Thanksgiving day is nearly upon us but do you know why we celebrate it?
Here are a few fun facts:
- Thanksgiving dates as far back as 1621 when pilgrims invited Native Americans to celebrate a harvest feast.
- It became an official holiday when President Franklin D. Roosevelt made it so in 1939 and was approved by congress in 1941.
- It falls on the fourth Thursday of November.
- It is becoming a big celebration in the UK too with more people celebrating as its a secular holiday.
- Over 50 million Turkeys are eaten across the US on Thanksgiving!!
In celebration, here’s our Kalila recipe for a delicious Thanksgiving roast turkey with sage and onion stuffing. Our tip is to make your stuffing the day before to help save time.
Ingredients: 1 Whole turkey and bacon slices to cover the turkey (For the stuffing) Butter, grated zest of 2 lemons plus some of the juice, big handful fresh chopped sage, 1 large peeled and grated apple, 80g cubed pancetta, 100g breadcrumbs, 1-2 eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg,
Preparation: 10 mins
1. Melt a knob of butter and lightly sweat the onions before stirring in the lemon zest and sage for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
2. Once cooled add in the pancetta, grated apple and breadcrumbs.
3. Season the mix with the salt, pepper and nutmeg and then add in 1 or 2 eggs (depending on their size). The eggs need to hold the mix together so if 1 egg isn’t enough then add in a second.
4. Taste the mix and if the lemon zest is lost then you can add in some of the lemon juice at this stage to boost the flavour.
5. Leave to rest for a few hours in the fridge before using.
6. Stuff the turkey with generous amount of stuffing (the neck and body cavities) and lay the bacon slices over the body of the turkey. Cover with foil for the first half of the bake.
7. You can bake any left over stuffing in a dish for c. 20-30 minutes (see above).
8. Cook the turkey at c. 190C until the juices run clear (The timings will vary depending on weight of turkey but typically allow 15 mins per pound when stuffed). The best tip is to check regularly as turkey dries out easily and you want to ensure you catch it whilst still lovely and moist. Remove the foil for the last 30 mins so that the bacon and turkey skin has a chance to crisp.
9. Once cooked, allow to stand for 20-30 mins (covered in foil) to allow the meat to tenderize.
10. Serve with your choice of accompaniments.
The stuffing helps keep the turkey moist and the bacon wrap gives the perfect crunch so you have the beauty of 3 different textures of stuffing, meat and pancetta. Delicious!
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Kalila!!
