|
Parisian Roasted Turkey:
A bird with a bit of 'Ooh la-la'
November 19, 2001
By GAIL CIAMPA
Patricia Wells was a food writer for The New York Times
in 1980 when she moved to Paris with her husband Walter,
another journalist who was taking an editor's job at
the International Herald Tribune.
She's still there and she turns out cookbooks about
food in her new, adopted home. The most recent is The
Paris Cookbook (Harper Collins, $30) which includes
not only recipes, but also her stories of exploring
the culinary life of
Paris.
As I read through her recipe for Parisian Roasted
Turkey, I couldn't get over the similarity with a recipe
I make all the time called Grandmother's Roast Chicken.
Recently retired Journal food editor Donna Lee ran the
recipe in the paper back in 1992 and I have been making
it for my family ever since.
So I dove into the Journal archives and sure enough,
the recipe came from Simply French, Wells's tribute
to the cooking of French chef Joel Robuchon. It's his
grandma's recipe that is so great and so simple.
Now Wells has taken the concepts from that recipe
and come up with Parisian Roasted Turkey. It seems appropriate
to share this week with American cooks looking for a
little something different, and I'll bet just as terrific
as that chicken recipe.
Her notes on the recipe include details on tenting
the turkey with foil for the first hour of cooking.
This way the stuffing cooks first, allowing the bird
to cook evenly and slowly from the inside out. It also
starts with high heat which makes the skin just perfect.
Finally, rather than traditional gravy, Wells serves
this with a simple sauce prepared with roasting juices.
PARISIAN ROASTED TURKEY
Stuffing
The heart, liver and gizzard of the turkey, chopped
into bite-size pieces.
1 pound bulk pork sausage meat
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 cup (4 ounces) very fine breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, minced
Freshly ground white pepper to taste
Turkey
1 free-range roasting turkey, 6-8 pounds, at room
temperature, heart, liver, gizzard and neck reserved
112 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Sea salt to taste
Freshly ground white pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine all the stuffing ingredients
except the pepper. Using your hands, blend the ingredients
thoroughly, breaking up any remaining large pieces of
sausage meat. Season with pepper and mix to blend. Still
using your hands, pack the stuffing into the cavity
of the turkey. Don't be afraid to push the stuffing
slightly as you go, so there are no air pockets. Truss.
Rub the skin of the turkey with the butter and season
generously with sea salt and white pepper.
Place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in the
roasting pan. Add the neck to the pan. Lightly tent
the turkey with aluminum foil (to prevent the skin from
browning before the turkey is fully cooked). Place the
roasting pan in the
center of the oven and roast for 30 minutes. Remove
the pan from the oven and carefully remove the foil.
Baste the turkey thoroughly, cover with the foil and
return the pan to the oven. Roast for another 30 minutes,
basting from time
to time. By this time, the skin should be a deep golden
color. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees and baste again.
Remove the foil and roast the turkey uncovered until
the juices run clear when you pierce a thigh with a
skewer, about 30 minutes more.
Remove the pan from the oven and immediately season
the turkey generously with sea salt and white pepper.
Transfer the turkey to a platter, placing it at an angle
against the edge of an overturned plate, with its head
down and
tail in the air. This heightens the flavor by allowing
the juices to flow down through the breast meat.
Cover the turkey loosely with foil. Return the turkey
to the oven and turn off the heat. With the door ajar,
let the turkey rest for at least 10 minutes or up to
30 minutes. The turkey will continue to cook as it rests.
Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: Discard the turkey neck.
Place the roasting pan over the moderate heat, scraping
up any bits that cling to the bottom. Cook for 2 to
3 minutes, scraping and stirring until the liquid is
almost carmelized. Do not let it burn. Spoon off and
discard any excess fat. Add several tablespoons cold
water to deglaze the pan (hot water would cloud the
sauce), and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low
and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Taste for
seasoning.
While the sauce is cooking, carve the turkey and arrange
it on a warmed platter. Spoon the stuffing into a warmed
served bowl.
Strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve and pour
it into a sauceboat. Serve immediately with the turkey
and stuffing.
>>Back
to the Paris Cookbook Page
|
