In this recipe series, we bring you recipes by Julia Toon, culinary motivator and author of the book ‘Good Eating: A Taste of Qatar’. New recipes every week, straight from Jules of the Kitchen.
Thanksgiving Buttermilk Turkey
Being a great fan of simple methods which work and give SUPERB results, this amazing buttermilk turkey will WOW your diners and be quite the star for your Thanksgiving celebration. I assure you this recipe is absolutely 100% fail-proof and will deliver an amazingly moist, tender delicious roast turkey with very little attention.
No need to stuff the bird with anything other than the marinade lemon slices and dried bayleaves and keep the carcass open as this will allow the oven heat to penetrate evenly during cooking. I did not baste at all during cooking, but I would recommend keeping an eye on the turkey and baste if you feel necessary and do cover with a tin foil top if you feel the bird is browning too quickly. When the bird sits, I recommend double layers of tin foil again and a towel to keep in the heat.
Finally, if you select a larger turkey then anticipate a longer roast, and prepare more buttermilk to make sure it covers the bird well for the marinade.
Serves 6
Preparation: 20 minutes + 24 marination
Cooking: 2½ – 3 hrs + 30 min stand
Temperature: 160ºC
Ingredients
4kg frozen turkey – defrosted and giblets removed
Homemade Buttermilk Marinade
1.2 litres fresh full fat milk
3 lemons – juice only
1 whole lemon – sliced
Handful of dried bayleaves
Cooking Seasoning
Heavy grind of sea salt and black pepper
Pops Gravy
Giblets from innards of turkey
Cold water to cover
1 tbsp red currant jelly or strawberry jam – to sweeten or optional
Juices from the turkey cooking pan
Accompaniments
Large handful of small sweet potatoes – scrubbed
Handful of small baby beetroots – scrubbed
Instructions
Make homemade buttermilk
Place milk into a large bowl or jug. Add the juice of the lemons, stir and allow to stand 5 minutes. You now have buttermilk.
Marinate turkey
First, make sure the turkey giblets are removed. Reserve to make gravy.
Place the turkey into a large bowl or plastic container.
Pour over all the buttermilk, top with lemon slices, bayleaves, a handful of cloves and cover, leaving to marinate for 24 hours in the refrigerator. I recommend turning the bird during the marination so that all flesh has been immersed in the buttermilk.
Prepare for cooking
Pre-heat oven to 180 and lower oven to 160 to cook.
Lightly oil the base of a large roasting tin.
Lay large pieces of onion in the base of the tin.
Remove turkey from buttermilk marinade and place on top of the onion stands.
Remove lemon and bayleaves also from the marinade and stuff inside the chest cavity of the turkey. Secure legs if necessary into the chest skin of the turkey.
Sprinkle well salt and black pepper.
Surround with lightly oiled sweet potatoes and small baby beetroots.
Cook
Reduce oven temperature to 160
Place turkey uncovered in the oven and roast until golden brown. Check with a thermometer that the turkey is at the right temperature or make sure that the POPPER commercially inserted has popped!
Leave to rest for 30 minutes before carving. Remove from tin and lay on a large serving plate. Reserve excess juices for the family gravy.
Pops Gravy
Place the innards from the turkey (giblets, neck, heart, etc) into a small saucepan, top with cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer for along as the turkey takes to cook. Importantly keep an eye on the level of liquid, you do not want the pan to burn dry.
When the turkey cook is completed and it is resting, strain the liquid from giblets into another pan, add any juices from the resting turkey. Season and add red currant jelly or strawberry jam for a touch of sweetness. Serve hot with the turkey.
Finally
Serve with roast sweet potatoes, roast beetroot and Festive Brussels sprouts and Papa’s family gravy.
Jules Tips: Make sure your turkey is well defrosted before marination and importantly turn regularly in the marinade to ensure a good shape for the roasting. Allow resting for 30 minutes before serving. Delicious hot and equally as good cold. Finally, never worry about how to serve the Pops Gravy as we always traditionally serve it in the family teapot – pours a treat!
Contributed by: Julia Toon, Jules of the Kitchen
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