Roast Turkey breast with sage and apricot stuffing, cranberry sauce

Thu, 7 December 2023

2 kg turkey breast, preferably free-range or organic

·        olive oil

·        80g sort butter mixed with 2 table spoons chopped thyme and sage

·        sea salt

·        freshly ground black pepper

·        2 onions , peeled and roughly chopped

·        2 sticks celery , roughly chopped

·        2 carrots, roughly chopped

 

 

1.     Take your turkey out of the fridge 45 minutes before you are ready to cook it so it comes up to room temperature before roasting.

2.     Pat it dry with some kitchen paper, making sure you soak up any water

3.     Mix the soft butter with the herbs and push under the skin of the bird, this will add flavour and help keep the meat moist and succulent

4.     Drizzle the meat with the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and then rub this seasoning all over the breast

5.     Be sure to give your hand and all surfaces a good wash after handling raw poultry

6.     Pre heat the oven to 200 so it’s nice and hot before we add the meat in to cook

7.     Cook for about 30 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180 and roast for a further hour

8.     keep it from drying out by basting it with the lovely juices from the bottom of the pan.  so the skin gets golden and crispy.

9.     When the time is up, take your turkey out of the oven us a thermometer to ensure that the thickest part of the bird has reached 75 degrees, this tell you the the meat is cooked through and safe to eat, also ensure that the juices run clear 

10. When you're confident it's cooked, rest the turkey for at least 30 before carving

 

 

 

 

 

Apricot and sage Stuffing

250 g fresh bread crumbs

100g butter

2 onions finely diced

2 table spoons sage chopped

2 tbs chopped thyme

80g dried apricots

Salt and pepper

 

 

Method

 

To make the stuffing- put a medium sized pot and add the butter, sauté the onions for 2 minutes, add the herbs and apricots, cook for a further 2 minutes

I like to put it into a oven proof dish and bake at 180  for 35 minutes until golden and crispy on top

 

 

 

 

Cranberry Sauce

 

 

500g fresh cranberries – you can use frozen if can’t get fresh

2 Clementine’s juiced

2 star anise

1 cinnamon

100g brown sugar

 

 

1. To make the cranberry puree, place all the ingredients into a heavy based pot, cook over a medium heat until reached a jam consistency, remove the star anise, cinnamon stick and  puree in a food processer or leave if you prefer your sauce with pieces of cranberry
2. Place into Sterilized jar and will keep for 3 months in a cool dark place