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How did you cook yours

(46 Posts)
Kiora Fri 26-Dec-14 09:24:19

For years iv cooked my turkey my own way. Butter under the skin butter over the skin. Stuffed the neck, onion up its bum. Set the oven as advised on the pakaging. Iv had frozen and fresh norfolk black, bronze, cheap as chips type. One of my favourites was the sainsburys norfolk black. This year I bought the bronze from morrisons ( because the 'good houskeeping said it was best buy and the sainsburys was expensive) but I decided to follow the lovely nigellas recipe. So I soaked the poor thing for 36 hours then cooked it on her instructions on a very high heat in 2 1/2 hours. The legs burnt to a crisp the skin looked a tad over cooked. The breast was fine and we used a meat thermometer but I was very unsure that it was throughly cooked. My family said it was lovely, soft and moist. The stock made very sweet gravy that I wasn't over keen on. I'm not sure I'd cook that quickly again without mayor adjustments. How was yours this year. Did any one use a famous celebritiesChiefs recipe? If so how was yours(phew that was a long winded post about a turkey...sorrytchblush

NfkDumpling Mon 29-Dec-14 15:24:41

And bits for the dogs. And maybe a curry too!

NfkDumpling Mon 29-Dec-14 15:21:40

Same here as a rule. He had carved most of it - but there should have been enough left for a pie and soup!

granjura Mon 29-Dec-14 11:37:11

What a shame- must say the waste would upset me. SIL cooked the 5.5kg turkey, with butter and streaky bacon on top. He picked all the left-over meat off the carcass in the evening to put in fridge, and made a stock with onions and veg that very evening. He cooked turkey, leak, cream and ham pie the next day- and the rest was eaten in sandwiches. The stock went into soup, the pie and bolognese yesterday. Meat I picked off the carcass went to the dogs, and all the fatty bits to the birds at the back of the house. Nothing went to waste- and it was all deliciousl.

SIL is a great cook, so I leave him to it when they are here- and become the constant washer upper...

NfkDumpling Sun 28-Dec-14 23:03:49

The turkey remains had got left in a cooling oven MrsM - and I think we're still there when we left this morning! No one got round to picking the bones - no room in the fridge. I wouldn't trust eating it!

mrsmopp Sun 28-Dec-14 21:53:27

Why is the turkey remains going to waste? There's lots you can do with leftover turkey. I was brought up never to waste anything and i'm shocked at the amount that gets slung into the bin when there are so many needy people who dont know where their next meal is ciming from.
My MiL horrified me - anything not eaten on Christmas day was binned. I couldnt believe it? Am i out if date?

NanKate Sun 28-Dec-14 15:10:58

Oh I see what you mean Kitty my apologies.

Cooking and me don't real go together I don't know my Nigella from my Blumenthal hmm

NfkDumpling Sun 28-Dec-14 08:11:03

At DD1's for Christmas. She's an excellent cook and with had a Waitrose turkey cooked traditionally á la Delia with all the trimmings. Bubble and squeak on Boxing Day. BUT there was so much food left over the turkey carcass hasn't been sorted. (I did offer - twice) There's loads of meat left on it which will now go to waste - grrrrr!
#moremoneythansense.

kittylester Sun 28-Dec-14 07:47:39

I wasn't commenting on his personality Nankate just his recipes!

NanKate Sun 28-Dec-14 07:09:10

Kitty in praise of Tom Kerridge he is a very pleasant non-full of himself type of chef. He lives in my small town in the Thames Valley.

He owns a very expensive 2 Michelin star pub in the town, which is sadly out of our price range, but he has just opened a lovely small pub off the high street which is open all day with affordable delicious food cooked by the same chefs from the main pub. In fact we are popping in there this morning for a homemade apricot Danish and coffee.

Finally Tom is seen around the town all the time and is very approachable.

Now back to the thread. My D in L cooked a delicious turkey, I have no idea how as I was too busy playing with the boys and their pirate ship !

kittylester Sat 27-Dec-14 18:27:12

It didn't feel at all unsafe jane and it kept the meat really moist. I am not a fan of Tom Kerridge, as I think he can be a bit cheffy, but I would certainly do that again.

TriciaF Sat 27-Dec-14 18:22:27

Chicken for us too - one of "ours", or at least bought from a farmer neighbour and fattened up here.
I haven't had much success with stuffed and roast poultry recently, so always do a casserole with the bird jointed and lots of different vegetables.

ginny Sat 27-Dec-14 12:27:27

Oh my goodness, and it should be rashers not washers !!!!!

We have just carved the rest of the turkey and there are a good few more meals left on it than I thought.

ginny Sat 27-Dec-14 12:25:47

Typo alert. Our Turkey was over 12 kgs not lbs. !!!

janeainsworth Sat 27-Dec-14 10:44:44

kitty if the cling film is just to keep the roll in shape, I think I'd have felt a bit safer with good old fashioned string grin

hildajenniJ Sat 27-Dec-14 10:22:18

I roasted mine the traditional way, with bacon slices over the breast. I stuffed the neck end with sausage meat and put an onion in the cavity. I put a little water in the roasting tin, covered the whole thing with foil and left it. I made gravy with the stock left in the tin when the turkey was cooked. It was beautiful. Better than expected, because my turkey was a frozen one, reduced in the Co-op last January, and sitting in my freezer all year.

annsixty Sat 27-Dec-14 09:56:19

That is now my way of cooking tiggypiro EXCEPT we wouldn't have eaten at all if I hadn't done it!! Chicken only though this year.

shysal Sat 27-Dec-14 09:56:09

I cooked a 5Kg turkey following a Scott Rea recipe. Herb butter under skin plus steaky bacon covering, onion and lemon in cavity. 40 mins at 220, 2.5 hrs at 170 and final browning for 30 mins at 200. It was recommended that the resting is done breast side down, so that the juices drain back into the breast. The most moist result ever, I think.

I like Tom Kerridge recipes, I have previously done his honey-roast streaky bacon piece. Pour on a whole bottle of runny honey and cook at 180 for 40-50 minutes, basting religiously every 10 minutes until honey is thick and sticky. Delicious hot or cold.

tiggypiro Sat 27-Dec-14 09:39:14

The best way to cook a turkey (and everything else) is open a bottle of wine, retire to a comfy seat and let sister's SiL and his DB do everything !!
Worked a treat !!

ginny Sat 27-Dec-14 09:05:24

We cooked a massive Turkey ( over 12lbs ) . Smeared with butter,covered with bacon washers. Onions and herbs inside. Cooked for 1 hour on 7 and then about 5 hours at 3. Foil off for last 45 mins. It was a free range great Turkey. It has fed 16 on Christmas day. 10 for supper on boxing day and some left for sandwiches today. Then soup to be made. It was melt in the mouth delicious.

kittylester Sat 27-Dec-14 08:08:15

I imagine that it is to help the roll keep its shape!

janeainsworth Fri 26-Dec-14 22:42:58

What's the point of the cling film if the whole thing is encased in foil?
The instructions on my Waitrose cling film say 'Do not use in a conventional oven'
hmm

Kiora Fri 26-Dec-14 21:18:08

Thanks kittylester

kittylester Fri 26-Dec-14 21:13:07

Ordinary cling film at 120c for 1.5 to 2 hrs, cooked over a roasting tin of boiling water, the whole lot encased in a foil tent. Google Tom Kerridge Turkey Christmas Roll. Before cooking the breast fillet is flattened out and then spread with stuffing and rolled up like a swiss roll. It really was delicious!

Mishap Fri 26-Dec-14 20:50:48

Cling film???!!! - I dread to think what chemicals leach out of it at high temperature. I'm not sure I would want to eat it!

I did not have to cook this year, but what I always do is to place the turkey in oven at a high heat for 20 minutes, then I wrap it all loosely in foil and cook at about 100-120 degrees for ever. I cook all meat that way. It half-steams under the foil and you can leave it as long as you like - all day if you want. It will not dry out and will be incredibly tender. Then a blast of high heat at the end with the foil off. It never fails. I usually put it in first thing and eat in the evening. It is like using a hay box.

Kiora Fri 26-Dec-14 19:59:43

So kittylester is that ordinary cling film? If it is, is it safe to use it at high temperature?. Interesting. I've never heared of Tom Kerridge.