Easy Turkey Crown Recipes

JAMIE'S EASY TURKEY

Steps:

• PREP - if you want to get ahead, do all this prep on Christmas Eve, ready for the big day. Either way, get your turkey out of the fridge 1 to 2 hours in advance, depending on its size, so it can come up to room temperature.
• Check the main cavity for the bag of giblets, and if they're in there, remove them and tip into your roasting tray. The added flavour for your gravy later will be incredible - trust me.
• Warm the butter in your hands then rub and massage it all over the bird, getting into all the nooks and crannies, then sprinkle from a height with sea salt and black pepper.
• Halve the clementine and place in the main cavity with the fresh herbs - you don't want to pack it full as you want to allow hot air to circulate.
• Use a handful (200g) of Gennaro's pork & onion stuffing to fill the neck cavity, but don't stuff it in too tightly, then pull the skin back over it and tuck it under the bird. You'll get a good contrast between the soft, juicy stuffing here and the crispier stuff you can bake off in a dish.
• Roughly chop the veg - there's no need to peel them - and chuck into the tray with the giblets to make your trivet, then sit the turkey on top and cover the tray with tin foil.
• Remember now to wash your hands, plus any kitchen kit the raw turkey has touched, before moving on.
• COOK - Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.
• As a guide, you want to cook a higher-welfare bird for 25 to 30 minutes per kilo, and a standard bird for 35 to 40 minutes per kilo. If you've got a 6kg bird, like I had here, do it for 2 hours 42 minutes - this sounds very precise, but I find that 27 minutes per kilo for a higher-welfare bird is the sweet spot.
• Remove the tin foil about 45 minutes before the end of cooking, to allow the turkey to get nice and golden.
• To check it's cooked, the simplest way is to stick a knife into the thickest part of the thigh - if the juices run clear, it's done. If you're worried, you could also use a meat thermometer. You want to reach an internal temperature of 65ºC for a top-quality bird, such as Paul Kelly's turkeys, or 70ºC for a supermarket higher-welfare or standard bird.
• Use heavy duty tongs to lift up your bird so all the juices run from the cavity into the tray, then transfer the turkey to a platter, cover it with a double layer of tin foil and a clean tea towel, and leave to rest for up to 2 hours while you crack on with everything else.
• See how to finish your gravy by checking out my Christmas day gravy recipe.
• CARVE - Choose from the two methods below, or watch the How to carve a turkey video on Food Tube.
• Remove the wing, slice the skin beside the leg, then pull out and chop the legs off. You can either slice or pull this brown meat - it's so tasty. Keep it warm while you move on to the breast meat. Use the full length of the knife in a nice smooth action to slice through the breast meat, transferring it to a platter as you go.
• Remove the leg as above, then feel where the backbone is and cut with the length of your knife all the way down beside it until you hit the carcass. You can then lift the whole breast off the bone. Remove to a board and slice.

EASY TURKEY CROWN

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Smear the butter all over the turkey crown and season all over with salt and half the five spice. Put in a roasting tin, skin-side up, and roast for 30 mins. While the crown is roasting, mix all the glaze ingredients in a bowl with the rest of the five spice.
• Remove the crown from the oven and brush the skin generously with half the glaze. Continue to roast for another hour, glazing twice more, until cooked all the way through and the glaze is sticky and caramelised. Leave to rest for at least 20 mins before carving. Save the juices from the tin to make gravy.

JAMIE'S EASY TURKEY - 2 WAYS

Steps:

• GET-AHEAD
• 1. You can do all this prep on Christmas Eve, ready for the big day. Check the main cavity for the bag of giblets, and if they're in there, remove them and tip into a large roasting tray. The flavour they will add to your gravy will be incredible - trust me.
• 2. Peel and quarter the onions, and roughly chop the rest of the veg (there's no need to peel them), adding everything to the tray as you go. Halve and add the clementines, then throw in the woody herbs and bay leaves.
• 3. Fill the neck cavity with half of the stuffing (don't stuff it in too tightly), then pull the skin back over, and tuck it under the bird, then place the turkey on top of the vegetable trivet.
• 4. Lay your deboned turkey legs skin-side down on a board. Now, you're aiming to create a flat rectangular surface area for stuffing, but don't worry, it doesn't need to be perfect - just try to make it roughly the same thickness all over. Start by slicing away from you into the thickest part of the meat, then fold over and open it out flat, like a book.
• 5. Lay 16 x 30cm pieces of string on your chopping board in two sets of eight, making sure there is a 2cm gap in between each piece. Place the turkey legs skin-side down on top of the string, ensuring there are 8 pieces under each leg. Pack the remaining stuffing into the middle of each leg, filling in any pockets left by the bones, then wrap the meat back over and tie it tightly with the string using a double-knot. Transfer to a small roasting tray. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over each of the legs and crown, and rub it into the meat, then cover both trays with tin foil and store in the fridge overnight.
• ON THE DAY
• 6. Take your turkey trays out of the fridge 1 hour before they are due to go in the oven.
• 7. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4 and season the crown and legs with sea salt and black pepper.
• 8. As a guide, you want to cook a stuffed higher-welfare bird for 25 to 30 minutes per kilo, and a standard bird for 35 to 40 minutes per kilo. If you have a 3kg crown and 2 stuffed turkey legs, like I have here, roast them for 1 hour 30 minutes, basting several times with the lovely juices in the tray.
• 9. To check the meat is cooked, the simplest way is to stick a knife into the thickest part of the thigh or breast - if the juices run clear, it's done. If you're worried, you could also use a meat thermometer. You need to reach an internal temperature of 65ºC for a top-quality bird, such as Paul Kelly's turkeys, or 70ºC for a supermarket higher-welfare or standard bird.
• 10. Use heavy-duty tongs to lift up your bird so all the juices run from the cavity into the tray, then transfer the turkey to a platter, and brush the legs with the maple syrup or honey. Cover with a double layer of tin foil and a clean tea towel, then leave to rest for up to 2 hours while you crack on with everything else. To see how you finish off your gravy, check out my Chestnut gravy recipe.
• CARVE
• 11. To carve the legs, cut off the string and slice, at an angle, through the juicy leg meat. For the crown, cut along the backbone with the length of your knife all the way down it until you hit the carcass. You can then lift the whole breast off the bone. Remove to a board and slice.
• These nutritional values are based on 120g of cooked turkey, per person.

EASY ROAST TURKEY CROWN

Steps:

• Thoroughly defrost your turkey crown first (see note 1).
• Remove your turkey crown from the fridge about an hour before you are going to cook it.
• Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas mark 4 / 350F about 15 minutes before you want to start cooking your turkey. It is really important that your oven is at the right temperature before you start.
• Next, drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the turkey and sprinkle over 1 teaspoon of salt and about 20 good grindings of black pepper. Rub the oil, salt and pepper all over the bird and place it, breast side up, in a roasting tray.
• Cover the turkey crown in foil and roast for 60 minutes. The foil will help keep the breast meat juicy and stop the skin browning too soon and burning before the meat is cooked.
• After 60 minutes, remove the turkey from the oven and remove the foil. Baste the turkey with the juices you find at the bottom of the tin. Put the turkey back in the oven, uncovered this time, for a further 20 minutes (see note 2).
• After 20 minutes, turn the oven up to 220C / 200C fan / gas mark 7 / 425F, remove the turkey from the oven and baste with the juices. Return the turkey back to the oven for a further 30 minutes. Cooking the turkey at a higher temperature will help the turkey skin to brown and crisp up. 220C is also the perfect temperature for roast potatoes, meaning you can start your roasties now and they will be ready when the turkey has rested for 30 minutes.
• After the final 30 minutes (the turkey will have cooked for a total of 1 hour and 50 minutes), remove the turkey from the oven and check it is done. Stick a small sharp knife in the fattest part of the turkey crown, and the juices should run clear and the meat should be white. If you have a meat thermometer, the internal temperature should be 74C (165F).
• Transfer the turkey crown to a clean roasting tin (or similar). Allow the turkey to rest for 30 minutes, covered loosely in foil. It will not get cold and the meat will taste much nicer.
• Use the turkey roasting tray to make delicious easy peasy turkey gravy.

HOW TO COOK THE PERFECT TURKEY CROWN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220ºC/200ºC Fan/Gas 7.
• Rub the butter all over the bird and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Place the bird in a roasting tray in the centre of the oven. Cook on a high heat for 25-30 minutes to get that skin crispy!
• Take the turkey out the oven and baste the breast of the bird with the fat and juices in the pan and return to the oven. Turn down the oven to 180ºC/160ºC Fan/Gas 4 and continue to cook for about 20 minutes per kg.
• Cook until the juices run clear when the thickest part of the breast is pierced with a skewer and the skin is brown and crispy.
• Serve slices of roast turkey breast and spoonfuls of gravy, crispy roasties and all the trimmings.