Christmas can be stressful enough without the worry of serving up dry as dust turkey on the big day. Food blogger Danny Kingston has put together this step-by-step guide to show you how to turn your standard supermarket turkey into a crown that's fit for a king and simple to cook.
You will need:
1 turkey
Kitchen towel
Chopping board
Sharp chef's knife/boning knife
Butcher's string
Roasting tin
Butter and/or bacon
Instructions:
1. Firstly, take out any giblets (including neck) that might remain in the cavity of the turkey. Put by to use for making your gravy later.
2. Wipe the turkey all over with a kitchen towel to remove any excess moisture.
3. Place your turkey on a suitable and secure chopping board.
4. With a sharp chef's knife or boning knife, take one leg and cut along the skin on the inner thigh. Press down on the leg, cut where it joins the body and then when you reach the hip joint press down hard and it'll pop open so you can complete cutting, removing the leg totally. Repeat with the other leg.
5. Then, on either side of the turkey, running your knife along the ribs, make two cuts down towards the backbone and either chop through the backbone or lever the exposed backbone against your chopping board and snap it off.
6. Stretch each wing out, cut through the skin at the elbow joint and chop through the joint.
7. Remove the wishbone (this makes the crown easier to carve) by pulling the skin back at the top of the breast and gently run your knife along the v-section of the wishbone. Ease your knife under and along the bone, trimming away the meat until the wishbone detaches.
8. Last of all, truss (or tie) together the remaining part of the wings behind the turkey crown with some butcher's string and your crown will now sit nicely in your roasting tin. (Remember to save the backbone part and the wing tips to use for the gravy.)
9. Prepare the crown by buttering under the skin or covering with bacon. Cover your turkey with foil until 30 minutes before it's done, then remove the foil to give the skin time to crisp and brown.
Notes:
Cooking times vary depending on the weight of the turkey, so make sure you check the packaging for times. Weigh the turkey after you've stuffed and dressed it (or weigh it once it's crowned and then weigh the stuffing that you plan to add to it then add the weights together).
Recipe courtesy of VoucherCodes.co.uk.
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