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Festive fare

With the Yuletide season just around the corner, it’s time to start planning your Christmas Day feast. Whether you prefer ham or turkey, Australian chef Miguel Maestre has your back.

The secret to a nice, moist turkey is using plenty of butter under the skin. You want to use a lot of stuffing, too, leaving no room in the cavity or it will dry out from the inside. Buy a good-quality, free-range turkey if you can. A smaller one is better. In fact, I get two small ones rather than one massive one.

There will be plenty of delicious meat left. Wrap it and put it in the fridge when you have finished eating, rather than letting it sit out on the table for hours. Use the leftovers for chicken soup or to make meatballs.

The perfect Christmas turkey

Serves: 6-8

■ 1 x 3kg turkey, stored uncovered in the fridge overnight to dry out the skin

■ 50g butter, at room temperature

■ 500g yellow squash, quartered

■ 1 bunch of baby carrots, trimmed

■ 1 bunch of spring onions, halved

■ Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Stuffing

■ 2 tablespoons olive oil

■ 1 onion, finely sliced

■ 4 garlic cloves, minced

■ 1⁄2 bunch of thyme, leaves picked and finely chopped, plus an extra handful of sprigs

■ 1⁄2 bunch of sage, leaves picked and finely chopped, plus an extra handful of leaves

■ 3 tablespoons peeled, cooked chestnuts, finely chopped (optional)

■ 50g (1⁄2 cup) walnuts, finely chopped

■ 500g gourmet pork sausages, skins removed, meat broken into chunks

■ 1 egg

■ 45g dried breadcrumbs

■ 120g (1 cup) dried cranberries

■ Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (fan-forced).

To make the stuffing, heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes until the onion has softened. Remove from the heat. Add the chopped herbs and nuts, sausage meat, egg, breadcrumbs, and cranberries. Season and mix together well with your hands.

Stuff the cavity of the turkey with the stuffing. Tie the legs together, or use safety pins, to close the cavity. From the neck end of the turkey, gently run your fingers under the skin to loosen, being careful not to tear it. Push some of the butter under the skin of the breast, then make knife incisions into the legs and wings, and add the remaining butter under the skin. Arrange the extra thyme sprigs and sage leaves under the skin for presentation.

Place the turkey in a large roasting tin and season the skin generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes until starting to brown, then reduce the temperature to 150C (fan-forced) and cook for 21⁄4 hours (45 minutes a kg). Check it every 20 minutes and baste with the pan juices to stop it drying out. If the skin is browning too much, cover it loosely with foil.

About an hour before the turkey is cooked, add the vegetables to the tin and season with salt and pepper. Return to the oven.

At the end of the cooking time, check the turkey is done by inserting a small, sharp knife into the fattest part of the thigh. If the juices run clear, and the meat pulls apart easily, it is ready. If not, cook for a bit longer and check again.

Remove and rest for at least 30 minutes before serving with the roast vegetables.

You can flash the vegetables in a hot oven again first if you need to.

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en-nz

2021-12-01T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-01T08:00:00.0000000Z

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