Leigh's As-Good-As-It-Gets Christmas Turkey

Get a 5 -7 kg Bird from your best supplier in town. FRESH is best.

A Pot that holds about 18 litres of capacity whilst brining

It requires to be brined to seek the best flavour and ensures meat is consistent all the way through.

9 litres of Water, 2 cups of Salt, 4 Cups of Caster Sugar, 2 Oranges Halved, 1 whole head of Garlic halved horizontally, 30 Sprigs of Thyme

1/4 cup of Black PepperCorns, 1/4 cup of Coriander seeds, 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil, 2 brown Onions halved and 3 celery sticks chopped

The bird needs to be submerged for 2 days prior to cooking, kept in a cool place (best left on concrete floor @ Back door in shade)

When Brining the Bird, All Sugar and salt needs to be dissolved before Bird is added, pot needs to be 16-18 litrs, and Bird must be Brest down and submerged with an implement and kept cool O/night.

Glaze

1/2kg of Fresh Apricots, 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil, 16 Cardamom pods, a Cup of 2020 C&L Riesling, 1/4 cup WhiteWine Vinegar, 2 Medium shallots Peeled and thinly sliced.

1/4Cup of Honey, 1 Tablespoon Honey, Tablespoon of mustard powder

Step 1

After Bringing, Preheat Oven to 180C Fan Forced, Remove Turkey from brine and discard brine. Wash Turkey with cold water and allow to dry paper pat towel dry.

Truss the Turkey with Butcher's Twine and rub the outside of the turkey with Olive Oil and Salt and Pepper

Place the Bird on a roasting rack inside a large roasting pan. Cover the pan with foil and roast about 25mins

Step 2.

Whilst it is roasting for 25mins, make the glaze as follows. Bring a large saucepan of water to boil (~5Lts) over high heat. Cut an X through the skin on the bottom of each apricot and, then apricots to boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Drain and submerge in iced water to cool completely. Peel and pit and chop the apricots.

Step 3.

With a medium heavy saucepan, heat oil over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the Shallots, Cardamom and cook for 3 minutes or until pale golden. Add the Apricots and cook for a further 5 minutes, until shallots have softened. Add Wine and vinegar and simmer for another 8 minutes or until reduced by half. Add the honey and mustard powder and cook for another 2 mins or until blended. Strain the glaze through a fine mesh wire strainer so that there is no solids.

Step 4.

Reduce the heat @ 25mins to 150C and remove foil from the turkey and brush turkey generously with some of the glaze

Continue to roast for 1.5-2hrs and baste with glaze every 15mins or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh gets to 74C. If it starts to brown too quickly cover loosely with foil.

Step 5.

Remove Turkey from Oven and rest for 1 hour., lightly covered with foil before carving.

To Serve: Carve the Turkey and arrange on a platter, Serve with remaining glaze to drizzle over turkey slices