I just found out today that Christmas is going to be at my home this year
instead of my sisters. Now this is no problem, I just have some logistics
to work out.

I am going to be making the 2 recipes below as well as ham.


* Exported from MasterCook *

Turkey Ballentine

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 20 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Cookies

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
14 lb Turkey fresh preferably, -- or properly defrosted
if
not to 17 lb
Salt and pepper
thyme
sage
parsley
Vegetables for roasting with
the turkey
3 carrots, 1 inch diced
3 stalks celery, 1 inch diced
2 lg yellow onions, rough diced
garlic cloves -- to taste
2 qt chicken stock (canned is -- canned is fine
Stuffing

Whether you call this dish ballentine or galantine, you end up with a
Turkey that has been de-boned, then seasoned, stuffed and then-rolled to
create a wonderful and a terrific main course for any holiday event. We
have actually served this preparation to some of our guests. The process
is laborious and complicated but the end result is incredible. A word of
warning this preparation is not for the timid. Please read the entire
recipe before starting.

Vegetable and herb stuffing

NOTE: I use my own stuffing

De-boning the turkey

Defrost turkey according to the directions or purchase a fresh turkey. I
recommend fresh turkeys, as you dont have to worry about the several
days it could take for a frozen turkey to defrost. The key to deboning
is keeping the knife against the bones to free the maximum amount of
meat. The result is a large single piece in tact with two symmetrical
sidesheld together by the outside skin.

Lay the turkey on a cutting board with the breast side down and the legs
facing towards you. With a sharp boning knife, make an incision down the
spine of the turkey. Beginning with the right side, or left if you are
left-handed. Keeping the edge of the knife against the bones, begin
making small cuts and pulling the meat away, working from the spine down
to the breast and from the neck to the tail. The skin will eventually
flop down and as you cut away the cartilage around the leg/hip joint,
you will be left with a leg and a wing on that side. Make an incision
along the leg bone and again, with a series of small cuts and pulling
the skin away from the bone, extract the leg bone. Then, for the wing,
cut offthe tip at the first joint away from the breast, and extract the
bone as you just did for the leg. Rotate the turkey 180 degrees so you
can work on the opposite side. When you are finished, you can make
turkey stock for a flavorful soup base or as a gravy base for this
dish..

Place the turkey now on a cutting board covered with a double lining of
plastic wrap. This is very important as it will aid in the transfer of the
finished turkey. Next, you want to achieve a flat surface by
distributing some of the meat. Remove the tenderloins from the top of
each breast and place on the flatter section of the tail area. Trim the
leg and wing meat and place it along the center in between the two
breasts. Season the surface by rubbing in the salt, pepper, and dried
herbs. Spread stuffing down the center of the turkey in a column about 6
inches wide. Be generous with the stuffing, but you may not need to use
all of it. The balance of the stuffing can be baked separately in a
baking dish.

Roll the turkey from left to right by folding it in thirds. Fold in one
third then again in one third and the seam should be facing down.
Imagine folding a piece of paper into thirds to fit into a long
envelope, except you are folding from left to right.

Rolling and tying the turkey


Use the following instructions to tie up the turkey. Remember the goal
is to create a uniform piece of meat that will hold together after
braising in the pan. As you tie up the turkey using this method you can
go back to areas that may be cumbersome and use individual ties for
holding together these areas. You may also want to push some of the
stuffing back in that may have come out. Using butcher twine, run an
uncut piece of string from the bolt under the turkey from the neck to
the tail, with a 10-inch portion left hanging out from under the tail.
Taking the string still attached to the bolt at the neck in your right
hand, pull off the bolt enough to get easily around the turkey. Take
the string that you are still holding (the end of the 10 inches) in
your right and hold the same string at the neck in your left hand.
Bring your hands together. Place the string that is in your lefthand
into your right hand, on top of the portion of string in your right
hand, creating an X shape with a loop underneath. Keep this X shape
pinched in your right hand while drawing the loop around the top neck
portion of the bird. After tucking it under the bird, relax your grip
on the X and pull the string that is attached to the bolt towards you
to make a tight band around the top of the turkey. Go through this
process again to make another loop, but as you draw the loop around the
top of the turkey, pull it down about 1 1/2 inches past the first loop to
create the second band. Continue making loops and bands until the
entire turkey is completely wrapped and uniform.

Roasting the Turkey

Lift the turkey with the double wrapped plastic wrap. Place in roasting
pan surrounded by the carrots, celery, and onion. Once in the pan remove
the plastic wrap. Pour chicken stock over contents of roasting pan.
Place in oven and baste every half-hour after the first hour of cooking.
Turkey is cooked when the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.

The roast should cook in a 325 to 350 oven to start (1 hour) and then turn
down to 300 to 325 and cover with foil if outside skin gets brown to fast.

a large stuffed roast willl take 2-3 hours to cook. There are alot of
factors though that could change this. THerefore either way place the
thermometer into the center of the roast. When the reading hits 160 to
165
remove from the oven and allow the roast to rest for 15 minutes before
slicing. THis is not a type of thermometer that is left in the meat . it
is
stuck in and removed. Allow the maxium 3 hours to cook the roast at
least.
If the roast is lagging behind turn up the oven to pick up speed just be
sure to baste reguarly and keep the liquid in the pan up and be sure the
skin doesn't brown to much.

Finishing the Turkey

The turkey will need at least 20-30 minutes to rest before being sliced.
This will allow the turkey to hold together. You will need a very sharp
knife to slice this turkey and just prior to slicing and serving the
strings should be removed. Place the sliced turkey on a platter so that
the slices are clear and all the work to arrange the turkey can be
seen.Surround the turkey with some roasted vegetables and drizzle with
gravy or pan juices.

From: Chef4Souls

MM by H Peagram





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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 0 Calories; 0g Fat (0.0% calories
from fat); 0g Protein; 0g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol;
0mg Sodium. Exchanges: .


Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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