“… Christmas is coming
The goose is getting fat
Please put a penny
In the old man’s hat …”　　　Click here to hear the music!

Well, not a goose, but Turkey(s) – 2 of ‘em, for the geflügelmeißter 2011. One was frozen (and from France) the other was sort-of fresh (vacuum packed and from Austria). Both were about 4.5 kgs, but they were really different birds – the French method of cutting and preparation was better and looked much more attractive but the Austrian “fresh” one was really better quality meat. You pays your money and you takes your choice …

Cooking them was a pleasure. My “Guru” of all things geflügel is the mâitre d’ of a really posh restaurant near Baune in Bourgogne, and it was his mantra of the “20 minute cycles” that got me doing this.
Essentially, roast the bird for 20 minutes on one side, turn and do 20 minutes, then turn and 20 minutes and on and on, just changing the overall cooking time to suit the animal – it doesn’t matter what bird you are doing; chicken, turkey, duck, goose, partridge, guinea fowl, ANYTHING; just follow the 20 minute then turn rules. Now this is really simple – and like everything else in life, the more simple it is the more it’s likely to work …

So, to share the famous French recipe, you will need:-

• A roasting tin big enough to take the animal;
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• A large peeled, whole onion (although I had to use 3 small ones this year!!)
• A whole “bulb” of garlic, each clove been peeled and left whole; 
• One piece of tin foil big enough to loosely cover the bird.

I’m not very good with stuffing or bacon or some of the other things people put in the turkey; they’re just not necessary and although this seems like a lot of garlic, it isn’t really as even with this much the bird just has a “hint” of garlic in the taste.
Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC. Start by “oiling” the Turkey, using the olive oil – rub it well in all over the bird – and season well all-over with salt and pepper. Put all the peeled garlic cloves and the onion inside the bird’s cavity [make sure you’ve removed the neck and the bag of giblets they al ways put in there!!]

(Also – this was one of the differences in the “French Cut” Turkey – their system is that they leave a smaller cavity at the neck and the bird also had small cavities under the skin. This is great to fit garlic cloves “under” the skin to infuse the meat directly. They also “tied” the legs together with a flap of skin – a great idea as well, as this is better than string as it will fracture during cooking and the allow the legs to spread naturally for complete cooking!)

Put the Turkey on the roasting tin “Breast Up” and put in the oven, uncovered for 20 minutes. Take the bird out, turn it over “Breast Down” and return to the oven for 20 minutes. Keep doing this until the bird is cooked – 20 minutes, turn, 20 minutes, turn, 20 minutes etc etc. I also place the tin foil on the top at about the 4th cycle and keep this on until near the end. Personally, I found I needed a table to keep track of the “20 Minutes” and judge the cooking time and to “mark” each 20 minute cycle when I turned the bird.  This table is for a 4.5 – 5.0 kg turkey …

    Breast Up        Breast Down
1    20 Minutes    2    20 Minutes
3    20 Minutes    4    [20 Minutes
5    20 Minutes    6    20 Minutes
7    20 Minutes]    8    7 Minutes
9    7 Minutes       

[For cycles 4 to 7 baste the turkey with the juices from the pan particularly on the legs and wings and cover loosely with the tin foil at each turn. Remove the tin-foil for cycles 8 and 9 to let the turkey crisp and brown a bit more.
If you have a smaller or bigger animal, then add or subtract one 20 minute cycle for each 0.5 kg.

Most Important: when the cooking is over, put the turkey on a plate and leave it alone for at least 1 hour before serving; the thing is still cooking and needs to rest …
So – as you see; VERY easy and it actually works! And let’s be fair – if I can do it, then ANYONE can!! If you want to get clever, ask Sachiko to tell you how she does the Red Wine jus or gravy that she serves with it – just superb!!