The perfect Christmas turkey by top Lancashire chef Philippa James (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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The perfect Christmas turkey by top Lancashire chef Philippa James
2:27pm Monday 21st December 2009 in Recipes
Lancashire food guru and TV chef Philippa James talks you through cooking the all important turkey.
As a ‘rough’ guideline allow 500g of meat on the bone per person for the dinner, with some left over for sandwiches or cold for Boxing Day.
* 6 – 8 people a 4kg bird
* 10 people a 5kg bird
* 12 people a 6kg bird
If your turkey is frozen, it will need around 2 hours per 450g in a cool room, no hotter than 17.5*c. Do not cook it frozen.
To cook your turkey, calculate cooking time, after stuffing the bird, and only stuff the neck, not the body cavity.
Remember to check the cavity for a plastic bag of giblets, which you can boil up to make the gravy.
I usually put a lemon, and some parsley and thyme into the cavity. My sad recommends an onion, studded with a few cloves, for additional flavour.
Cooking times:
* Small birds, or ‘crowns’, 4kg or under, 20 minutes, per kilo, plus a further 70 minutes
* Birds over 4kg, 20 minutes per kilo, plus a further 90 minutes.
Cook your bird from room temperature, not straight from the fridge.
I smear the skin with butter, then drape with smoked bacon slices.
Cover, loosely, with foil, and tuck around the tin.
Place in a pre-heated oven, at 190°C/fan170°C/gas mark 5 for the calculated cooking time, removing the foil 30 minutes before the end so that the skin can brown.
The bird is cooked when the juices run ‘clear’. To test for this, insert a skewer, or sharp knife, into the thickest part of the leg. If there are any traces of blood, or the juices are still pink, return the turkey for a further 15 minutes and check again, repeating, until the juices are completely clear.
Once the turkey is cooked, cover tightly with foil and leave to ‘rest’ for 20 – 30 minutes, this allows the juices to soak back into the meat, ensuring it is moist and tender.
PHILIPPA’S TOP TIPS
* Make ‘timings’ lists, working backwards from when you want to eat.
* Try to watch dishes cooking through the glass door. The temperature drops by up to 30 degrees every time you open the door.
* A cold starter is a good idea because cooking space is always at a premium.
* Cut a cross in the stalk of sprouts: this helps.
