Cooking our Turkey in a Brown Paper Bag

Saturday 24th of December 2011

For our family Christmas lunch we share the load by all pitching in and bringing a pre-arranged dish. A little like an organised gourmet potluck. This year we put our hands up to bring the Turkey and all the trimmings. As turkey can become tough when cooked we are using a passed-down recipe from my Nana to ensure it is juicy and succulent.

As I haven't cooked many turkeys I am more than happy to follow a recipe. So here it is:

*We used a 4kg Croziers free-range turkey purchased from our local Belgium butcher.

TO COOK A TURKEY IN A BAG

  • Use a brown paper bag. (We used a double layer of brown parchment paper folded and stapled to enclose the turkey as we didn't have a paper bag big enough).
  • Rub over top & sides of turkey with oil using your hands. It’s easier to put the bird in the bag first.
  • Fold over end of bag twice and seal using wooden clothes pegs. You could staple if you don’t have the pegs.
  • Cook 20 minutes per pound at 160 C. (I used an online 'kg to pounds' calculator to work this out. For our 4kg turkey the cooking time was just under 3 hours).
  • Leave in bag for 30 minutes before carving. (Don’t be tempted to open the bag to check or the steam escapes).

Here is our turkey ready for the oven in the morning with the stuffing standing by and home-made cranberry sauce to accompany the cooked turkey.

The stuffing went something like this:

Saute 1 chopped onion in ghee until soft. Add the finely chopped turkey giblets (these were in the cavity of the bird) and cook until coloured. Meanwhile, mix together 4 cups 'day-old ciabatta' fresh breadcrumbs, 10 diced prunes, and a handful each chopped parsley and thyme. Add the sauted onions and giblets along with the zest and juice of an orange, 50g melted butter and 2 eggs. Combine well and season. Stuff into the turkey before cooking.

For the cranberry sauce:

I defrosted a 500g bag of 'Sujon' cranberries. Dissolved 2 cups of sugar in 2 cups water over a slow heat. Add the cranberries and simmer for 15-20 minutes until thickened. Pour into a bowl as it will thicken as it cools.