep) along with your clementine halves and a few sprigs of rosemary.
Place your roughly chopped veg in the bottom of a roasting pan and lay your turkey on top. (this keeps the turkey off the pan bottom)
Cover the turkey with tin foil then put it in the hot oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 180°c/350°f/gas 4.
Cook for about 35 to 40 minutes per kilo.
The 5kg bird in this recipe will take about 3 to 3½ hours.
Check on your turkey every 20 minutes or so and keep it from drying out by basting it with the lovely juices from the bottom of the pan.
After 2½ hours, remove the foil so the skin gets golden and crispy.
When the time is up, take your turkey out of the oven and stick a small sharp knife into the fattest part of the thigh.
If the juices run clear and the meat pulls apart easily, it’s ready. (about 165 degrees is considered correct now. It used to be 180, but 165 is fine)
If not, pop the turkey back in the oven to cook for a bit longer then check again. Once ready, cover the turkey with tin foil and a few clean tea towels for 30 minutes and let it rest while you get your veg and gravy ready.
I made Jamie Oliver's Christmas Turkey, and it was amazingly juicy and aromatic.
There are several more turkey recipes on his website, but this one is simple to make, with amazing results!
Jamie says, "If you’re worried about cooking the perfect Christmas turkey because you’re afraid you’ll get it wrong, don’t be. This recipe is nice and simple and will help you achieve brilliant results for your Christmas meal."
Jamie Oliver's Christmas Turkey
Serves 8-10
(my notes in parentheses)
• 5kg turkey, preferably free-range or organic
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 clementine, (or a tangerine)
• a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped (quartered)
• 2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped(including leaves, cut in thirds)
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped (large pieces. If you think you'll eat them later, then peel them)
For the stuffing
• olive oil
• 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• a few sprigs of fresh sage, leaves picked and roughly chopped
• 300g good-quality pork mince (that's more than 1/2 pound, but less than one. It's just over 10 ounces. By "mince", he means ground pork)
• a large handful of breadcrumbs (I used two slices white bread with crusts removed, pulsed in the food processor)
Take your turkey out of the fridge about an hour before you’re ready to cook it so it comes up to room temperature before roasting.
Give it a good rinse then pat it dry with some kitchen paper (paper towels), making sure you soak up any water in the cavity.
Drizzle the meat with a good lug of olive oil, add a few good sprinkles of salt and pepper and then rub this seasoning all over the bird, making sure you get in to all the nooks and crannies.
Preheat your oven to full whack (as high as it goes. The key to this recipe is that initial heat, then the decrease) then get started on your stuffing.
Pour a lug or two of olive oil into a large pan on a medium heat and fry off your chopped onion for about 10 minutes or until softened.
Stir in a good pinch of salt and pepper, the ground nutmeg and your chopped sage leaves, then continue to fry and stir for another minute or two.
Spoon the onion mixture into a large bowl and let it cool completely.
Once cooled, add your pork mince (raw) and breadcrumbs and use your hands to really scrunch everything together.
Once it’s mixed really well, bring the stuffing together into a ball, then cover and chill until you’re ready to stuff your turkey.
Pull the skin at the neck-end back so you can see a cavity and push about half of your stuffing inside your turkey (meaning not the neck hole, but right beneath it near the breast. Filling that cavity gives the turkey a nicely rounded appearance). Not too much: you don’t want to pack it so tightly it slows down the cooking.
Once done, pull and fold the skin over the opening and tuck it under the bird so it looks nice. (this goes downside in your pan, so it stays without pinning)
Turn the turkey around and drop a few small pieces of stuffing into the larger cavity (small pieces torn off. Fill maybe an inch deep) along with your clementine halves and a few sprigs of rosemary.
Place your roughly chopped veg in the bottom of a roasting pan and lay your turkey on top. (this keeps the turkey off the pan bottom)
Cover the turkey with tin foil then put it in the hot oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 180°c/350°f/gas 4.
Cook for about 35 to 40 minutes per kilo.
The 5kg bird in this recipe will take about 3 to 3½ hours.
Check on your turkey every 20 minutes or so and keep it from drying out by basting it with the lovely juices from the bottom of the pan.
After 2½ hours, remove the foil so the skin gets golden and crispy.
When the time is up, take your turkey out of the oven and stick a small sharp knife into the fattest part of the thigh.
If the juices run clear and the meat pulls apart easily, it’s ready. (about 165 degrees is considered correct now. It used to be 180, but 165 is fine)
If not, pop the turkey back in the oven to cook for a bit longer then check again. Once ready, cover the turkey with tin foil and a few clean tea towels for 30 minutes and let it rest while you get your veg and gravy ready.
Labels: Recipes
2 Comments:
Merry Christmas, Barb! Hope you're warm and dry and noshing leftovers.
My Dad was in that crazy rain this week when he came back from a cruise that dropped in in LA--he said there were wrecks all over and that the freeway was STOPPED because it was raining so hard that no one could see!
The Jaime Oliver Christmas shows have absolutely caused me to gain weight just form watching--and he's still tasty, too!
Well like you I prefer using organic meat since they are much more safer than the ones who are raised on factories that are injected with antibiotics.
I usually cook the stuffing before putting it in on the turkey, do you think that would ok with this recipe?
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