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Even though we love it in the center of the table during the holidays, turkey is a comforting dish and can be used with all types of meals.épicier offers you two sizes of young Quebec turkey: a first of 3.62 kg which can generate up to 8 portions and a second of 7.24 kg for nearly 16 portions. The choice is yours!
There are three preparation techniques that help you get the most out of a young whole turkey: basting, marinating, and brining. Here are our tips and recipe suggestions for each!
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Basting involves cooking the young turkey in a roasting pan with a little water in the bottom and basting it two or three times during the last hour of cooking. It is best to baste the young turkey only during the last hour and not throughout the cooking time, since each time you open the oven, you lower the temperature, increase the cooking time, and risk ending up with a dried-out young turkey.
Want to try it? Here's a recipe that uses the sprinkling technique:
You can also water the young turkey with other liquids, as in this recipe using beer:
Maceration
It is possible to marinate the young turkey to obtain flavorful meat. You can also inject a marinade directly into the meat, using a meat syringe. For either method, allow the young turkey to soak up all these flavors for at least 30 minutes before cooking and up to 12 hours for a whole bird. Caution! If you want to reuse the marinade in your sauces, it is essential to boil it for between 5 and 10 minutes to avoid any risk of cross-contamination.
In this recipe, we marinate the whole young turkey:
In this one, we inject the marinade into the flesh:
Brining
Brining involves seasoning young turkey by soaking it in salted water with herbs. It helps infuse the chosen flavors deeply into the meat, making it more tender and juicy. This technique takes a little longer, but it's perfect for a special meal!
To do this, immerse the whole young turkey in salted water at a ratio of half a kilo of salt to 4 liters of water. Add herbs to taste: bay leaves, garlic cloves, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme, sugar, small hot peppers, etc. Then, let it soak in the refrigerator for 6 hours. When the brining is complete, remove the young turkey from the brine and rinse it to release the salt. Then dry the young turkey completely, both inside and out, using paper towels to prevent excessive steam from being released into the oven.
You can experiment with the brining technique in this recipe:
Note that it is also possible to use a dry brine for young turkey, and this step can be done directly on frozen young turkey. To do this, mix the aromatics of your choice with 1/2 teaspoon of salt per pound of young turkey. Then rub the mixture on the outside and inside of the young turkey. Wrap it and let it rest in the refrigerator for the recommended thawing time.
Here are two recipes to try the dry brine method:
And the farce in all this?
Even with these three preparation methods, you can also choose to stuff your turkey to give it a very special flavor. And it must be said that a stuffed turkey makes a great impression at the center of a table! The types of stuffing are very varied and you can give your young turkey the personality you want. Here are some recipes for stuffed young turkeys:
Cooking the young turkey
Regardless of the method used, it is recommended to cook the turkey until the internal temperature of its breast reaches 77°C (170°F) and the internal temperature of its thighs reaches 82°C (180°F). For a stuffed turkey recipe, make sure the stuffing reaches an internal temperature of at least 74°C (165°F). Before carving, let the young turkey rest for about XNUMX minutes to prevent the delicious cooking juices from leaking.
Do you have leftover turkey and don't know what to do with it? Check out our ideas for using up holiday meal leftovers.
sources:
https://www.ledindon.qc.ca
