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RapierFugue -> RE: This year I am going to cook a bit an decorate for turkey day. (11/15/2010 6:19:16 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Toppingfrmbottom
Arpig my dad does the turkey:)
I personally find the turkey dry bland and tasteless, so I'd prefer to have corn beef, but no we have to have the turkey, so I'll just drown it in ranch or something lol.
Get him to try Jamie Oliver's flavoured butters idea (although he's not the inventor, but he popularised the idea again the last few years) - it really works.
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/turkey-recipes/the-best-turkey-in-the-world
Flavour the butter with herbs (getting fresh sage makes all the difference), then, starting at the head end, gently separate the skin from the flesh and work a wooden spoon (or your fingers) up the bird until there's a large "pocket" on each side of the bird you can then stuff with flavoured butter, with a few whole sage leaves pressed up against the skin so they show through when it's done an look a bit like a stained glass window effect. Jamie also carves differently, and it works a treat too, removing each breast side as one lump fillet and then carving down through it - that way, you don't get all outside, drier meat, given to one person you get a slice through the breast.
His forcemeat stuffing is also excellent (dried cranberries and/or apricots are a great addition) although, as he does, don't cook much of the stuffing in the bird itself, because it stuffs up (heh) the roasting process, but instead cook a little in the bird but most in dishes in the oven. Much better - crispy topping!
If you "do" Torrents, find Jamie's Christmas (the single programme not the Jamie's Family Christmas series, although that was pretty good too) and plan things out - being a control freak (there's a shocker), I started at the "end point" and planned my Christmas dinner timings like I would a project, making a plan I had taped to the fridge, letting me know pretty much minute by minute what I (and others - always rope other people in) had to be working on. Also, taking a tip from Jamie, I did as much of the pre-prep (stuffing, nibbles, dessert, etc) in the day or 2 before.
The result was the most relaxing Christmas meal I've ever produced ... and jolly delicious it was too (that was other people’s opinions, not just mine BTW).
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