Xmas is almost upon us and its time to roast the turkey.


1. How to truss a turkey

Trussing a turkey means nothing more than securing the bird with string, skewers, or poultry pins in order to keep its limbs primly in place.
This is basically a presentation issue.
The turkey looks prettier with its wings tucked in close to the breast and its legs demurely closed.
And, honestly, it is easier to turn the turkey while roasting it when it is securely tied.

I own a trussing needle but almost never use it. It is easy, and quite effective, just to tie the bird with some cotton kitchen twine using the methods detailed below.
Though I prefer to roast an unstuffed turkey (because I like stuffing as a side dish that is crispy and beautifully browned on top), here are directions for trussing both a stuffed and unstuffed bird, plus a hybrid trussing method.


To Truss an Unstuffed Turkey

Have ready one 4-foot length of kitchen twine.
Place the turkey, breast side up, on a work surface with the legs facing you.
Arrange the flap of neck skin so it covers the neck cavity.
Center the twine across the back (on the work surface) under the shoulders of the turkey, making sure it secures the neck skin.
With an end in each hand, pull the string up over the top of the breast, tightening it so the wings are drawn in close to the body; then cross over the two ends and tie.
Now bring the twine down to the legs, bring the legs together, wrap the string around the ends (knobs) of the legs, and tie a knot. Trim any extra length of string.

To Truss a Stuffed Turkey

Have ready one 4-foot length of kitchen twine and one 1-foot length, plus 4 or 5 thin metal skewers or poultry pins. Loosely fill both the neck and chest cavities with stuffing.
* (Stuffing expands when heated, which is why you don’t want it packed in the cavities.
Put any extra stuffing in a buttered baking pan and bake it separately.)
Pull the flap of neck skin over the stuffed neck cavity and secure it to the body with a skewer.
Now pull the skin together on either side of the chest cavity and close it securely with 3 or 4 skewers.
Using the short piece of twine, tie a knot around the tail.
Lace the twine up the skewers, from bottom to top, as if lacing a shoe; then knot the ends of the string together. Cut off the excess string.
Use the 4-foot length to tie the rest of the bird as directed in the instructions for trussing an unstuffed turkey.

Quick Trussing Method

The simplest way to keep a turkey contained without a lot of fuss, whether the turkey is stuffed or unstuffed, is to tie the legs together with kitchen twine so they hold their shape, and to tuck the wing tips under, bending the wing tip back and under the second wing joint.

* The stuffing should be at room temperature. Cold stuffing, when packed inside the turkey, may not reach 165°F (the temperature it needs to reach to avoid harmful bacteria from developing) by the time the turkey is done.

Take the hassle out of carving that Xmas turkey.

i feel hungry,

Wao Amaka that's great.

The baked turkey looks nice.
We don't do turkey for Christmas. We cook:-

lamb
beef
spare-ribs
leg of smoked ham (comes in a cloth)
chicken (or as de Jamaikees call it ("whole fowl )

Thank you for the great recipes.

[flash=200,200]http://[color=#770077]That turkey looks good![/color][/flash]

chaircover:

Amaka please help with some advise,  we have stepped up this year LOL and are having farm reared free range turkey delivered to us on Christmas Eve.

Do I need to cook it any different from I would cook a frozen turkey?

I noticed you put 2 slices of bread under the turkey. Why is that please? ( I just put mine straight on the roasting pan)

Thanks

Roasting a fresh turkey is different from roasting a turkey that has been frozen. Freezing changes the texture of any meat to a greater or lesser extent, in part because of dehydration.

And, when you buy a frozen turkey, you never really know how long it has been frozen. One thing is for sure: During defrosting, meat purges some of its inherent moisture, resulting in a less juicy result.

Brining the turkey would not be a good idea because it could cause the meat to lose its texture and become mushy because it absorbed too much moisture during the brining process.

The bread is for using in bread stuffing.
It collects the roasting juices so the bread for the stuffing does not need to be soaked any more b4 making the stuffing

hope that helps.

chaircover:

Thank you Amaka.

Do you have a recipie for cooking the fresh turkey please

Roast Turkey #1


Serves 8-10
Time: about 3 1/2 hours
INGREDIENTS


10–12 lb. fresh turkey
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 garlic cloves (crushed)
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon onion juice
Stuffing
DIRECTIONS
Wash turkey well inside and out, then dry. Now blend the next seven ingredients. Pour this marinade over turkey in a large pan and let stand in the refrigerator for eight hours. (Marinade should be basted over turkey during this waiting period at least four times). Before roasting, be sure turkey is at room temperature. Preheat oven to 325°F. Drain the turkey well, reserving the marinade. Fill cavity with your favorite stuffing. Close cavity with skewers and string, and tie legs together. Place on rack on roasting pan. Roast for 2 hours and brush often with the marinade you have saved. Now raise the heat to 350°F and continue roasting for another 1 1/2 hours. During this last cooking period, baste only one time—using every speck of marinade you have left. Before removing from oven, test the bird with a sharp two-tined fork to test doneness. If fork does not come out easily, cook a few more minutes but do not increase the heat.

Roast Turkey #2


Serves 8-10
Time: about 3 1/2 hours
INGREDIENTS


10–12 lb. fresh turkey
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Stuffing
1 cup water
2 cups apricot juice
Flour (for gravy)
DIRECTIONS
Wash turkey inside and out and dry well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pick your favorite stuffing and fill cavity of bird. Tie up cavity with skewers and string and tie legs together. Place turkey on rack in a large roasting pan. Add water and apricot juice to bottom of pan and place over low heat on top of stove. Cover and simmer for about an hour. Take a look from time to time and baste with juice from bottom of pan (add more water if it has dried out). Preheat oven to 350°F and place turkey in same pan (but uncovered) in oven. Roast for 2 1/2 hours, basting about every half hour. Of course, add more water if bottom of pan dries out. Remove bird to a hot platter. Also, remove rack and put pan on top of stove over medium heat. Add flour a little bit at a time and stir constantly so that gravy will not lump. Add more water if necessary.

Solomon, there is an adverts section on NL
Your tolo tolo advert will now be moved there
thank you

yummmmm!!

thanks for the nice recipe I tried it at my home it was superb.
pink sheet

Hmmm, Yummy….Thanks for posting such an incredible recipe I tried it at home and it was superb Good job please post some more.

Shimano Reels

yummy!

I hate turkey - The inside is always tasteless - or maybe i dont know how to prepare it.

blacksta:

I hate turkey  - The inside is always tasteless  - or maybe i dont know how to prepare it.

My bobo had that same problem untill he tasted my turkey~!


The reason why turkeys are always less flavoured on the inside its because the meat itself is huge and when cooking time, the time frame to cook the turkey is too short to get all of the marination ingredients into the centre of the meat but if cook too long, the meat on the outside layer would be dried up which is also not a good thing.

What I do is I soak the turkey with water, salt and honey overnight and store it in the fridge. The next day I would take out the poultry and dry it with a paper towel and than I start the roasting. By soaking your meat overnight with some ingredients, the marination will immediately be hook up towards the entire meat from the outer to the inner layer causing the meat to have a balance taste from the outside to the inside part of the meat after cooking,    

Nice information, thax,

Thanks,

Hi Everyone,

Those turkey sure look delicious and tasty.

I observed that a lot of information sharing is going on here and I want to add my kobo's worth.

We have in stock a wide range of kitchen appliances that will surely assist all great and the not so great cooks in the house.
Ranging from Cookers, Meat Grinders, Food Processors, Blenders, Smothies, Juice Extractors, Pressure Cookers, Rice Cookers, Sandwich Makers, Toasters, Microwave Oven of various sizes to freezers, Refrigerators etc,etc.

Our prices are affordable and our products come with 1 year warranty.

You can contact us 08023122227,08087181397, 07023030968 or email:primegold1@yahoo.com

or visit us at:

21, Yaya Abatan Street, Ogba- Ikeja
Close to Nationwide Petrol Station and Excellence Hotel/WAEC Office Ogba

or

5, Obafemi Awolowo Way,
opposite Ikeja Local Govt Secretariat,
Ikeja

Special discounts for Nairalanders!

Dear Amaka:
If you don't mind, please email me at taiwo.obe@taijowonukabe.com
I need to share some food-y thoughts with you.
Thanks.

Nice tips,

Christmas cake is a important aspect of Christmas celebrations, no one can imagine celebrations without delicious and yummy Christmas cake, you can find more information on Christmas cake, it's types and decorating ideas.

For more information on Christmas Cake please visit the below URL.

http://www.altiusdirectory.com/Shopping/christmas-cake.html

hi my self peter i live in NY with my cute wife rose,i am newer,,
thanks amaka it is really great i will prepare it today because today is my wife birthday and i wanna surprise her thanks you so much,
and i wanna share something to all of member of this ,
The United States of America celebrate Thanksgiving each November. According to The History Channel this annual national celebration to give thanks was declared as a national day by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, however it began much earlier than that. In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Indians shared an Automn harvest feast to give thanks for what they had.

It is this day that is credited as the first celebration of Thanksgiving. For more than two centuries days of thanksgiving where celebrated at different times by individual colonies and states. It was not until Abe Lincoln proclaimed that Thanksgiving day should be held each November.

This national day is one of the most popular holidays in the United States and is one of the only holidays that has not lost it’s true meaning in today’s consumerist society. It has stayed true to it’s tradition (mmmm turkey) as day to be spent with loved ones and reflecting on the things we are thankful for,






Buy To Let Mortgages

@AmakaOne This is awesome, Im starting to starved reading your post. Thanks for this nice tips.

ooohhhhhhhhhhh!!!! why you doing this to me . Pls how can I make that stuff appear on my table? can I have some magic word, or something like that. I feel like diving into my PC.

that is great stuff Honey! keep it up!

wetin i find come here, now i am hungry.

Yummy!!! Totally on my menu 4 xmas dis yr