Charmed Chatter



Now on to the prep! When you buy a turkey, it will be frozen solid, and the weight will usually be listed on it. For a turkey that is approximately 10-14 lbs, I recommend letting it defrost in the sink for about 12 hours at room temperature, then move it into the fridge on a dishtowel (you don't want turkey juices in your fridge, ew!) until you are ready to get it in the oven.

I like to stuff my turkey, which some people aren't all for but I just love it - it's soooo delicious! You just have to make sure to take the temperature in the middle to ensure that it has been sufficiently cooked, and there are no worries! Here is a mouth-watering and healthy stuffing recipe:

1.5 cups of mixed wild rice

1/2 a white onion, diced

1 green apple, peeled and diced

1/2 a bottle of beer (yeah, just drink the rest if you like...)

1/2 cup of craisins

1/2 cup of diced carrots

1/2 cup of diced celery

1 Teaspoon of Sage

1 Teaspoon of Rosemary

2 Tablespoons of butter

1 Teaspoon of Salt

In a pot, cover the rice with one inch of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 20 minutes, stirring every so often. Shut of heat and drain.

In a frying pan, sauté the onions in the butter with the carrots, the sage , the rosemary, and the salt and pepper until the onions are clear.

Then take the the rice, the sautéed mixture, and all the remaining ingredients and combine well in a mixing bowl. (Hopefully you didn't already drink all the beer.) Stuffing is ready!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bring the bird back over to your sink, remove the plastic wrapping, and undo the legs which will be folded under a flap of skin. Then reach inside the bird and pull out the gizzards and the neck which will usually be in a bag inside. (I don't use these parts myself, so unless you discover how you would like to, just chuck 'em.) Then, turn on the tap and wash the bird thoroughly inside and out for a minute or so. Drain it, and place it breasts up in the roaster on the rack. 

Now that you have the bird upside down in the roaster, you can bring your stuffing over and gently fill the inside with it. Don't pack it down or it won't cook properly and it'll get kinda gooey. If you have have too much stuffing you can freeze it in a zip-lock bag and use it to stuff a couple of chicken breasts later! 

Once you have stuffed the turkey fold the legs back under the flap of skin. Then, rub olive oil all over the outer skin, and sprinkle it lightly with rosemary. Do not turn the bird over, leave it on it's back to cook.

Finally, add water into the bottom of the roaster to about a quarter of an inch. This will keep the bird moist. Cover and place in the oven carefully (don't tip it!). 

Time:

At the end you will use the thermometer to ensure that the meat has reached 180 degrees in the middle and deep in the thigh. If it hasn't yet, recover and cook until it has!

*Now all you have to do spoon out all the stuffing into a dish, carve the meat in slices off the turkey, and enjoy! You will likely have a lot of leftovers which can be used for days in sandwiches and salads, or frozen for future meals... And you will of course use the carcass to make "recipe number 2" tomorrow!

Turkey Soup du Next 3 Jours! (that means you will have turkey soup for one dinner and two lunches)  

Okay so here is where recipe number 2 ties into recipes above. While I am cutting all the carrots and celery etc up for the stuffing, I also simultaneously cut up all the veggies for the following soup at the same time and I put them in a big tupperware bowl in the fridge. This way when I go to make the soup the next day, I basically cut out a tonne of prepwork and I also cut out a lot of the cleaning too. 

1 turkey carcass

1 cup of sliced celery

1 cup of chopped carrots

1 cup of chopped mushrooms

1 medium potato peeled and cubed

1 small yam peeled and cubed

1 onion diced

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1/2 cup of pearl barley

1 can of corn

1 tablespoon of chile powder

1 tablespoon of salt

1 tablespoon of celery seeds

1 tablespoon of pepper

1 teaspoon of cumin (if you like)

First, cook the turkey on medium heat in a large pot filled to about two inches from the top with water, for about an hour and a half. It should come to a slow boil for most of the time. Remove. Then, strain all the stock (the liquid) from the pot into a bowl, and put the turkey bones etc back in the pot.  Using a fork take the meat off the bones to put into the stock bowl and toss the bones. Keep on going til all the bones are cleaned and in the garbage.

Then put the stock with the turkey meat back into the pot and add in all the remaining ingredients. Cook on medium low for another hour. Taste the soup, and see what you would like to taste a little more of! I usually add in some more salt and more chile powder and a little cumin to get the flavor I love. Then let the flavors blend for another 10 minutes and "Voila!" a delicious hearty dinner that you can have for lunches and/or freeze any leftovers from for a rainy day!

Come back and comment to let me know how you like these recipes!!

  

Happy eating!