Roasted Turkey

This had to go in before it's too late.  I've been asked the recipe for so many times and because I have only written it on a piece of newspaper clipping, I really need to write it down. I have to...although I didn't like the picture but... oh well.  This recipe is a mixture of a recipe I got from my dear friend F and a recipe I saw in a cooking magazine that I don't know anymore which magazine it was.  I have made this for every Christmas last three years and it's the best roasted turkey recipe I tried.  Most of all, the turkey tastes really good, very tender and juicy.   It can be served with some rice or roasted potatoes and you can use the vegetables as a side dish.

Roasted Turkey

(Serves 6-8)

1 big turkey (about 4 kg)

3-4 leeks - chopped 

4 medium sized carrots - peeled and chopped

1 apple - peeled and chopped

300 ml apple cider or white wine

1 cube of vegetable or chicken stock

salt& pepper

olive oil

Filling:

2-3 slices of day old bread -  crumbled

300 g minced beef

1 apple - peeled and chopped into little pieces

2-3 leaves of sage - roughly chopped

1 medium onion - chopped

1/2 teaspoon of grounded cumin

salt & pepper

A roasting tin 

Aluminum foil

Start, with rubbing the turkey inside and outside with some salt, pepper and olive oil.  You can use some other spices too if you prefer.  Set it aside and and start to prepare your filling. 

Mix the ingredients for the filling altogether and stuff the turkey with this delicious mixture. The juices will mix with the turkey and you can take out the filling later on and serve as a side dish as well.

Next, take out the roasting tin and place the chopped leeks, carrots and apples.  Take a measuring cup and pour the wine or cider that you will use.  Put the vegetable or chicken stock in the wine and try to dissolve it as much as you can.  Then pour it over the vegetables in the roasting tin.  

Put your turkey on top of the vegetables.  You can use a roasting grill if your roasting tin has one but I prefer to put it directly on the vegetables. 

When it's ready, cover it with an aluminum foil and put it in a preheated oven 190° C (375° F) - without fan 170° C (325° F) - with fan on.  Give about 40 minutes of cooking time for each kg of turkey.  Then take out the foil and give another 30-40 minutes to roast without the foil so it gets all nice and brown. 

If you are not sure and want to check if the turkey is cooked, just stab it with a knife then you should see a clear juice coming out.