Whole Roasted Golden Turkey with Sour Cherry, Chestnut, Rosemary and Crouton Stuffing
The Turkey (Serves 10)
Before you start take the bird out of the fridge and remove all packaging and the giblets at least 2 hours before you put it into the oven
Preheat oven to 230°C/Gas Mark 8
5kg free-range Totally Traditional Golden Turkey
4 tbsp rapeseed oil
Sea salt and black pepper
The Stuffing
1 medium farmhouse loaf, white or brown bread 8 tbsp rapeseed oil
75g butter
200g streaky bacon lardons
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
400g roasted ready to use chestnuts, roughly chopped
160g dried sour cherries
1tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1tbsp fresh chopped rosemary leaves
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
3 tbsp chopped parsley
The zest and juice of 2 medium lemons
1 large egg, beaten
150ml of chicken stock
Sea salt and black pepper
The Gravy (Serves 10)
For the stock:
Giblets from a Golden Turkey
1 onion, cut into quarters
2 carrots, cut into chunks
1 stick of celery, cut into chunks
1 fresh bay leaf
3 sprigs of parsley 1 sprig of thyme
5 black peppercorns
To finish the gravy:
1 tsp redcurrant jelly
750ml of Golden turkey giblet stock
100ml sherry
2 tbsp of plain flour
The Turkey
Place the turkey in a large roasting pan, brush the turkey generously with rapeseed oil and season with sea salt and black pepper and cover with foil.
Place the prepared turkey in the pre-heated oven and cook at this temperature for the first 30 minutes. Then, lower the oven temperature to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 and cook for approximately 30 minutes per kilo, basting every hour.
Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C/Gas 6
The Stuffing
To prepare the stuffing, cut the crusts off the loaf of bread.
Tear the loaf into 2cm pieces.
Place the croutons in a bowl and toss in 6 tbsp of rapeseed oil. Use your hands to do this and squeezing the bread into the oil and season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes, tossing often, until the croutons are golden brown and crispy on the outside, but still a little soft. Place the cooked croutons on the side to cool.
Heat a large frying pan, add the remaining rapeseed oil and the butter and cook the bacon and onion for 2-3 minutes, stirring all the time, until the bacon and onions are just golden, then add the chestnuts and cook for a further 2 minutes on a low heat.
Remove from the heat and place in a large bowl, add the cherries, thyme, rosemary, garlic and parsley, zest and juice of lemons and the beaten egg, then mix well. Add the croutons and stock and combine the mixture together. The stuffing will be quite loose. Season well with sea salt and black pepper. Place the stuffing into an ovenproof dish and set aside until ready to bake.
The Gravy
Wash the giblets in cold water, place in a large pan with 1.5 litres of cold water. Bring to the boil and removed any scum of the top of the water with a slatted spoon. Then add the rest of the ingredients, cover and simmer for 40minutes.
Uncover the pan and simmer for a further 20-30 minutes or until the stock has reduced by half. Remove from the heat and strain into a bowl, leave to cool, cover and place in the fridge or use immediately.
To make the gravy, bring the stock back to the boil and remove from the heat.
When the turkey is cooked pour off the fat from the roasting juices, place the tin on the hob, whisk in the flour and place over a low heat and cook the flour mixture making sure you have scrapped up all the meaty sticky bits, on the bottom of the tin and stir constantly. After 2 minutes, remove from the heat and whisk in the turkey giblet stock, bring slowly to the boil, stirring constantly.
Add the sherry and cook for a further 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Season to taste add a little more sherry if you want and then strain into a warm jug and serve. Any leftover turkey sherry gravy can be frozen.
The giblet stock can be made 2 days before required.
Oven Ready Weight Total Cooking Time
4kg 2 hours
5kg 2–2.5 hours
6kg 2.25–2.5 hours
7kg 2.5–2.75 hours
8kg 2.75–3 hours
9kg 3–3.25 hours
Some Important Stuff
● Where applicable, remove the giblets and keep separately in a cool place.
● Remove the turkey from the fridge 2 hours before cooking, to allow it to reach room temperature.
● Do not stuff the main cavity, as this will stop the turkey cooking properly. Instead, You might like to place an apple or peeled onion in the cavity.
● We recommend that you do not use foil as this can prevent you achieving a lovely crispy skin.
● Place the bird breast side down in the roast tin and season with salt and pepper. For crowns keep the breast up. The oven should be preheated to 180ºc (160º fan) Gas 4/5. For an Aga, use closest to these temperatures. (See table for suggested cooking times). Place the giblets around the bird.
● Gravy always tastes better if the turkey giblets are used to make it.
● After an hour of cooking turn the bird carefully on to its back to further cook and brown the breast
● It is very important not to overcook a turkey – many people do and are then disappointed when it is dry. Test with a fork on the inside of the thigh – when the juices run clear the bird is ready.
● After removing the turkey from the oven and before carving it, allow it to rest for 30-60 minutes. Do not cover.
Nutritional Stuff
Per serving of Roast Turkey and Stuffing
455 calories
22.5g fat
6.2g saturates
8.4g sugars
1.1g salt
Per Serving of the Gravy
27 kcal
1.5g fat
0.6g saturates
0.3g sugar
0g salt
