Try turkey this Christmas! Introducing authentic and easy recipes

Even beginners are welcome! Why not eat turkey for Christmas?

Even though we eat chicken at Christmas, we don't often have the opportunity to eat turkey. It's true that eating a whole bird is a bit of a challenge.

But there's no need to worry! At The Meat Guy, you can purchase turkey breasts and legs. Why not take this opportunity to try turkey for the first time?

Tips for cooking a delicious turkey

Turkey is often thought of as being larger than chicken, which is the common chicken, and so may seem difficult to cook. However, when you actually try cooking it, you will find that it is only slightly larger than chicken, but the effort required to cook it is not that different.

The key to cooking delicious turkey is that, although it has less fat and is healthier than chicken, it lacks juiciness and will quickly dry out if overcooked, so the key is to soak it for a day in a liquid made from salt and sugar called "liquor de Saumur." This liquid de Saumur has a "moisturizing" effect, which keeps the moisture contained in the meat inside.

Also, since turkey has a slightly stronger flavor than chicken, adding more herbs to the brine will make it easier to eat.

3 recommended turkey recipes to make for Christmas!

This time, we'll be introducing a relatively simple yet delicious turkey recipe. Anyone can make it delicious if they follow the steps in order, so please give it a try!

Turkey Breast Stuffed Turkey

For those who want to try turkey but find buying a whole one too intimidating, here are some recipes using The Meat Guy's processed turkey. The stuffed turkey is made by opening the turkey breast, wrapping it with stuffing, tying it up with string, and then baking it. It's both filling and visually stunning! It's a great Christmas main dish.

<Ingredients> Serves 5-6 people

1 Turkey breast (700g)

[Saumur liquid for marinating]
◆ Water 100cc
◆ 5g salt
◆ 5g sugar
◆ Herbs such as rosemary or bay leaves, as desired (optional)

Stuffed Turkey Saumur

[Filling]
★ 1 slice of bread or 80g of cooked rice
★ 1/2 bag of spinach
★ 1 egg
★ 3 tablespoons walnuts
★ 3 tablespoons raisins
★ 1/3 teaspoon salt
★ A little of your favorite herbs
* Octopus string, about 1m

Stuffed Turkey Ingredients

<How to make>

1. Thaw the turkey breast in the refrigerator for a day, then open it with a knife. Insert the knife into the thinnest part of the breast, leaving about 2 cm of space at the end.

2. Mix the ingredients in step 1 and ◆, then soak in the Saumur liquid and leave in the refrigerator for 1 to 24 hours to prevent the finished product from drying out. Use an airtight bag or storage container.

3. Boil the spinach and cut it into pieces about 2 cm long. Mix the ingredients marked with ★ in a bowl, place the opened turkey on top of the plastic wrap with the skin side down, and spread the stuffing evenly. If you put too much on the edges, the stuffing will spill out, so be sure not to put it on within 1 cm of the edges of all four sides.

Stuffed Turkey Stuffing

4. Use the plastic wrap as a rolling mat and roll it up like sushi. Once you've finished rolling it, tie it up in 5-6 places with string and sprinkle a little salt and pepper on it.

Stuffed Turkey

5. Preheat the oven to 190°C and bake for 1 hour. After removing from the oven, cover tightly with aluminum foil to keep warm. After about 20 minutes, cut into pieces and place on a plate.

There are no set rules for the ingredients used in the filling. You can change the filling to suit your tastes by replacing the raisins with dried figs or dried cranberries, or adding cheese or herbs like celery.

Take a hearty bite! Grilled Turkey Leg

Turkey legs are delicious and filling even when simply baked in the oven! You can simply wrap aluminum foil around the handle, but adding a ribbon will give it an even more festive Christmas feel. It's hard to finish a whole leg by yourself, so it's a good idea to take a commemorative photo and then cut it into bite-sized pieces.

<Ingredients> For 1 piece

1 turkey leg (700g)

[Saumur liquid for marinating]
◆ Water 100cc
◆ 5g salt
◆ 5g sugar
◆ Herbs such as rosemary or bay leaves, as desired (optional)

Grilled Turkey Leg Saumur

[Garnishing vegetables]
Carrots, potatoes, broccoli, etc. (optional)

<How to make>

1. Thaw the turkey leg in the refrigerator for a day, then marinate it in the Saumur liquid mixture containing the ingredients listed below and leave it in the refrigerator for between one night and 24 hours. It is best to use an airtight bag or storage container when marinating.

2. Place the meat and the accompanying vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces on a baking tray in the oven, coat the meat all over with olive oil, and bake in a preheated oven at 190°C for 40-50 minutes. When you insert a bamboo skewer into the meat and the juices come out clear, it's done! (If it's not cooked enough, bake for an additional 10 minutes.)

Grilled turkey legs before cooking

You can also make gravy from the meat juices and serve it over vegetables or the turkey.
The key is to marinate the meat in Saumur liquid! This will add flavor and keep the meat moist, resulting in a moist finish.

It's moist and tender. We also recommend confiting it in a low-temperature cooker!

Turkey confit (a cooking method involving slow cooking in oil at low temperature) requires experience and skill, but using a sous vide cooker, which has become popular recently, makes it much easier. Having a sous vide cooker will also undoubtedly broaden the variety of meat dishes you can make! It might even be a good idea to buy a sous vide cooker as a Christmas gift for yourself.

<Ingredients> For 3 to 4 people

・1 turkey leg (700g)
★ 9g salt
★ Sugar 9g
★ A little rosemary or bay leaf and black pepper
・3 tablespoons olive oil

Confit Ingredients

<How to make>

1. Rub the turkey legs with the ingredients marked with ★, place in an airtight bag and refrigerate overnight.

Confit low-temperature cooking

2. After wiping off the herbs and moisture on the surface with kitchen paper, place the olive oil and meat in an airtight bag and remove as much air as possible (vacuum).

3. Preheat the slow cooker to 80°C and cook 2. at low temperature for 3 hours.

Confit after low-temperature cooking

4. After cooking at low temperature, brown the surface in a frying pan and it's done!

Confit is a traditional cooking method that involves slowly cooking turkey in a large amount of oil, but with a slow cooker, you can slowly cook it in warm water at a specific temperature. It's economical because you only need a small amount of fat! You can enjoy a tender, fall-off turkey.

It's easy to go overboard on calories at the end of the year, but nutritionally speaking, turkey is a healthier food, lower in fat and higher in protein than regular chicken. Why not try cooking turkey this Christmas in preparation for the feasts that will be brewing over the New Year holidays?

Products used in this recipe

American Turkey Breast
Frozen Parisian Carrots (Frozen Whole Carrots)

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