The ULTIMATE Turkey
The weather is getting colder, the trees are turning golden, and the pumpkin-spiced latte brigade is out in full force, complete with Uggs and those big beige hats. Not a hater by the way, I’m just a beret and trainer kinda gal. BUT, when you see these changes come into effect, it means it’s time to get your Thanksgiving and Christmas prep ON. It’s never too early babs x
Rather than the usual pre-festive stress, I’ve gathered up years of tips to provide you with my fool-proof turkey recipe. It’s moist, it’s delicious, it’s ridiculously succulent and it will cement your status as pro host. Apologies if this means you’re stuck cooking for the fam every year, but at least you can hide away any leftovers…if you have any.
Top turkey tips 🦃
Tip 1 – DRY BRINING
Dry brining is an absolute must to ensure the best turkey. Forget a big bucket of water, what you need to do is dry your turkey off, separate the skin from the flesh and massage in your dry mix. I’ve included my recipe below. Then, cover your bird and place in the fridge for 3 days.
Tip 2 – COMPOUND BUTTER
The addition of a compound butter will add extra flavour and extra moisture. It’s super simple to make and I added lemon, orange and herbs to my butter but you can mix it up and add whatever feels festive to you.
For more beautifully festive and impressive sides, why not try my goose fat roasties.
Ingredients
For the dry brine
- 3 tbsp sea salt
- 1 + 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
For the compound butter
- 200g butter, cubed and softened
- 3 crushed cloves of garlic
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Zest of 1 orange
- Juice of 1/2 a lemon
- Juice of 1/2 an orange
- Small handful of thyme, chopped
- Small handful of sage, chopped
- 3 sprigs of rosemary, chopped
Method
- For the dry brine, combine all your ingredients and mix together in a bowl.
- Grab your turkey, dry it off then separate the skin from the fresh and start massaging your brine in.
- Next, leave your turkey in the fridge for 3 days. Make sure it's covered.
- Once the 3 days are up, it's time for the compound butter, add your thyme, rosemary, sage, super crushed garlic, lemon zest, orange zest and butter to a bowl and mix together. Then add your lemon and orange juice and mix.
- Add the butter mix to your already brined turkey and make sure you really get in there! Massage the mix between the skin and flesh.
- I also usually stuff chopped lemons, onions, apples and sage into the turkey to add even more flavour.
- Dry your turkey off one final time, give it a good season and place in the oven. Use the packet/size of the bird to determine how long you should cook it for.
- Once cooked, carve into that mouth-wateringly moist bird! Enjoy x