With the upcoming holidays coming up soon, we've had a lot of requests for a roast turkey recipe using Athene Spices.
Here's the basic recipe I use for my turkeys. Feel free to use our other spices in exchange of the gourmet Hot Chick Spicy Salt used in this recipe. Just don't forget to add salt if you are using our gourmet spice mix instead.
Happy Holidays!
HOT CHICK ROAST TURKEY
Ingredients
HOT CHICK SPICY SALT BUTTER
- 1 block of butter (225g-250g), room temperature
- 4 tablespoon Hot Chick Spicy Salt
- 10 garlic, minced
TURKEY AND VEGETABLES
- 5 kg turkey, defrosted
- 3 onions, washed and quartered
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped
- 1 kg roasting potato, quartered
- a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
- a few sprigs of fresh thyme
- 2 cups of chicken stock
STUFFING
- 1 small lemon, quartered
- 2 onions, washed and halved
- a few sprigs of fresh rosemary & thyme
GRAVY
- 3 tablespoons of flour
- 2 tablespoons of butter
Instructions
1.Prepare the turkey, thirty minutes to an hour before roasting, take the defrosted turkey out of the fridge. Remove any packaging and the bag of giblets (check in the body cavity and in the neck cavity). Wipe dry turkey skin and cavities with kitchen towel, the drier the skin before roasting, the crispier it will be.
2.Make the Hot Chick Spicy Salt butter by adding the gourmet salt mix and minced garlic to the softened butter, mix well.
3.Preheat the oven to 230F. This will set the oven for good heat when you begin roasting your turkey.
4.Flavor your turkey by generously rubbing Hot Chick Spicy Salt butterall over and inside the cavity of the turkey. Gently loosen the skin on the turkey breast (try not to tear) and insert some of the butter beneath the skin, this will add more flavor to the turkey and keep the breast meat moist.
5.Stuff the turkey cavity with the lemon, onion and fresh herbs.
6.Prepare the turkey for roasting by tucking the wings and trussing the leg with cotton string or thread.
7.Place the potato, onion and carrot evenly on the baking pan. This will create a non-stick surface for roasting the turkey as well as flavoring it. You will get a nicely caramelized sides too when your turkey is ready. If you are using a roasting rack, you can place your vegetables around the turkey.
8.Place the turkey on top of the vegetables, breast side up. Pour the chicken stock into the pan, this will the basting juice that will keep your turkey juicy throughout the roasting time.
9.Loosely cover the turkey with aluminum foil, place turkey in the oven, preferably on the second lowest rack position and turn down the heat to 160C.
10.Set your timer to roast turkey for 2 hours 30 minutes. The rule of thumb for cooking a turkey is30 minutes per kg. However, start checking the temperature of your turkey about halfway through the scheduled cooking time to gauge how fast it's cooking.
11.To check the temperature, place the thermometer in the thickest part of the breast, the meat should be at least 165°F when the turkey has finished cooking. If you bought a turkey with a self-popping timer, lucky you, you just need to check if it’s popped at the end of the cooking time. If it hasn’t, roast for a bit longer, checking every 15 minutes. Do not exceed 45 minutes as this will make your turkey dry and tasteless. Bear in mind the self-popping timer might not work sometimes.
12.Baste the turkey every 45 minutes, remove the turkey from the oven, close the oven door (don't let that heat out!), and baste the turkey all over. To baste, use a turkey baster or spoon to scoop up the pan liquids and drizzle them on top of the turkey. Basting with pan juices not only adds flavor, it also cools the surface of the turkey and slows down cooking, which in turn keeps the breast meat cooking at close to the same rate as the legs and thighs.
13.In the last 45 minutes roasting,remove the aluminum foil, this will crisp up the skin and turn it a beautiful deep golden brown.
14.Rest the turkey before carving.Place the turkey on your serving dish. Make a tent with aluminum foil to cover the turkey and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. This gives time for the meat to firm up and the juices to be re-absorbed into the muscle tissue, making the turkey easier to slice and taste juicier. Reserve roasting juice.
15.To make the gravy, melt butter in a pan, add flour to make a roux. Stir until golden, add roasting juice. Stir until thick. Check if flavor is good, add more seasoning if required, otherwise if the flavor is too strong, add water to balance it.
16.Serve turkey, roasted vegetable and gravy with your favorite green salad and other side dishes.
Note:
• Any leftover Hot Chick Spicy Salt butter can be used to make oven roasted pumpkin or sweet potatoes.
• The turkey neck, liver and giblet can be roasted together to add more flavor to the gravy.
• You can use our other gourmet salt mixes such as Lemon Lime Pepper Salt for a tangy peppery flavor or Garlic Salt for a burst of garlicky taste
• If using Athene Spice gourmet spice mixes, don't forget to add salt!