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Roasted Turkey with Chestnut Stuffing Homemade Gravy
Stuffing: 1/2 cup whole chestnuts or
dried 2 Tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, peeled and minced 2
celery ribs, chopped 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed 1
teaspoon dried sage 1 teaspoon dried rosemary 1 teaspoon dried
thyme 1 cooking apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced 1 egg,
lightly beaten 5 cups stale bread, cubed 1 1/4 cups chicken
broth 1/4 cup butter, melted Olive oil Sea
Salt Pepper 1-10 lb. turkey
Gravy: 2 carrots, roughly chopped 1 onion,
diced 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped Corn flour Chicken stock
Butter
Directions:
The Night Before: If possible, the previous night, or
at least one hour before cooking, prepare your turkey. Remove any
giblets and rise well (inside and out) with cold water, then pat dry with
paper towels. Generously rub turkey with olive oil and sprinkle with
salt and pepper. Cover and place back in refrigerator until time to
cook.
The Next Morning:
Preparing the Stuffing: To roast the chestnuts, cut an
X on the flat side of each chestnut and bake 15 to 20 minutes at 375F
oven. Let cool for 10 minutes and then peel and chop.
Do not turn oven off as it will need to be preheated for cooking the
turkey.
In a large pot over low heat, heat the olive oil then add onions and
celery. Saute for about 3 minutes or until soft. Stir in
crushed garlic, sage, rosemary, thyme and apple and sauté for a further 3
to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in egg, then add chestnuts and
bread. Toss mixture well. Stir in warm broth and season with salt and
pepper. Set aside to cool.
Preparing the Turkey: Remove turkey from fridge and
loosely stuff the neck cavity with chestnut stuffing, fold the skin under
and secure in place with a toothpick. Then loosely stuff the main
cavity, making sure to leave room for expansion and the air to flow
through.
Then prepare your roasting pan. Use a large roasting pan and at
the bottom add two roughly chopped carrots, onion and celery. Place
the rack over the vegetables. Now place your turkey, breast side up,
on the rack. Drizzle with melted butter.
Bake, uncovered, at 375F for the first 30 minutes, then baste and
reduce oven temperature to 325F. Continue basting turkey every 25 to
30 minutes. The cooking time should be approximately 20 minutes per
pound of turkey, which would be about 3.5 hours for a 10b turkey. To
check if the turkey is cooked pierce the thigh bone, juices should run
clear without any pink. Also use a meat thermometer on the thickest
part of the thigh. The temperature should show 180F. Turkey
should be golden and crispy on the outside too.
Remove the turkey from roasting tray and reserve juices for gravy.
Tip: For extra added safety, I like to remove
the stuffing from turkey once turkey is cooked and bake on a separate dish
for approximately 10 extra minutes.
For the Gravy: Mash the vegetables in the roasting
tray, then push all ingredients through a sieve. Discard any
remaining vegetables or fat. Place the sieved liquid in a saucepan
and simmer over low heat. If you don’t have enough liquid then add 1
cup or more (depending on how much gravy you need) of chicken stock; You
can also add a couple of tablespoons of butter.
In a small bowl add two tablespoons of corn flour and mix with cold
water (about ½ cup) until all lumps dissolve. Slowly add a little of
this mixture (tablespoon by tablespoon) to the saucepan, stirring well
after each addition and allowing time for gravy to thicken. Keep
adding corn flour/water mixture until gravy thickens.
Tip: You can also add a couple of tablespoons of red
wine to the gravy or Madeira for a richer taste. The alcohol will
dissolve during the cooking process and children will be able to have the
gravy. |