Stuffed Turkey Recipes

Steps:

• Remove turkey from refrigerator and let stand for 2 hours at room temperature.
• Place rack on lowest level in oven. Heat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine melted butter and white wine. Fold a large piece of cheesecloth into quarters; cut it into a 17-inch, four-layer square. Immerse cheesecloth in the butter-and-wine mixture, and let soak.
• Working on a large piece of parchment paper, fold wing tips under turkey. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper inside turkey. Fill large cavity and neck cavity loosely with as much stuffing as they hold comfortably -- do not pack tightly. (Cook remaining stuffing in a buttered baking dish for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.) Fold neck flap under, and secure with toothpicks. Tie legs together loosely with kitchen string (a bow is easy to undo later; it is not necessary to make a tight knot). Rub turkey all over with the softened butter.
• In a heavy, metal roasting pan (sides should be 2 to 3 inches high), place parsnip, onion, celery, carrots, celeriac, and white turnip. Place roasting rack on top of vegetables, then place turkey, breast side up, on roasting rack. Sprinkle turkey with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and pepper.
• Lift cheesecloth out of liquid, and gently squeeze it, leaving it very damp. Spread folded square of cheesecloth evenly over breast and about halfway down sides of turkey; it can cover some of leg area. Place turkey, legs first, in oven. Cook for 30 minutes. Using a pastry brush, baste cheesecloth and all exposed parts of turkey with butter-and-wine mixture. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Cook 2 1/2 more hours, basting with pastry brush every 30 minutes and watching the pan juices; if pan is getting too full, spoon out juices so level remains below the rack.
• After this third hour of cooking, remove and discard cheesecloth. Turn roasting pan so the breast faces back of oven. Baste turkey with juices that have collected in bottom of pan. If there are not enough juices, continue to use the butter-and-wine mixture. The skin gets fragile as it browns, so baste carefully, particularly over the breast. Cook another hour, basting every 30 minutes. If some areas of the bird start getting too brown, cover those areas loosely with aluminum foil.
• After fourth hour of cooking, insert an instant-read thermometer into thickest part of thigh. Do not poke into a bone. The thermometer should reach at least 180 degrees and the turkey should be golden brown. The breast does not need to be checked for temperature. If turkey is not golden brown or the thigh meat does not register 180 degrees, baste turkey, return to oven, and cook another 20 to 30 minutes. Insert the instant-read thermometer into the center of the stuffing. Temperature should read from 140 degrees to 160 degrees.
• When fully cooked, transfer the turkey to a serving platter, and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes. Make gravy using the vegetables while the turkey rests.

Steps:

• In a large skillet, saute the onions, celery and mushrooms in butter until tender. Add broth and seasonings; mix well. Place bread cubes in a large bowl; add mushroom mixture and toss to coat. Stir in enough warm water to reach desired moistness. , Just before baking, loosely stuff turkey. Place any remaining stuffing in a greased baking dish; cover and refrigerate until ready to bake. Skewer turkey openings; tie drumsticks together with kitchen string. Place breast side up on a rack in a roasting pan. Brush with melted butter., Bake turkey, uncovered, at 325° for 3-3/4 to 4-1/2 hours or until a thermometer reads 180° for the turkey and 165° for the stuffing, basting occasionally with pan drippings. (Cover loosely with foil if turkey browns too quickly.), Bake additional stuffing, covered, for 30-40 minutes. Uncover; bake 10 minutes longer or until lightly browned. Cover turkey with foil and let stand for 20 minutes before removing stuffing and carving. If desired, thicken pan drippings for gravy.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Add the butter to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once melted and foaming, add the onion, celery, and garlic and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Add the sausage to the pan and immediately begin breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon so it will cook down and crumble. Cook the sausage until it's browned, about 6 minutes, then add the cranberries, sage, rosemary and thyme and cook for 1 to 2 more minutes. Stir in the white wine and use your wooden spoon to scrape up the bottom of the pan for any stuck bits. Let cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
• Add the bread cubes to a large bowl and add the chicken broth, beaten egg, sausage mixture, and chopped parsley and stir all together so all the bread is soft and moistened. Let cool as you prep the turkey.
• Lay the turkey breast skin-side-down on your work surface and season the meat with salt and pepper. Add a layer of the stuffing about 1/2-inch thick across the turkey breast, leaving a 1/2-inch border. The extra stuffing can be placed in an 8-inch-by-8-inch-buttered casserole dish and baked the last 40 minutes of cooking.
• Carefully roll the turkey up into a cylinder. Tie the roll with butcher's twine with about 1-inch between each knot. Trim the strings after tying. Place the turkey seam-side-down on a baking sheet covered with foil and fitted with a baking rack. Drizzle the turkey with olive oil, rub into the skin, then season well with salt and pepper.
• Place in the oven and roast for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the roll reads 155 degrees F. Remove the turkey from the oven and let rest, loosely tented with foil for 15 minutes. The turkey will rise in temperature as it rests to 165 degrees F. Snip the butcher's twine and slice the roll into 1-inch thick slices, place on a platter, and garnish with fresh rosemary and sage.

Steps:

• Tear the bread into pieces, and place back into the bags overnight.
• Dice the onion, and leave covered on the counter.
• The next day, saute the diced onion in margarine, stir in sage and chicken broth.
• Place the bread pieces in a large mixing bowl, pour most of the onion mixture onto the bread and stir.
• The stuffing has enough moisture when you can squeeze a handful, and when opening your hand, the stuffing stays in a loose ball. If it falls apart, add a little more onion mixture.
• If it is soggy and squeezes together tightly, add a little more bread pieces.
• If the bird has skin which is binding it's legs together, cut this.
• Rinse the bird, remove and discard heart, neck etc. and pat the insides to remove some of the moisture.
• Push the stuffing into the carcass,until you cant' get anymore in, overstuffing the bird as seen in the picture. The tighter you push it in, the moister the stuffing will be.
• Stuff the neck cavity.
• If you have leftover stuffing, that is a good thing. Place it in a sprayed crock pot and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
• Wrap the legs and wings with foil, they will cook quickly.
• Put a piece of loose foil over the entire bird.
• Roast at 325°F for about 3 hours.
• Remove all of the foil, setting it aside and roast for another hour.
• If the turkey does not have a pop up timer, use a meat thermometer.
• When done, set the turkey out on the counter and cover loosely with the foil, let it stand 20 minutes for a moist bird.
• Remove the stuffing from the bird and mix it in with the crock pot stuffing.
• Carve the turkey and serve on a platter.
• Enjoy this time honored tradition with your loved ones.
• You may use more or less sage, according to your tastes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine stuffing mix and hot water in large bowl. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in eggs. Spread stuffing mixture evenly onto turkey slices, to within 1/2 inch of outer edges. Roll up each turkey slice from one of the short ends to enclose the stuffing mixture.
• Place turkey rolls, seam sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish. Pour gravy over turkey.
• Bake 30 minutes or until turkey is cooked through.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Rinse turkey, remove giblets and place in a shallow roasting pan.
• Prepare stuffing according to package directions. Mix in water.
• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and slowly cook and stir the celery and onion until tender.
• Mix celery, onion, and toasted bread pieces into the stuffing, and season with salt and pepper. Loosely scoop stuffing into the turkey body cavity and neck cavity. Rub the exterior of the turkey with vegetable oil.
• Loosely cover turkey with aluminum foil, and roast 3 1/2 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until the thickest part of the thigh reaches 180 degrees F (85 degrees C) and the interior of the stuffing reaches 165 degrees F (70 degrees C). Remove foil during the last half hour of cooking to brown the bird.

Steps:

• Make a pocket in each tenderloin by cutting lengthwise from one side almost to, but no through, the other side; set aside.
• In a bowl, combine spinach, cheese, and black pepper. Spoon the mixture into the pockets and tie kitchen string around each tenderloin in 3 or 4 places.
• In a small bowl, combine oil, paprika, salt, and ground red pepper; brush evenly over tenderloins.
• Grill on lightly-greased rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium heat for 16-20 minutes or until turkey is no longer pink in the center, turning once. Remove strings and slice crosswise.

Steps:

• Butterfly turkey: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Use a slicing knife and your fingers to remove skin from breast, reserving skin. Turn the breast over (so the side that had the skin is facing down), and lay it flat on the cutting board. Holding the blade of the knife parallel to the board, about halfway down, slice into the thickest portion of the breast. Cut along the length of the breast, but not all the way through. Unfold so the turkey opens like a book. Remove the tough piece of cartilage. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet until the turkey is of uniform thickness (about 1/2 inch). Season with salt and pepper.
• Stuff turkey: Spread stuffing evenly (about 3/4 inch thick) over turkey, leaving a 1-inch border. Starting with one short end, roll into a log, completely enclosing the stuffing, and wrap the reserved skin around the breast, over the seam. Season all over with salt and pepper. Roll in a piece of cheesecloth, and secure both ends with kitchen twine. Tie twine around the roast in four evenly spaced intervals, then rub butter evenly all over cloth.
• Roast: Roast on a rimmed baking sheet until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the middle registers 155 degrees, 40 to 50 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes (the internal temperature should rise to 165 degrees).
• Slice and serve: Remove cheesecloth and twine, then place turkey on a cutting board and slice crosswise about 3/4 inch thick.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place the turkey into a deep, high-sided bowl on its end with the stuffing end up. Set aside.
• Heat the chicken broth in the microwave in a large microwave-proof container. Place mushrooms in a glass bowl and pour heated broth over them. Cover and allow to sit for 35 minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl toss the onion, celery, and green pepper with the oil and salt. Place the vegetables on a sheet pan and roast for 35 minutes. During the last 10 minutes of cooking, spread the cubed bread over the vegetables, return to the oven, and continue cooking.
• Drain mushrooms, reserving 1 cup of liquid. Chop the mushrooms and place in a large
• microwave-proof bowl with the vegetables and bread, reserved chicken stock, cherries, pecans, eggs, sage, parsley and black pepper. Stir well in order to break up pieces of bread. Use your hands to combine, if necessary. Heat the stuffing in a microwave on high power for 6 minutes.
• While the stuffing is heating, rub the bird with oil. Working quickly, place the stuffing into the cavity of the turkey to avoid losing heat. Place the turkey into a roasting pan, on a rack, and season with salt and pepper. Place the roasting pan on the middle rack of the oven. Roast for 45 minutes and then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and cook for another 60 to 75 minutes or until the bird reaches an internal temperature of 170 degrees F. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• In 6 tablespoons of butter, sauté green onions and parsley. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add this to the rice. Add also chicken or turkey livers, ham, pistachio nuts, rosemary, salt and pepper, melted butter and Madeira or cognac.
• Stuff the turkey lightly and sew the vent up or close it with small skewers. Remove the neck and secure the skin at the neck cavity in the same manner. Truss the bird, rub it with seasoned butter, spit it and roast it as for chicken. Baste it during the roasting with melted butter mixed with white wine, dry vermouth, Madeira or cognac.
• Serve this turkey with a giblet sauce and a large bowl of ice on which you have arranged an assortment of raw vegetables. Pass olive oil flavored with anchovies and anise seeds as an accompaniment. A happy wine choice for this dinner would be a really good rosé, nicely chilled, of course. For dessert a fine big sponge cake over which you have poured crushed strawberries with Grand Marnier.

Steps:

• Place oven rack in lowest position and preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 8-inch square baking dish or 2-quart casserole. Lightly brush roasting rack with vegetable oil and place in roasting pan.
• Remove plastic or paper packet of giblets from turkey (usually in small cavity). Remove from packaging and rinse; reserve gizzard and heart; discard floppy, dark purple liver. Remove neck from large cavity. Remove from packaging, rinse, and reserve. Using tweezers or needlenose pliers, remove any feathers and quills still attached to skin (kosher turkeys tend to require this more than others). Pull off and reserve any visible pale yellow knobs of fat from either side of tail (not found on all birds).
• Rinse turkey inside and out with cold water and pat dry. Loosely fill small (neck) cavity with stuffing. Fold neck skin under body and fasten with metal skewer. Loosely fill large body cavity with stuffing. Transfer remaining stuffing to buttered dish and drizzle with 1/4 cup stock. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate until ready to bake.
• Transfer turkey, breast-side up, to rack in roasting pan. Tuck wing tips under breast and tie drumsticks loosely together with kitchen string. Rub turkey all over with softened butter and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Tightly cover breast area with foil, leaving wings, thighs, and drumsticks exposed.
• Transfer gizzard, heart, neck, and reserved turkey fat to roasting pan around rack. Pour 2 cups stock into pan.
• Roast turkey 45 minutes. Baste with pan juices (lift up foil to reach breast area) and continue roasting, basting every 45 minutes, 1 1/2 hours more (2 1/4 hours total). Baste again and, if pan juices have evaporated into glaze, add 1 cup stock to pan. Roast another 45 minutes (3 hours total). Remove foil from breast area, baste, and add stock if necessary, until instant-read thermometer inserted into fleshy part of thigh (close to but not touching bone) registers 180°F, about 1 hour more (4 hours total).
• Insert instant-read thermometer into center of stuffing in body cavity. If thermometer does not read 165°F, transfer stuffing to microwave-safe baking dish and microwave on high until 165°F, about 3 minutes for 10 degrees. Cover and keep warm. Using turkey holders (or by inserting large metal serving spoon into body cavity), transfer turkey to large serving platter. Let stand 30 minutes before carving.
• Meanwhile, bake extra stuffing and make gravy: Raise oven temperature to 350°F. Remove giblets and neck from roasting pan and discard. Pour pan juices into measuring cup or gravy separator. Let stand until fat rises to top, 1 to 2 minutes, then skim off and reserve fat or, if using separator, carefully pour juices into measuring cup, reserving fat left in separator.
• Transfer foil-covered dish of extra stuffing to oven and bake 10 minutes. Meanwhile, add enough remaining stock to pan juices to total 4 cups. Measure turkey fat, adding melted butter if necessary to total 6 tablespoons. Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners on moderate heat and add fat. Whisk in flour, scraping up browned bits on bottom of pan, then cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Whisk in pan juice-stock mixture and bring to a boil, whisking often. Reduce heat to moderately low and simmer, whisking occasionally, until gravy thickens, about 5 minutes. Whisk in remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and keep warm. (Gravy can be kept warm over very low heat, covered, up to 20 minutes. If it thickens, thin with additional stock before serving. If skin forms on top, whisk well to dissolve.)
• When extra stuffing has baked 10 minutes, remove foil and bake, uncovered, until heated through, about 10 minutes. Pour gravy through fine-mesh sieve into large bowl, then transfer to gravy boat. Carve turkey and serve gravy and stuffing alongside.
• Test-Kitchen Tips:
• •To combat dryness, most frozen turkeys and some fresh are injected with a saline solution. This is not a good thing, though: Injected birds generally lack flavor and can have a mushy texture. For this reason, we recommend buying a fresh turkey and checking the label to be sure there aren't any additives. (Look for the words "all natural.") Don't be too concerned, though, with the many other terms that can be applied to turkeys, such as free-range, organic, or heritage. All can be excellent.
• •When buying a fresh bird, be sure to purchase it no more than two days before Thanksgiving. If you must get a frozen bird, defrost it in the refrigerator in a pan to catch drips, allowing a full 24 hours for each 5 pounds.
• •Warm, moist stuffing is an optimal environment for bacteria such as salmonella or E. coli to multiply, so it's important to follow safe procedures. Be sure to make the stuffing at the last minute so it can go into the bird warm. This helps it move above the "danger zone" (the optimal temperature range for bacteria growth) more quickly during roasting. When you remove the turkey from the oven, be sure to check the temperature in the middle of the stuffing to make sure it's 165°F, the temperature at which bacteria will be killed. If it's not 165°F, scoop it out of the cavity and microwave it as directed in the recipe.
• •More stuffing tips: Be sure not to overpack the cavities, as the stuffing will expand during cooking. Loosely fill the turkey, then spread the extra in a casserole dish (no more than 2 inches deep) and bake it after the turkey comes out (be sure to refrigerate it until then to impede bacteria growth). Drizzle the portion in the casserole dish with extra stock to make up for the juices it won't get from the turkey. If you want the stuffing that's cooked inside the turkey to be extra-moist (as opposed to having a crisp crust where it's exposed), cover the exposed portion with a small piece of aluminum foil.
• •Opinions vary on whether or not to stuff the bird-some people think it can cause uneven cooking. If you prefer not to stuff your bird, fill the cavities with a chopped vegetable and herb mixture that will impart its flavor to the meat and pan juices: Chop 1 onion, 1 celery rib with leaves, 1 carrot, and 3 tablespoons fresh parsley. Mix this with 1 teaspoon each dried rosemary, sage, and thyme. Sprinkle the cavities with salt and freshly ground black pepper and place the mixture inside. An unstuffed bird will take about 15 minutes to a half hour less to cook than a stuffed bird. When the turkey is cooked, tilt it to allow any juices that have collected in the cavity to drain into the pan. Do not serve the vegetable mixture, as it may not have cooked to a safe temperature.
• •This recipe can easily be scaled up to serve more people. Estimate about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds per person. Cooking times (for a stuffed bird, cooked at 325°F to an internal temperature of 180°F) will be as follows: 8 to 12 pounds: 3 to 3 1/2 hours 12 to 14 pounds: 3 1/2 to 4 hours 14 to 18 pounds: 4 to 4 1/4 hours 18 to 20 pounds: 4 1/4 to 4 3/4 hours 20 to 24 pounds: 4 3/4 to 5 1/4 hours
• •Some experts prefer to cook their turkeys to an internal temperature of 170°F (rather than 180°F, as in this recipe). If you don't mind having the meat slightly pink, this is perfectly safe and makes it more moist. However, Rick Rodgers, who created this recipe, believes that the dark meat in particular does not achieve its optimum flavor and texture until it reaches 180°F. If you choose to stuff your turkey and cook it to only 170°F, its stuffing will almost definitely not reach the safe temperature of 165°F. When you remove the turkey from the oven, be sure to check the temperature in the center of the stuffing, and if necessary remove it and microwave it as directed in the recipe.
• •Letting the turkey stand for half an hour after it comes out of the oven is an essential part of the roasting process. When meat roasts, its juices move to the outer edge of the flesh. Letting it rest gives the juices time to redistribute, making for a moister turkey. An added bonus: The resting time provides an excellent window of opportunity to make the gravy and reheat the side dishes. There's no need to cover the bird-it'll stay warm enough, and covering it would only soften the crispy skin.