OVERVIEW
At Christmas, I’ll always have a turkey. It’s great on the day, but it’s also the best meat for serving cold. Cold turkey on Boxing Day served with bubble and squeak is just brilliant.
I’ve cooked it in a Roasting Rack, which sits in a Drip Pan. This does two things: it improves the heat circulation of heat, and it also prevents fat from dripping into the fire and creating too much smoke. If you wanted to, you could add some veg to the pan as the base for your gravy. If it helps your timings, you can make the bread sauce in advance then reheat it very slowly over a low heat, adding a little extra milk if it needs loosening up.
BUTTER YOUR TURKEY
Sit the turkey breast-side up and gently push your fingers under the skin until you can fit your whole hand down the length. Brush very lightly with oil then season all over with 1 tbsp sea salt flakes. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour, or up to 24 hours. Remove the turkey from the fridge 1 hour before cooking so it can come up to room temperature.
SET UP YOUR EGG
Set up your EGG for indirect cooking with the ConvEGGtor in place, topped by a Stainless Steel Grid. Your target temperature is 170°C-180°C.
Beat the butter, orange zest and rosemary leaves with a little black pepper. Transfer the turkey to a board. Using your hands, spread about 4 tbsp of the flavoured butter under the skin, over the breasts. Spread the rest of the butter over the outside of the turkey, ensuring the legs and wings are well coated. Put the orange halves and rosemary stalks into the cavity.
COOK YOUR BIRD
Place the bird onto the grid. The turkey will need a cooking time of roughly 30 minutes per kilo cook time, plus resting time of around 45 minutes. It needs to reach a temperature of 70°C at the thickest part of the leg and 65°C at the thickest part of the breast.
With about 30 minutes of the cook remaining, brush the turkey generously with some of the marmalade. Roast for 15 minutes more, brush with more marmalade and return to the EGG for the final 15 minutes.
MAKE YOUR BREAD SAUCE
While the turkey is resting, make your bread sauce. Lay the bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the EGG and toast the bread until the slices are completely dried out. Remove and leave to cool.
When the bread slices are cool, crumble them into a blender or food processor and blend until very finely ground, like a powder. Leave to one side until needed.
Place the milk, cream, butter, spices and zest in a saucepan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat, cover with clingfilm and leave to one side until the mixture cools.
Pass the spiced milk through a fine sieve. Measure 300ml spiced milk into a saucepan. Bring to the boil over a high heat. Turn the heat down to low, add 30g dry rye breadcrumbs and whisk for 6-8 minutes until thickened. Stir in a little butter, if needed.
