Portuguese Roast Turkey Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the zest and juice of the lemon and 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves to the butter mixture. Set aside.
• Take the giblets out of the turkey and wash the turkey inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the turkey in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the turkey cavity. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, halved lemon, quartered onion, and the garlic. Brush the outside of the turkey with the butter mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey.
• Roast the turkey about 2 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh. Remove the turkey to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil; let rest for 20 minutes.
• Slice the turkey and serve.

Steps:

• Stuff your turkey with favorate stuffing. I use Bells Stuffing (it is made in Bridgewater,MA ) very hard to find in the Southern States. Don't let the simpleness of the spices turn you off, it will supprise your family.
• You need a coffee cup for this recipe, take your salt and sprinkle into coffee cup as you make believe your putting salt on the turkey (include the area in pan that is left over space) do the same with the garlic, ground red pepper add 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of ground aniseed( if using)? Add water slowly to get dry ingredients into a paste then add more water until cup is about 1/2 full. As your stirring pour over Turkey.
• You don't want it to thick on the bird and you want a nice flavor not to salted, after I pour the spice mixture on the bird I take my baby finger touch it to the turkey then taste it, if too salty drizzle a little water on it. Now you can shake more red pepper flakes if you want it more spicy and you can also sprinkle more garlic powder on it now.
• You also want about 1/2 to 1 inch of water on bottom of pan, make sure the water in the pan has some seasoning flavor in it too. (the little pinky finger test) Pour any left over into pan this will add to the flavoring of the gravey. You can add potatoes to the pan also. Cook as you do your birds or follow cooking directions on the bird package. Hope you like

Steps:

• Soak turkeys in salted water under refrigeration for 24 hours.
• Combine wine, garlic, paprika, bay leaves, salt, hot pepper sauce and oregano. Marinate turkeys in this mixture for 24 hours under refrigeration. Turn occasionally.
• When ready to cook, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove turkeys from marinade, reserving marinade. Pack turkeys loosely with stuffing and cover openings of cavities with bread crusts; sew cavities closed. Bake remaining stuffing separately during the last half-hour turkeys are roasting.
• Wrap turkey wings in foil. Put turkeys into roasting pans and top with pieces of bacon, putting some beneath turkeys as well. Pour reserved marinade over turkeys.
• Roast turkeys for 30 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and roast turkeys about 2 1/2 hours more. If turkeys get too brown before they are cooked, put aluminum foil over the top. If turkeys are roasted in a single oven, they may need 30 minutes or more of extra roasting time.

Steps:

• Remove any giblets from the cavity and reserve for stock or gravy. Pat turkey and turkey neck dry with paper towel; rub turkey all over with 1/2 teaspoon salt per pound of turkey, the pepper and the lemon zest, including the neck. Transfer to a 2-gallon (or larger) resealable plastic bag. Tuck herbs and 6 garlic cloves inside bag. Seal and refrigerate on a small rimmed baking sheet (or wrapped in another bag) for at least 1 day and up to 3 days, turning the bird over every day (or after 12 hours if brining for only 1 day).
• Remove turkey from bag and pat dry with paper towels. Place turkey, uncovered, back on the baking sheet. Return to the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to 12 hours to dry out the skin (this helps crisp it).
• When you are ready to cook the turkey, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature for one hour.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. In the bottom of a large roasting pan, add the cider and enough wine to fill the pan to a 1/4-inch depth. Add half the onions, the remaining 6 garlic cloves and the bay leaves. Stuff the remaining onion quarters and the lemon quarters into the turkey cavity. Brush the turkey skin generously with oil or melted butter.
• Place turkey, breast side up, on a roasting rack set inside the roasting pan. Transfer pan to the oven and roast 30 minutes. Cover breast with aluminum foil. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of a thigh reaches a temperature of 165 degrees, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours more. Transfer turkey to a cutting board to rest for 30 minutes before carving.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Put the onion and a large sprig of bay in the cavity between the legs. Now pack half the stuffing into the neck end, pushing it towards the breast. Secure the neck skin in position with skewers and tie the turkey legs together at the top of the drumsticks to give a neat shape.
• Weigh the turkey and calculate cooking time at 20 mins per kilo, plus 90 mins. (You may need to use your bathroom scales.)
• Put a large sheet of extra-wide foil in a large roasting tin, then put the turkey on top. Smear the breast with the butter, grate over half the nutmeg and season well. Cover the breast with bacon, pour over the wine, then loosely bring up the foil and seal well to make a parcel.
• Roast in the oven, then 90 mins before the end of cooking, open the foil, discard the bacon, and drain off excess fat from the tin. Leaving the foil open, return the turkey to the oven to brown, basting with the juices several times. Then 30 mins before the end of cooking, place pigs-in-blankets and stuffing of your choice around the turkey, or cook in a separate lightly oiled tin.
• To test whether the turkey is cooked, push a skewer into the thickest part of the thigh - the juices should run clear. If they are pinkish, cook for 15 mins more, then test again.
• Transfer the turkey, stuffings and pigs-in-blankets to a platter, cover with foil, then a couple of tea towels and allow to rest for up to 30 mins before carving. This gives the juices time to settle back into the meat, ensuring that the turkey will be juicy. Garnish with sprigs of bay.