I’m an MOT (mother-of-three), life has changed since I was a teenager.
A long time ago, schedules were kept and routines followed. In the days BC (Before Children), alarm clocks worked and children slept in their beds. But that was a long time ago.
So when we got up on Christmas morning in good time to brunch, I wasn’t complaining at all. By afternoon, neither my husband nor I were hungry and so I took my time prepping dinner, which involved a roast, potatoes and all the required sides. Testimony to the fact that I am truly grown up now, and not a stickler for anything – mealtimes, holiday meals, nothing :-)!
This year I hadn’t quite made up my mind on what exactly I’d cook. My first consideration was Ling al Cartoccio but that was not to be because I didn’t find all the required ingredients when I went on my last minute, Christmas eve shopping spree, after making some delish cookies! 2nd choice: Turkey breast hasselback! Yep, you heard me right, Turkey hasselback. I love hasselback potatoes and I figured the technique would work with meat and it does – tried and tested.
So the day before, I boiled up my potatoes and brined my 3 pound Turkey breast. On Christmas day, I dug the meat out of the brine and cooked it, kept it warm and then enjoyed a nice dinner with the husband and still had enough Turkey left over for Fried rice, Turkey pizza, Turkey-stuffed bread and…more to come.
Dinner was:
Slices of Turkey breast and stuffing
Potatoes, roasted in duck fat
Homemade gravy
Brussel sprouts with bacon, carrots and chestnuts
Cranberry and Pear sauce
The day before: I brined the Turkey and boiled the potatoes.
To brine the Turkey: Combine ½ cup kosher salt (I used sea salt), ½ cup sugar, and 6 cups water in a container.
Stir the liquids to dissolve the solids.
Put the turkey breast in a Ziploc bag, and put that inside of a bowl. Pour the brine inside the bag, and put it in the fridge for 6–8 hours.
Note: The longer you leave it in the brine, the stronger the solution will be.
On the day: I cooked the Turkey, roasted the potatoes, made some gravy and rustled up the veggies.
To make the Turkey hasselback
Preparations
I used a pack mix of stuffing and added some fresh sage leaves to accentuate the flavours.
Prepare a shallow baking tin, oiled and layered with onion slices (which will be handy for the gravy). Apparently, using a shallow tin to roast turkey allows the air circulate better, leaving you with a moist bird!
Preheat the oven to 260 degrees Centigrade (about 500 degrees Fahrenheit).
1) Hasselbacking
Remove Turkey from brine and shake off excess liquid (no need to dry). Place it on a chopping board.
Using a sharp knife, make slashes/slices across the length about 1cm apart – till you have hasslebacks. Be careful not to cut right through, you want to make the cuts but still keep the breast whole.
Fill each cut with some stuffing and press the turkey breast back together to shape.
Place on the shallow oiled tray and place the tray on the rack two rungs from the bottom. Let roast for half an hour.
When the 30 minutes, is up, lower the temperature to 180 degrees Centigrade (about 360 degrees Fahrenheit). At this stage, the breast had taken on some colour so I covered it with a piece of foil and left it to cook for another 40 minutes, and then it was ready.
I left it to rest, relaxed, had a cuppa and waited for everyone to get hungry before putting the rest of the meal together!
2)Â Roast Potatoes
Place halved potatoes in a roasting pan, sprinkle some salt over them and dot with some duck fat. Roast them for 30-40 minutes at about 180 degrees centigrade (about 360 degrees Fahrenheit).
3) Veggies
Clean and prep the sprouts; Skin and slice the carrots into rounds. Place sprouts in steamer for 3-4 minutes, seasoning with some salt. Add the carrots and let steam together for another couple of minutes. Take off heat and open pan to prevent further cooking.
Desalt the bacon and cut into bits, if using rasher; chop chestnuts.
In a pan on medium – low heat, add bacon and let cook for a minute or two. Toss in chestnuts, sprouts and carrots and stir. Let heat up and when hot, turn off heat and toss in a bit of butter. Serve immediately…or almost, if you can.
3) Gravy
Combine the juices from the roasting pan with some water.
Make a roux (I made mine with a bit more flour than butter). Cook that for a couple of minutes, then using a whisk, slowly add liquids.
If the mixture is becoming too clumpy, take it off the heat for a moment and whisk well,drizzling in the liquid. If this doesn’t work, use a sieve to rid the sauce of the lumps.
When you’re at the smooth stage, adjust to taste by seasoning and let cook another 2-3 minutes, till ready.
4) The Cranberry and Pear sauce
The verdict:
It was SCRUMPTIOUS.
The Turkey was perfectly cooked. Soft, juicy and incredibly tasty. I loved the stuffing and turkey combination as well.With each mouthful, I became more and more enthralled.
The potatoes were a nice golden colour, crusty and crunchy on the outside and soft and velvety on the inside. A perfect template for the gravy and vegetables. While my husband was not taken in by the chestnuts, I was. Completely. The saltiness of the bacon matched the sweetness of the carrots and chestnuts, and the peculiar taste of the sprouts, all laced together in a buttery assembly.
And to top it all, I must confess that the cranberry and pear sauce was out of this world. I mean it. When I loaded a dollop of burgundy-purple sauce onto the plate, I couldn’t see any whole cranberries. They had dissolved and melted into a sauce holding the poached pear chunks together. The combination of saucy, tart, sweet, textured was a confluence…never before seen and I declare this a winner. A must-repeat. One to hand down to generations and generations……And so shall it be in Jesus name, Amen!
All washed down with a glass of Pinot something…or the other.
It was a great meal and one that will be remembered for the rest of the week (leftovers and all) and maybe forever!
And you, what was your favourite Christmas meal and why?[wpurp-searchable-recipe]What we had @ dinner last Christmas! – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]
[…] makes it second time around; But have hope knowing the time will come. If you can dream of winning brussel sprout recipes and not make chocolate your master, If you can think of making puff pastry and not only think but […]
That turkey hasselback looks divine..m making it for sure…so creative, interesting and beautiful…the rest are equal if not more.:)
Thank you for this amazing picture tutorial how to stuff turkey… very useful. I will have to remember it for the next year. Our turkey came out very good as well, but I haven’t done the stuffing this year. Last year I made it from scratch, it was delicious but too much work and I had plan to make the whole meal in 2½ hours 🙂 It came out really good, especially that I did not slave in the kitchen for too long.
Happy New Year!!!
Margot
Oz, can I come to your house for dinner? This looks positively perfect. Hasselback turkey–who would think of that but you?
And listen here, (hands on massive hips) I don’t want to hear any more about your camera. These photos are wonderful. And that one just above the gravy recipe–yes, that one. The sprout. That’s A-MAY-ZING, girl.
I hope you and your family have a great New Year’s celebration. I’m glad I found your blog. We’ll have to meet in 2010.
WOW! what a feast Oz! Love the variety hope you and your family have a great start to the new year!
Thanks everyone. We thoroughly enjoyed the turkey. And so did the kids. I’m also super glad you like it!
This week we’ve had the leftovers daily: Turkey sandwiches, Turkey quesadillas, Turkey fried rice, Turkey and bacon chili….
Thanks again and have a blessed New year in advance.
Looks like something I would have in a fancy restaurant. I love how you stuffed your turkey breast. I always think turkey breast is too dry and boring – adding the stuffing makes it much nicer!
It seems that i’m not only reading the beautiful details of this recipe but also seeing your passion keep flowing over the foods and photos.
Thanks for your kind words, blessed season to you too.
This is not how I imagine a Christmas dinner…I love the clean colors, and the way you arranged it…looks SO gourmet! The way you stuffed that bird is GENIUS!
Oz,
Such gorgeous pictures, my friend! Hasselback Turkey is a new one for me and it looks absolutely divine. Merry Christmas, belatedly.
I’m in love with the composition of your photos, especially the 2nd one! I had the pleasure of enjoying a traditional English Christmas lunch this year and your post brought back to many delicious memories!
Wishing you a fantastic 2010!
A MOT – ha ha! We should start a support group :). Only you’ll lead it because look at what a fabulous meal you were able to whip up!
What an amazing spread! I’ve never seen a turkey stuffed like that – it looks so good! Merry Christmas 🙂
Your stuffed turkey is gorgeous, but the star to me have to be the potatoes in duck fat. You can’t get any better than duck fat. A very impressive meal. Thanks for stopping by my kitchen. Your blog is gorgeous and the photos are outstanding.
Sam
Wow !!!!! What a recipe !!! It seems to be so complex, yet you make it so simple…
Congratulations on your blog !! It is so thorough….yet so inviting !!
Thanks for your comments…it is very encouraging for a new-comer to this world of blogs to read the words like the ones you dedicated to me…
Thanks a lot again..Nice to have “met” you!
Wow, Oz, I am impressed! It all looks so delicious and that turkey is amazing! A very happy happy holiday season to you and yours! (I hoped the kiddies loved it too).
Wow! What an impressive meal. I love that your stuffed your turkey that way- super idea. In fact everything you served looks delicous!
My kids always like ham for Christmas as we have turkey on Thanksgiving. I make a mustard ring everyone adores. Sounds horrible, I know, but it won a cooking contest years ago (it’s not my recipe) and it’s delicious. I posted it a while back.
What a festive & georgous Christmas feast this was!! How lovely,…what lovely foods @ your house at Christmas!!
MMMMMMMMMMMM,….so beautiful presented as well!
This looks like an amazing Christmas dinner. And so beautifully styled and photographed, as always 🙂
I love how beautiful each of the dishes look, and what an innovative idea to create hasselback turkey breast. I’m looking forward to trying this one.
That turkey hasselback looks incredible, my husband would love it! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. xxx
Ohhh, I love how you have stuffed that turkey breast. Fantastic!
Sounds and looks incredible! And what an ingenious way of roasting meat =) I, too, love hasselback potatoes and potatoes roasted in duck fat. There is nothing quite like chestnuts to exude winter warmth and with bacon is the best way to cook Brussels sprouts. Yum!
I love that stuffed turkey and your sauce reminds me of what I made for my Christmas dinner – apple cherry sauce.
Thanks for sharing your christmas dinner with everyone.
Absolutely FANTASTIC!!! I love every bit of this meal. 🙂 You did a really splendid job 🙂
Oz, that all looks DELICIOUS! I’ve never cooked a turkey before, let alone a brined, hasselbacked one. And now you’ll have delicious turkey leftovers…hmmmm. Oh, and I do so love Brussels sprouts… 🙂