RapierFugue
Posts: 4740
Joined: 3/16/2006
From: London, England
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quote:
ORIGINAL: servantforuse
Cook the turkey in an oven bag. They still get the brown crispy skin but stay nice and moist.
I've tried those; they're not bad, but I still prefer the taste from a "traditional" roast, albeit with a flavoured butter.
And, as I said, if you can get a "black" turkey then you'll notice a much better taste ... but I don't know if one can get those in the States? I would presume so though, as you can get most things there.
The other big tip is resting the bird properly; once roasted it should be rested on a warmed plate, under a double layer of foil and a couple of towels on top, and placed somewhere warm (or at least, not cold) for 30-60 minutes, depending on size - this makes a huge difference to both moistness and taste, again IMHO of course. It moistens the skin somewhat, but the taste and moist flesh more than make up for it. In any case, I always serve a roast duck or goose with the turkey, so there's a choice of meats, thus there's always plenty of very crispy duck or goose skin to go around.
The one method (and it’s a uniquely US method) I haven't tried, but would love to, is deep frying; I’ve seen this on several cooking programmes, in giant, temperature-controlled fryers, and apparently the results are very good, or so the people concerned said. Sounds crazy but I’d love to see if it works. The other thing with using a separate deep fryer would be that it frees the oven up for all the other things you're roasting, so it’s doubly interesting.
As for accompaniments, my fave is Nigel Slater’s Brussels Sprouts with Bacon & Chestnuts; now I know a lot of people go green when one mentions Brussels Sprouts, but this is one that, time and again, people have tried and loved (even sprout haters);
Finely shred the raw Brussels Sprouts. Thinly slice some streaky (fatty) bacon or pancetta. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet or wok and fry off the bacon/pancetta til crispy, then remove from the skillet and reserve, keeping the bacon fat behind. Heat the bacon fat til smoking, then add the shredded Brussels sprouts and stir fry for about 2 mins over a high heat. Add the bacon back in, along with some cooked (roasted or boiled), chopped chestnuts (if you can’t get fresh the vacuum packed chestnuts are fine in this recipe). Season with freshly ground black pepper (no salt though coz the bacon’s usually salty enough) and serve immediately – this is last thing I make, just before everyone tucks in. It’s superb – it removes the heavier, bitter notes of the Brussels sprouts and leaves a delicate, slightly nutty taste, which the crispy bacon and chestnuts set off perfectly. And because they're stir-fried, the sprouts aren’t soggy, and retain their colour.
I’ve got a great forcemeat stuffing recipe too, which is a combination of a Jamie recipe and one made by a chef mate of mine – proper stuffing is essential, IMHO at least.
I do love a proper, traditional Christmas meal 
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RE: This year I am going to cook a bit an decorate for ... - 
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