USA: Roast Stuffed Turkey (Thanksgiving day)

Thanksgiving Day in America (celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November) is a time to offer thanks, of family and friends gathering and holiday meals.
Stuffed turkey is the main featured item on any Thanksgiving feast table, therefore we want propose you a delicious recipe.

Ingredients (serves 10)

  • 1 turkey 5 kg
  • 1,5 kg chestnut
  • 800 gr. stale bread
  • 150 gr. butter
  • 1 onion
  • 1 stalk celery
  • 1 lemon (3 tablespoons of Limmi lemon juice)
  • 2 glasses of dry white wine
  • 4 sprigs of rosemary
  • 1 tuft of parsley
  • 1 spoon of marjoram
  • 1 spoon of thyme
  • Oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Preparation

Boil the chestnuts for about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, rinse and dry the turkey, sprinkle with lemon juice and let it rest. When the chestnuts are ready, peel and chop them.
In a pan melt the butter, add the finely chopped onion and the celery, then fry a few minutes to soften; pour 1 glass of wine and let it evaporate.
Cut some bread cubes and merge them together with chestnuts, parsley, marjoram, thyme, salt and pepper into the pan. Mingle thoroughly, cook for 5 minutes, hence remove from the heat.
When it’s cooled enough, use the prepared mixture to stuff the turkey and then secure the bird with strings. Bend it well, salt and pepper and add some rosemary sprigs. Wrap in foil, place in a roasting tin and put in a 180°C oven.
After 1 hour, pour some wine and keep roasting for almost others 2 hours and a half, sprinkling every now and then with some turkey’s juice. Remove the foil and cook for a further 20 minutes.
Cool and chill the bird until ready to serve.

Curiosity

In the East Coast they stuff the turkey with oysters. Southerners generally dress their thanksgiving bird with delicious cornbread. In the North, the main stuffing is wild rice, an American spice. Many Americans would say Thanksgiving is ‘incomplete’ without cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, spices, butter and the tradition pumpkin pie.

Did you know that… ?

In America the Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, while in Canada on the second Monday of October.