Portuguese Roast Turkey Recipes

PERFECT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the zest and juice of the lemon and 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves to the butter mixture. Set aside.
• Take the giblets out of the turkey and wash the turkey inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the turkey in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the turkey cavity. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, halved lemon, quartered onion, and the garlic. Brush the outside of the turkey with the butter mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey.
• Roast the turkey about 2 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh. Remove the turkey to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil; let rest for 20 minutes.
• Slice the turkey and serve.

EASY HERB-ROASTED TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Clean turkey (discard giblets and organs), and place in a roasting pan with a lid.
• In a small bowl, combine olive oil, garlic powder, dried basil, ground sage, salt, and black pepper. Using a basting brush, apply the mixture to the outside of the uncooked turkey. Pour water into the bottom of the roasting pan, and cover.
• Bake for 3 to 3 1/2 hours, or until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh measures 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove bird from oven, and allow to stand for about 30 minutes before carving.

PORTUGUESE TURKEY WITH BREAD STUFFING

Steps:

• Soak turkeys in salted water under refrigeration for 24 hours.
• Combine wine, garlic, paprika, bay leaves, salt, hot pepper sauce and oregano. Marinate turkeys in this mixture for 24 hours under refrigeration. Turn occasionally.
• When ready to cook, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove turkeys from marinade, reserving marinade. Pack turkeys loosely with stuffing and cover openings of cavities with bread crusts; sew cavities closed. Bake remaining stuffing separately during the last half-hour turkeys are roasting.
• Wrap turkey wings in foil. Put turkeys into roasting pans and top with pieces of bacon, putting some beneath turkeys as well. Pour reserved marinade over turkeys.
• Roast turkeys for 30 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and roast turkeys about 2 1/2 hours more. If turkeys get too brown before they are cooked, put aluminum foil over the top. If turkeys are roasted in a single oven, they may need 30 minutes or more of extra roasting time.

RECIPE: PORTUGUESE ROAST TURKEY - GEORGE MENDES RECIPE

Steps:

• Brine the turkey: In a large pot, combine the brine ingredients and place over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar and salt have dissolved, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and chill, uncovered, in the fridge until cool, about 1 hour. Make ahead: Once chilled, the brine can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
• Rinse the turkey and neck, and place inside a 5-gallon container (or a large cooler). Pour the chilled brine over the turkey and top with a heavy plate, submerging the turkey. Cover and refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours.
• In a medium bowl, combine the paprika marinade ingredients. Make ahead: The marinade can be made and stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.
• Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse under cold water. Discard the brine. Rinse out the 5-gallon container and return the turkey to it. Pour the paprika marinade over the turkey, rubbing all over the outside and the inner cavity; cover and chill in refrigerator for 8 to 10 hours.
• Adjust the rack to the lower third of the oven, and preheat it to 400°.
• Cut off the turkey's wing tips, reserving them, and tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Combine the turkey neck, wing tips, red onions, carrots and bay leaves in a large roasting pan. Place the turkey on top, breast-side up, and rub with the salt and ¼ cup of the marinade.
• Roast the turkey in the preheated oven until the skin is browned, 40 to 50 minutes, basting the bird and rotating the pan halfway through roasting, covering any dark spots with aluminum foil.
• Lower the oven to 300°. Baste the turkey with marinade and pour 1 cup of water into the pan, creating steam to help cook the turkey. Continue to roast the turkey, rotating the pan and basting every 30 minutes, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reaches just under 160°, 1½ to 2 hours. Remove the turkey from the oven and let it rest in the roasting pan for 30 minutes before carving. Serve with the pan drippings and roasted vegetables.

PORTUGUESE ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• REMOVE THE GIBLETS from the turkey for another use. Fill the neck and body cavities of the turkey with coarse salt, then rub the skin well all over with salt. Place the turkey and remaining coarse salt in a large deep kettle, adding enough cold water to just cover the bird. Set in a cool spot for 3 to 4 hours. Put the butter and olive oil in a large heavy sauté pan, or better yet, a kettle, and place it over moderate heat. When the butter is melted, add the garlic and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until limp. Meanwhile, tear the bread into small chunks. Add the bread and the fine salt and pepper and toss well. Pour in the chicken stock and beat hard with a wooden spoon until the mixture is pastelike. Turn the heat to its lowest point, cover the kettle and steam 15-to-20 minutes until the bread absorbs all the liquid. Add the egg yolks to the stuffing mixture and beat hard until smooth. Remove from the heat and reserve. Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃). Drain the turkey and rinse several times in cool water so that all traces of salt are gone. Place the bird on the counter with the neck cavity facing you. With your hands, begin working the skin free from the breast. Proceed gently, taking care not to tear the skin. It's slow going at first, but once you begin to free the skin, the job goes quickly. Loosen it all the way down the bird to within about 1 inch of the tail end, down both sides. With your hands, push the stuffing bit by bit far down under the skin and continue, packing it in lightly, until the breast is covered with about a 1-inch layer. Next fill the neck cavity, skewer the neck skin flat against the back to enclose, and truss the bird. Place the turkey breast-side up in a large shallow roasting pan without a rack and roast uncovered for about 2½ hours. Do not baste. When the bird is richly browned and a leg moves easily in the hip joint, remove from the oven. Let stand, uncovered, 20 minutes. Drain drippings into a sauce boat and keep warm. Remove trussing string and skewers and serve at once on a warmed platter.

VERY MOIST AND FLAVORFUL ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Cut butter into 1-tablespoon pieces, quarter the pieces, and refrigerate butter until needed.
• Use your fingers to loosen the skin over the turkey breast and thighs. Cut a hole in the turkey skin between tail and body (to affix legs); cut a hole on each side of the turkey beneath each wing (to affix wings). Rub the entire skin with vegetable oil.
• Toss apple and onion wedges, garlic cloves, and celery in a large bowl until combined; sprinkle poultry seasoning over the apple mixture and toss again to coat. Stuff the body and neck cavities with the apple mixture. Insert each wing tip into the hole under the wing to secure wings; insert both legs into hole near tail to secure legs.
• Place turkey onto a rack and set in a roasting pan. Insert cold butter pieces under the loosened skin, distributing the butter as evenly as possible.
• Roast the turkey in the preheated oven until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh, not touching bone, reads 160 degrees F (70 degrees C), about 3 1/2 hours. Check for doneness after 3 hours.
• Remove roasting pan containing turkey from oven and cover with aluminum foil, lightly pressing the foil directly onto the bird. Let the turkey rest for 40 minutes before carving.

PORTUGUESE ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Stuff your turkey with favorate stuffing. I use Bells Stuffing (it is made in Bridgewater,MA ) very hard to find in the Southern States. Don't let the simpleness of the spices turn you off, it will supprise your family.
• You need a coffee cup for this recipe, take your salt and sprinkle into coffee cup as you make believe your putting salt on the turkey (include the area in pan that is left over space) do the same with the garlic, ground red pepper add 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of ground aniseed( if using)? Add water slowly to get dry ingredients into a paste then add more water until cup is about 1/2 full. As your stirring pour over Turkey.
• You don't want it to thick on the bird and you want a nice flavor not to salted, after I pour the spice mixture on the bird I take my baby finger touch it to the turkey then taste it, if too salty drizzle a little water on it. Now you can shake more red pepper flakes if you want it more spicy and you can also sprinkle more garlic powder on it now.
• You also want about 1/2 to 1 inch of water on bottom of pan, make sure the water in the pan has some seasoning flavor in it too. (the little pinky finger test) Pour any left over into pan this will add to the flavoring of the gravey. You can add potatoes to the pan also. Cook as you do your birds or follow cooking directions on the bird package. Hope you like