How to make a stuffed turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas
Stuffed turkey in the oven is a typical “Thanksgiving” dish and Christmas recipe book. Do you want to know how to do it step by step?
Stuffed turkey ingredients
You need 4 or 5 kg turkey, 250 g minced beef, 250 g minced ham, 250 g dried apricots, 6 apples, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 onions, 2 slices of the day before bread, 100 ml of milk, 1 dash of walnut oregano, 300 ml of white wine, 1 cup of strawberries, olive oil, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of ground cloves, 1 clove of garlic, 1 sprig of rosemary, pepper and salt.
clean turkey
To make a stuffed turkey, you first need to empty it (you can order evisceration at the poultry store where you will buy it). Then remove any potential feathers from the turkey, wash and dry it. Arrange on your work surface, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and fold the wings back. Also, don’t forget to dry the inside of the bird with absorbent kitchen paper, salt, and pepper.
Stuff the turkey
The fillers there are infinite. For us, you have to soak the bread in milk. Peel 3 apples, cut them in half, remove the core and cut the core into small cubes. Peel and chop the onion and fry over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the apple cubes, remove the heat and stir for 4 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let it cool. Add the meat, drained bread, and half of the chopped dried apricots. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg flavor and stir. Serve the filling through the bottom of the turkey.
Sew the stuffing hole
Once the turkey is stuffed with the ground beef mixture, vegetables, bread, and milk, line the edges of the opening and sew with kitchen thread. In this way, they will be completely closed and the filling will not come out during cooking.
topstitching
It is also recommended to sew the top of the turkey so that it seals and retains all the juices.
tie the legs
Before you put it in the oven, remember to tie the legs, too. This way, the turkey will retain its compact shape and will not open during roasting.
Prepare the sauce
If you want to give it more flavor and prevent it from becoming overly dry, you can apply some type of dressing to it. In this case, we crushed clove of garlic in a mortar and added a teaspoon of cinnamon, a clove, along with a cup of strawberries, four tablespoons of water, and two olive oil.
clean the turkey
Once the sauce is prepared, brush the turkey with this mixture with the help of a brush and place it in a deep oven dish to add the accompaniment and collect the juices.
Bake the turkey
Pour the wine into a heat-resistant dish and place in the oven preheated to 180 degrees. Bake for 2 hours and 35 minutes, watering the meat from time to time with its own cooking juice. Once this time has passed, add the remaining sliced apples, cinnamon stick, and the rest of the dried apricots to the source, bake for another 25 minutes, then remove and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
plate and serve
In most traditional recipes for stuffed turkey, it is usually served whole, placed on a tray with garnishes around it, and carved directly onto the table. In this case, for example, it’s a Thanksgiving turkey, with its typical accompaniment of grapes, apples, and other winter products.
Christmas roast turkey
Stuffed turkey is also a very typical recipe for the Christmas holidays. In this case, we served it on top of roasted apples and dried apricots and added other nuts (peeled pistachios, raisins…) with some buds or sprigs of aromatic herbs for a festive touch.
There are countless recipes for stuffed turkey, but almost all of them share their baking, and they are usually cooked for big family celebrations such as Christmas or Thanksgiving, which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November and is this dish. He is the undisputed star.
Turkish ingredients stuffed with minced meat, apples, and apricots
1 turkey, weighing 4 or 5 kg
250gm minced beef
250 gm minced pork
250 g dried apricots
6 apples
1 cinnamon stick
2 onions
Two slices of bread from the day before
100 ml milk
pinch of nutmeg
300 ml of white wine
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup of Jerez
olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon,
1 die
garlic tea
1 sprig of rosemary
salt pepper
A step-by-step reminder for making a stuffed turkey
- Prepare Turkey
Remove any feathers from the turkey, wash and dry it. Arrange on a work surface, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and fold the wings back.
Thoroughly dry the inside of the bird with absorbent kitchen paper, and marinate it on the inside as well, and it’s ready to be stuffed. - Make the filling
Soak bread in milk.
Peel 3 apples, cut them in half and remove the core. Cut the pulp into small cubes.
Peel onions and chop finely.
In a frying pan with a thread of oil, fry the chopped onions for 5 minutes over medium heat.
Add the apple cubes, increase the intensity of the flame, and stir for 4 minutes, until golden brown.
Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and let cool, then add the two types of meat, drained bread, and half of the dried apricots.
Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg flavor and stir. - Fill up and dress up
Heat the oven to 180 degrees.
Using a wooden spoon, fill the turkey with the previous mixture, sew the bottom hole and the top hole, and tie the legs with kitchen twine.
Brush with mashed garlic, sherry, ground cinnamon, cloves, water and oil. - Turkey Bread
Grease the baking dish with oil and put the turkey in it. Pour in wine and bake for 2 hours 35 minutes; Sprinkle the meat from time to time with the cooking juice.
Peel the remaining apple, remove the core and cut it into slices. Add them to the turkey dish with the cinnamon stick and the rest of the dried apricots. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove and let rest for 5 minutes.
Remove the thread from the turkey and transfer it to a source with apples, dried apricots, and cinnamon. Water it with cooking juice and garnish with a washed rosemary sprig or chopped leaves.
Meat that spreads a lot
One of the reasons why it is so suitable as a dish for celebrations that gather many people around a table is its popularity. Keep in mind that a turkey weighing about 5 kilograms will feed about 10 people, depending on the filling and garnish.
And although it requires several hours of cooking (about 3 hours more or less), it has other advantages. It can be achieved over time. While baking, you don’t have to do anything but watch and moisten with its juice. It is usually carved directly on the table, saving you individual painting time.
Infinity of Fillings for Turkey
Traditional Thanksgiving turkey is usually stuffed with a mixture of cornbread, onions, bacon strips, raisins, and poultry broth. Served with roasted apples, grapes, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, cranberry jam, and base broth (juice from BBQ meat).
The Christmas turkey stuffing depends a lot on the traditions of the region in which it is cooked, but almost all coincide with the presence of seasonal fruits (eg apples) and dried fruits (dried apricots, prunes, pine raisins..).
It is also customary to stuff it with minced meat mixed with other ingredients, as we did.
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