Recipe: The perfect roast turkey

Moist and delicious roast turkey.

Prepare for the perfect mid-winter Christmas with this easy recipe for roast turkey.

INGREDIENTS

1 Crozier's Turkey

Salt

Olive Oil

1 cup red wine

1 cup chicken stock or water

A few sprigs of fresh rosemary

baking paper and foil
METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C.

Remove bag of giblets and neck from inside turkey. Set these aside for use in making stuffing and stock for gravy.

Wash turkey and pat dry with a paper towel.

Season inside and out with salt.

If cooking with stuffing inside bird, lightly pack stuffing into main cavity and neck end. Secure openings with skewers or sew closed with cotton string (not plastic it melts).

Place turkey breast-up on a rack in a roasting pan and brush with oil.

Pour red wine with chicken stock into roasting pan with rosemary. This will provide a flavourful steam during roasting to keep turkey moist. Top up with stock or water as needed during cooking.

Place a square of baking paper over breast and then cover the bird with a layer of foil. The foil will trap moisture while baking paper will prevent foil from sticking to bird.

Roast turkey for about half of the estimated cooking time. Remove foil and baking paper.

Spoon or brush cooking juices over bird and continue cooking for another 1.5-2 hours, basting regularly until turkey is golden brown and cooked through.

When turkey is ready, remove from oven.

Carefully transfer it to a warm dish and loosely cover with foil to keep it warm. Allow it to rest for 10-20 minutes while gravy is prepared.

COOKING TIME

We recommend a total cooking time of 15 minutes per 500g plus an extra 15 minutes when cooking at 180C.

A 5kg turkey takes approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes. A 5.5kg turkey takes approximately 3 hours.

TIPS

Thoroughly thaw your turkey before cooking.

To test if your turkey is fully cooked, pierce the thickest part of the turkey thigh with a skewer. If the juices run clear the turkey is cooked. If there is still some pinkness ( blood) present, longer cooking is required.

For additional cooking tips and recipes including stuffing, gravy and brining, visit www.croziersturkeys.co.nz.

All cooking tips and recipes by Lesley Christensen-Yule, author of The New Zealand Cook's Bible, Penguin 2010.

For Crozier's Turkeys stockists, please visit www.croziersturkeys.co.nz