Christmas turkey with bacon and craisin stuffing

Delicious, moist turkey.

The night before cooking your turkey, I recommend brining it.  This causes some kind of wonderful chemical reaction which keeps the breast beautifully moist.  To brine the turkey, mix 1 cup of salt and salt and 2 cups of sugar in a tub of water large enough for the turkey to be submerged.  Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar.  Put the turkey into the tub.  Chances are, it won’t fit in the fridge so my trick is to have frozen small ice cream or takeaway containers to make giant ice cubes.  The ice cubes take ages to defrost, but keeping them topped up is effectively keeping the turkey refrigerated.  Remove the turkey from the water at least an hour before cooking – pat it dry inside and out and allow it to come to room temperature.

Christmas turkey with bacon and craisin stuffing

This stuffing recipe can be halved - just stuff the bird and forget about the extra tray.  You may regret it though – it’s yum.

Serves 12

Prep time:  30 minutes  Cooking time: 3 hours

1 size 60 turkey

Stuffing:

1 loaf bread, crusts removed

6 rashers bacon, cut into 5mm strips

5 brown onions, roughly chopped

½ packet (85g) craisins

2 bunches parsley, roughly chopped (stalks discarded)

1 teaspoons salt

½  teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

100g butter, melted

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced)

Onion, bacon, craisins.

In a frying pan over medium heat, fry the bacon until it renders its fat and starts to turn golden brown.  Add the onions and stir until they become translucent and fragrant.  Add ½ cup water and craisins to the pan, along with the parsley.  Continue to sauté until the water evaporates.  Remove from the heat.

Process the bread to a very coarse crumb, about the size of a fingernail.   Combine the onion mixture with the breadcrumbs, pine nuts, salt and black pepper.  Add enough of the melted butter to bring the stuffing together.

Clean the cavity of the bird with water and dry with paper towel.  Place some of the stuffing in the cavity.

There’s really no elegant way to show this. Sorry turkey.

Place the turkey into a large baking tray and bake for 3 hours.  As juices collect in the baking tray, baste the breast.  Remove any excess juices and reserve.  If wing tips or ends of the drumsticks (or any other part of the turkey) start to colour too quickly, protect them with foil.

Hard to tell in pictures – but brining resukts in a very moist, juicy breast.

The turkey is cooked when it is golden brown, the legs are loose in their joints and juices run clear when a skewer is inserted into the thickest part of the thigh meat.

Pile the extra stuffing into a shallow baking tray.  Drizzle the stuffing with some melted butter and 1 cup of reserved turkey juices.  Bake for 1 ½ hours.  If the stuffing starts to dry out, add more juices.  The end result should be moist with a crunchy golden top.

Rest the turkey before serving with the extra stuffing.

Tuck in and happy Christmas!