The turkey is baked whole in the oven, stuffed with various fruits, spices and herbs. The filling depends on the imagination of the cook and his personal preferences. And the main place of the festive table is occupied by a Christmas turkey baked entirely in the oven. It gives off such a fragrance that hardly any of the guests will refuse to try it. How to cook a soft and juicy turkey.
Useful tips. How to cook a soft and juicy turkey.
Before you understand how to cook a Christmas turkey, you need to be able to choose the right bird. Otherwise, the dish may turn out to be tasteless. When choosing a turkey, it is important to pay attention to its skin. It should be a light uniform color. A fresh and high-quality carcass is always elastic and whole.
Usually, cooking a Christmas turkey begins with marinating the bird. The marinade is most often prepared on the basis of citrus juice and water, which helps to avoid overdrying the meat. Pickling should be done in advance, as it may take about a day.
On a note! It usually takes 3-7 hours to bake a turkey, depending on the size of the bird.
The Christmas turkey is served on a wide tray.
Whole turkey baked in the oven is served for Christmas with cranberry sauce or gravy. It is believed that only they are able to properly shade the taste of poultry meat.
(1) – “Meat and poultry are nutrient-dense sources of protein and typically are recommended as part of an overall healthy diet.”
#1. Christmas turkey in the oven. How to cook a soft and juicy turkey.
It’s very simple, it’s enough to choose the right bird, marinate it, stuff it and bake until ready. Despite the long cooking of the turkey, the effort is minimal. Most of the time is spent on pickling and baking. That is, while the dish is being prepared for the festive table, you can prepare other delicacies.
The cooking time is 5 hours.
The number of servings is 8.
Ingredients
To cook a Christmas turkey in the oven, you will need the following ingredients:
turkey carcass 1 piece(4 kg)
salt to taste
sugar 3.53oz
onion 1 pc
coriander seeds 1 teaspoon
bay leaf 2 pcs
orange 1 pc
carrot 1 pc
butter 3.53oz
garlic 1 head
ground black pepper to taste
water 12 cups
Cooking method:
Despite the large list of ingredients, the recipe for cooking Christmas turkey in the oven is quite simple:
If the turkey is frozen, you need it to thaw first, and only then you can start marinating it. It is recommended to defrost the bird at room temperature. It is important that this process takes place in a natural way.
Pour 4 cups of water into a saucepan and put it on fire. Add salt, spices, and sugar. When the salt and sugar have dissolved, the pan should be set aside from the heat so that the marinade cools down.
It is advisable to marinate the turkey in a narrow and high container. If there are no such dishes, an ordinary cellophane bag of good density will be the way out. It must be put in a saucepan and immerse the carcass.
Peel the vegetables. Chop the onion in the form of rings, do the same with carrots. Add the rest of the cold water to the cooled marinade and pour over the carcass. It is important that the water completely covers the turkey, as it must be evenly marinated.
On a note! The process of marinating the turkey should take place at a temperature of up to + 5 degrees. It is advisable to leave the carcass in the marinade for 1 day.
Put the butter out of the refrigerator or freezer. It should lie at room temperature and become soft. Mix it with ground black pepper.
Put the orange in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then stick the clove buds into its peel. Divide the garlic head into 2 parts.
Remove the turkey carcass from the marinade and dry with paper towels. Prepare the foil of the appropriate size. Put the turkey on it and grease it with a mixture of butter and pepper. In some places, where the skin of the bird is separated from the meat, an oil composition should be placed there.
Put the orange and garlic inside the carcass. Vegetables that were marinated with poultry are also sent there. To prevent the filling from falling out, the hole should be sewn up or chipped with toothpicks.
Wrap the foil so that it covers the turkey on all sides. It is important to do this not very tightly in order to ensure free air circulation. Place on a baking sheet.
Preheat the oven to 392F, place a baking sheet and bake the turkey for about 40 minutes. Next, you need to reduce the temperature to 356F and keep the bird in the oven for 3 hours. Then the foil must be opened and put the baking sheet back in the oven so that the turkey is covered with an appetizing golden crust. This usually takes about half an hour. If the carcass is not browned on one side, it needs to be turned over. It is quite simple to check the degree of readiness of the turkey. You need to pierce it with a toothpick in several different places. If the clear juice is released, the bird is ready.
The delicious Christmas turkey, baked in the oven whole, is ready. Now it can be proudly served to the festive table.
#2. Stuffed turkey with pancetta, sage and onion. How to cook a soft and juicy turkey.
Prepare a delicious roast turkey stuffed with fragrant filling with spicy Italian bacon and spicy sage leaves. And not just for Christmas. You can always find a reason for a good family dinner, even if it’s not a celebration, but just a weekend evening.
Ingredients for 10 servings:
Turkey (without neck) 1 pc. (4.5-5 kg)
Filling (recipe attached)
Butter, melted 2 tablespoons
Filling:
Sunflower oil 2 tablespoons
Pancetta, diced 5.29
(dried fatty pork belly with spices and herbs)
Brown onion, finely chopped 2 pcs.
Crushed garlic 3 cloves
Sage leaves, chopped 2 tablespoons
Roasted pine nuts 3 teaspoons
Zest of 1 lemon, grated on a fine grater
Parsley, chopped ½ cup
Bread crumbs (fresh) 2 cups
Eggs, lightly beaten 2 pcs.
To prepare the filling, fry the ham in oil over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring. Reduce the heat, add the onion and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until the onion is soft. Stir in the sage, remove from heat and cool for 15 minutes. Add the nuts, zest, parsley, bread crumbs and eggs. Add salt and sprinkle with ground black pepper. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon or with your hands. Preheat the oven to 392F.
Wash the turkey under cold water (if the meat is frozen, never defrost it at room temperature, but only in the refrigerator. Dry it with a paper towel. Fill the bird with stuffing (do not do this in advance – just before cooking) and tie the legs with kitchen thread. Tuck the wings back in. Place the turkey on a lightly greased grill, which you place in a large frying pan. Brush the turkey with some melted butter, season with salt and pepper.
Pour 2-3 cups of water into a frying pan. Brush two pieces of foil with a little oil and cover the pan tightly. Bake the turkey for about 2.5 hours. Remove the foil, grease the meat with the remaining oil, add water if necessary (when it is necessary to check the meat, lubricate it or add water, do not keep the oven door open – the temperature will decrease, which will affect the quality of the dish).
Roast the bird for another 35-45 minutes until golden brown (it is good to check the readiness of the meat with a special thermometer). Remove the turkey from the oven, wrap in foil and leave for 15-20 minutes. If desired, you can make a sauce from the juice that was formed when frying meat.
#3. Stuffed turkey. How to cook a soft and juicy turkey.
Stuffed turkey is the main dish of the Christmas table. If you want to decorate the New Year’s table with this luxurious dish, we offer a recipe for stuffed turkey with orange and cranberry sauce.
Ingredients:
1 piece turkey
salt to taste
pepper to taste
spices dry to taste
salted butter (soften) 5.29oz
For minced meat:
olive oil 2 tablespoons
onion 3.53oz
sour apple 2 pcs.
minced meat 14.2oz
lemon (zest) 1 pc.
dill greens to taste
bread crumbs 3.53oz
eggs 2 pcs.
For the sauce:
orange 1 piece
frozen cranberries 7.0oz
powdered sugar 3.53oz
red wine 5.29oz
orange juice 5.29oz
How to cook a stuffed turkey:
Minced meat: fry the onion in olive oil, add the apples and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring. Put the minced meat, lemon zest, dill, bread crumbs, beaten eggs here. Add salt, pepper, and fry a little.
Wash the turkey and rub the spices from the inside. Stuff the turkey with the cooked mixture, cover with the skin and secure. Put it on a baking sheet, mix the butter with spices and coat the whole turkey. Cover with foil, turn on medium heat. About 40 minutes before the end of frying, remove the foil. Pour the sauce over the stuffed turkey from time to time. Pierce the turkey with a fork — it is ready if clear juice is released from the meat. Put the stuffed turkey on a platter, decorate with baked vegetables.
Sauce for stuffed turkey: grate the zest of one orange, squeeze out the juice, frozen cranberries, powdered sugar, red wine and orange juice, mix, cook and bring to a boil. Boil the sauce over low heat for 30 minutes. Grind with a blender, add the zest. Cool it down.
#4. Turkey with vegetables with spicy gravy. How to cook a soft and juicy turkey.
To cook a, it must first be marinated, and then stuffed with vegetables and baked in the oven. A wonderful Christmas dish! And not only Christmas.
Ingredients:
fresh sage (chopped) 1/2 cup
small orange peel 2 tablespoons
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
turkey carcass 1 pc. (5.5 kg)
large carrots (diced) 2 pcs.
celery root (peeled and diced ) 2 pcs .
medium-sized onion (cut into slices ) 1 pc .
extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons
dry white wine 1/2 cup
chicken broth 1.5 cups
flour 1/4 cup
How to cook a baked turkey with vegetables:
In a small bowl, mix the sage, orange zest, salt and 1 tablespoon of ground black pepper. Remove the tail, neck and insides from the turkey. (You can cook broth from them or use it at your discretion). Rinse the turkey under running water and wipe dry with a paper towel. Spread the spicy mixture under the skin, gently pushing it away from the pulp and pushing the spices under it with your fingers.
Tie the legs and wings with culinary or ordinary cotton thread, put the turkey on a plate or in a suitable bowl, and refrigerate, uncovered, overnight. Place the grill in the oven in the middle position, and turn on the oven itself to preheat to 396F. In a large bowl, mix the carrots, celery, onion and olive oil. Put half of the vegetables in a roasting pan, and fill the turkey carcass with the remaining ones.
Place the turkey in a roasting pan with a grill inside. Place the roaster in the preheated oven and bake the turkey for about 1 hour. Then take the turkey out of the oven and pour the juice formed in the roaster. Put the roaster with the bird back in the oven and bake until cooked, about 1-1.5 hours.
At this time, it is worth watching the vegetables in the roaster, if the juice evaporates and the vegetables start to burn, then you can add about 1/4 cup of water. Take the finished baked turkey with vegetables with tongs or silicone potholders and tilt it in different directions so that the juice (fat) flows out of it into the roaster.
Transfer the carcass to a cutting board and let it rest slightly. Meanwhile, prepare the gravy. Place the roaster with the juice on the stove over medium–low heat, add the wine and cook, scraping the fat from the sides of the roaster, until the liquid evaporates twice, 2-3 minutes. Strain the contents of the roaster into a glass through a frequent sieve.
In a separate bowl, combine the broth and 1.5 cups of water, add the required amount of juice from the glass (to taste), let it stand for a while so that the fat rises to the surface, and then collect it with a spoon. Pour 4 tablespoons of the collected fat into a saucepan and put it on medium heat, add flour and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes, then add about 1/2 cup of broth.
Then enter the required amount of broth so that the mass becomes the desired consistency (liquid sour cream). Bring the mass to a boil and cook the gravy for 5-10 minutes, to the desired consistency (to taste). Season the gravy with salt and pepper to taste. Cut the baked turkey with vegetables into portions and serve with gravy. But first it is better to put the whole carcass on the table on a tray. Enjoy your meal!
#5. Christmas turkey. How to cook a soft and juicy turkey.
Such a bird turns out to be incredibly tasty and appetizing. The carcass is beautifully browned, and the meat itself is surprisingly excellent: tender, juicy, incredibly tasty.
Ingredients:
1 piece turkey (2.6 kg)
Bacon 5.29oz
Butter 3.53oz
Fresh thyme 1 bunch
Fresh sage 1 bunch
Garlic 2 heads
Sea salt to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
Olive oil for greasing 2 tablespoons
Instruction:
How to cook a Christmas turkey:
Peel the turkey, cut off the extreme phalanx of the wings.
Thinly slice the bacon.
Cut the butter into cubes. Season with salt and black pepper. Wrap the oil in sage leaves. Carefully separate the turkey skin so as not to damage it. The skin should be separated on the sternum, legs and back. Sprinkle the meat under the skin with salt and pepper. We lay out slices of bacon on the white meat. Then lay out the pieces of oil and return the skin to its place. In the same way, we distribute the butter and bacon under the skin of the legs. We put a bunch of thyme inside the carcass.
At the head of the garlic, cut off the roots and put the unpeeled garlic into the carcass. Turn up the wings of the turkey, connect the legs and fasten with a skewer (or tie with a ribbon of bacon). Transfer the prepared turkey to a baking dish. Sprinkle liberally with olive oil. Preheat the oven. Bake the Christmas turkey for 1.5 hours at a temperature of 180-200 degrees. From time to time, pour the Christmas turkey with the released juice. The Christmas turkey is ready. Enjoy your meal!
(1) – US National Library of Medicine; Nutritional Effects of Removing a Serving of Meat or Poultry from Healthy Dietary Patterns—A Dietary Modeling Study; Sanjiv Agarwal, Kathryn R McCullough, Victor L Fulgoni; 2023 Mar 31. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10096845/
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