Roast turkey is always delicious at Christmas, and it is a dish that is emblematic of the holidays.
While eating it on Christmas Day might not be as common these days as it used to be, it is still a long-kept festive season tradition, and chef Melanie Alafaci is bringing sexy turkey back this Christmas with her signature ‘Tremendously Moist Terrific Turkey’ recipe that you can make at home.
Raised in Durban and now based in Australia, Alafaci has created the most incredibly easy and delicious Christmas menu for Australian networks that you can also try. When asking what people stressed most about for the Christmas table, she says the answer was always “dry turkey”.
“They also want to relax, have fun and spend quality family time on Christmas Day, not to be stressing about the menu.
“This year, the key to Christmas success will be planning and preparing in advance to allow for precious family time.
“Tremendously moist turkey is sure to get you a round of applause at the festive feast this year, and best of all … it won't break the bank.
“Cheap and easy, my two favourite things,” says Alafaci.
Here’s the recipe.
Ingredients
1 turkey, 3-5kg
Stuffing
200g streaky bacon, finely chopped
400g pork mince
2 cups onion, finely chopped
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs or roast sweet potato or roast potato
2 tbs freshly chopped sage
2 cloves garlic (optional)
Zest and juice of one lemon (optional)
1 tsp turmeric (purely for colour)
3 tbs butter
Pinch of salt
Pinch of nutmeg
Method
Start by heating a frying pan or large enough pan with a little spray of canola or vegetable oil.
Add the bacon to the pan when the pan is hot – it should sizzle and ‘talk’ to you. Don’t stir straight away, let the first lot of bacon on the bottom brown deliciously before stirring.
Lots of stirring will cool down the pan too quickly and you don’t want bacon stew. If you are worried about the bacon burning, give the pan a firm ‘cheffy’ shake.
Once the bacon is sexy and brown and the fat has rendered out the bacon, keep the heat high and add the pork mince.
Let the pan get back to temperature and only stir to prevent burning.
Using two forks to get rid of the pork mince lumps is a good idea, I also sometimes stab my mince with the base of a whisk – it breaks it up really well!
When the pork components are brown and beautiful you can now add the finely diced onions, garlic, sage, lemon zest, turmeric, and nutmeg.
You can now reduce the heat and allow those onions to cook down.
When soft and it’s all smelling like a little bit of heaven, add the butter, breadcrumbs, or roast sweet potato or cooked potato and the lemon juice. Stir and season. Allow to cool.
While it’s cooling you can tackle the turkey.
Cut the turkey down the backbone and then open it out flat so that it cooks faster. We can get a 3.5kg bird to cook in 1.5 hours by using this technique. You need a big board and a sharp knife.
Place the turkey breast down on the board. Cut down the backbone either to the left or right of the spine (don’t cut directly in the middle it’s just too difficult!).
Once the back is open, turn the bird over and break its breastbone with your palm and break it flat.
Place on the roasting tray. Is your oven preheated to 160°C?
Put the neck side facing closest to you and then loosen the skin away from the turkey all the way down to the drumsticks – you’re basically creating a ‘turkey envelope’ to put your stuffing into.