One Week to Roast a Turkey
I like to spread out the preparations of roasting my turkey over a one-week period. That way, there will not be too much work that need to be done come roasting day.
This year, I got my turkey from the frozen food supplier recommended by The5XMom.
The turkey is from Ronsard, so I guess it’s a French turkey. If I remember correctly, their birds are all organically bred without the use of hormones.
The price of turkey this year has doubled…Fu-yoh! Sure am glad I didn’t buy from the supermarkets. They charge so much more per kg compared to the frozen food supplier.
Monday-Tuesday
Brought the bird home and defrost in the fridge.
Wednesday
Cleaned the bird thoroughly including a full body scrub. Ooh, can’t believe how smooth my hands feel after that.
Next, comes the aroma therapy massage (marinate lah) with Auntie Sue’s traditional English recipe:-
- 3 tbs brandy
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 3 tbs soy sauce
- 2 tbs sugar
Mix all the above together and slather the bird completely with it.
Once done, insert the stuffing that can be found at any of the major supermarkets like Giant or Cold Storage.
Sew up the hole with toothpicks and cover the entire bird with cling wrap before returning to the fridge to let the bird absorb the marinate.
Thursday-Friday
Marinading. The bird should be marinated for at least 2 hours, if you don’t have that much time to prepare it.
Saturday (Roasting day)
Take the bird out of the fridge to sit for a few hours. Once the bird is at room temperature, pop it into the oven and roast for 2 hours.
Here’s the bird fresh out of the oven. Nice brown color, huh?
Ta-dah! The finished product - the turkey with 4 types of sauces. This is the first time I decorated my turkey, believe it or not. Not bad, huh? Got the idea from a picture I saw online. Nothing fancy there, just potatoes, baby tomatoes and parsley.
The sauces are:
- Traditional turkey gravy (in the Japanese bowl)
- Spicy sauce with brandy (the big bowl)
- Brown sauce (in the middle)
- Cranberry sauce (far right)
I’ll post the recipe for the sauces in the next post.
A little tidbit of info from this ex restaurant manager I know: turkeys can be frozen for up to 6 years and still be fresh when cooked. Over here, we’ll be lucky if we can get a turkey that has only been frozen for 1 year.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!!
