Rolled Turkey for Christmas

Years ago the offer of roast turkey for Xmas was rejected because it was said (and rightly so) that roast turkey can be dry and tasteless if done wrong, and yes there was every opportunity for us to do it wrong!
So we looked for an alternative, dragged our way through a few cookbooks and stole some ideas from this book and that book and came up with what is now a family favourite.

IMPORTANT NOTE !!!!!
It is a two person job and a very strong marriage is needed before you start this project. If you're  not married then you had better be bloody good friends. Nothing seems to go right and there are always issues with the filling, or the wrapping or the skin or or or.... but the end result is a delectable moist rolled roast with tons of flavour either hot served with gravy and roasted veggies or cold served with salad.

Before you start lets get what we are going to stuff this turkey with organised.
 Bread stuffing
 Camembert Cheese
 Bacon
 Pistachios
 Cranberry jelly

So lets start with the easy bit .....???............. de-bone your turkey without cutting the skin. This is a difficult job and takes some definite time. You need to remember that you are looking for a rectangle result so it is best to have the neck skin cut high on the bird and the cavity cut as small as possible. When de-boning the legs and wings, pull them inside out and trim the breast meat and thigh meat and redistribute across the bird so that you have an even level . Also as you see in this photo, the gap to the right needed to be sewn together so that we could roll it evenly. You can get your butcher to de-bone your bird for you if you wish, but you have to be content to work with what you are given, if you don't give the correct instructions you could end up with anything, so be careful.

Next normal stuffing  (breadcrumbs, onion, egg) with some herbs.

followed by bacon strips (rindless)

Pistachio nuts smashed but not decimated

add the cheese and the cranberry jelly

Then the divorce.........  I mean the rolling of a turkey that is overstuffed and doesn't want to go where, or do anything you want it to do........... there are many words said at this point, none of which can be added to my blog.

And with some amazing stitching (wife's a quilter... she was all over it), some strategic tying of ends and important bits and you have this...... no, it may not look all that pretty to an outside observer however considering what you have physically gone through, and the limits you have pushed your relationship to, this is a wonderful and beautiful result!!!!!

This needs to be wrapped in cling-wrap and left in the fridge overnight so that it settles.  It was probably as upset as we were with its antics over the past hour, so it did need to cool off. We went and had a glass of wine. Funnily enough we did two birds this year, the second one is always easier than the first and considering we only do this recipe once a year we did ok. Roasted in a moderate oven 170* for about one and three quarter hours and then let rest. This year we decided to have an assortment of both hot and cold over  Xmas  so this has been done and now has been placed away as cold meat for xmas brunch. Hot will be roasted pork loin and a glazed ham, and here's to the New Year diet!!!!!!

I will add a photo of it sliced so you can see the structure of the rolled fillings through the meat when we cut it on Xmas day.

Merry Xmas to the two of you who read my BLOG, I hope this recipe doesn't turn you off Rolled Turkey as it is a magnificent way to prepare a magnificent piece of poultry.


Bernie, Jenny and family.