P
Dorset
L E N T Y
The Vital Ingredient:
T rkey
There’s a reason we’ve been eating turkey at Christmas since Tudor times – it’s delicious!
Tom East recommends his favourite breed for a memorable festive feast
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hat’s your favourite roast? Pork loin with crackling, a hefty
forerib of beef, a garlic, anchovy and rosemary studded leg
of lamb? Or maybe it’s turkey, the traditional choice for
millions on Christmas Day. Some may sneer that it can be dry, but
if you’ve had ever had a Norfolk Black or KellyBronze, cooked to
perfection, turkey ranks alongside the best roasts.
The best turkey I’ve ever eaten was, indeed, an ever-so slightly gamey
Norfolk Black from Peele’s, one of Rick Stein’s Food Heroes. So good,
I’d have it every week if I could, with creamy bread sauce, gravy, roast
potatoes and parsnips, sprouts tossed in garlic butter, plus mashed swede
and carrots. Of course, turkeys that are carefully reared for flavour such
as these aren’t available all year round. Good job, too – not sure I could
get away with spending £70 every weekend on a roast anyway. Then
there’s the time it takes to cook…
It can take days – especially if you brine your turkey like Nigella to
ensure maximum moisture. However, it is understandable if you don’t
have the time (or the massive plastic bucket) to be messing about with
a spicy salt water solution. So, what else can you do to ensure that you
don’t have a dry breast or undercooked legs? Well, it all begins with
the bird – choose a good quality turkey and you’re less likely to end
up with a disappointing dinner, especially if you follow the producer’s
instructions. To completely avoid the potential pitfall, Hugh FearnleyWhittingstall recommends removing the legs and making a coq au
vin with them, while roasting the breast separately. This will give you
a hassle-free delicious gravy, too. There’s nothing wrong with a roast
turkey crown, either – buttered and criss-crossed with streaky bacon, it’s
easier to cook and carve. Even a rolled, boneless breast can be good as
long as it has a good covering of fat.
Another way to get that moist, flavoursome breast is to make a herb
and citrus butter, which can be smeared under the skin. You could
avoid all this bother and cook a goose, but that’s never going to give you
the leftovers that are a highlight of Boxing Day. Turkey is the gift that
keeps on giving…. until you’re sick of it, but if you buy a good quality
turkey, I promise you won’t be.
Fantastic Four
Roast Turkey Crown
You don’t have to worry about overcooking your
turkey with a crown. As cooking times vary
depending on the weight, it’s best to get a meat
thermometer to check that it’s done.
Ingredients
1 turkey crown (around 4kg)
2 clementines
4 sprigs of thyme (or whatever herb you like),
leaves picked
100g butter, softened
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Add the zest and
juice of one of the clementines, along with the
thyme leaves to the softened butter. Mix around.
2. Loosen the turkey’s skin with your fingers and
spread the flavoured butter on the meat in the
gap created. Cut the other clementine in half
and place in the cavity.
3. Brush your turkey with olive oil and season
with salt and pepper, then place the oven for 30
minutes. T