Dressing the Bird

[HubUK]

Never mind the dressing . . .

Never mind the stuffing . . .

We don't have Thanksgiving in the UK but we go big time on turkey at Christmas and I always serve mine with a great British delicacy - Mushy Peas.

[shroomgirl]

mushy peas and turkey!!! um is this a thankful time for you guys?

Nope I still make dressing and stuffing, it is sooooo wonderful days later and no one in my family throughout all the years has made a bad turkey or died of stuffing bacteria....yummmmmmy

[Anneke]

I think it's safe as long as you don't overstuff the bird...

[Athenaeus]

As HubUK we make turkey during Christmas.

I am glad to find out that professionals agree that the stuffing must be cooked separetely for safety reasons.
We do it the old fashioned way.
We cook in advance some minced meat with a lot of chesnuts and pine nuts and we stuff the bird with this pre-cooked stuffing.
As for the dressing, I personally make a sauce using fresh butter and brandy.
Some times when I have the mood I play with the injections.
When I am in great mood when it's half cooked I take a cheesecloath, soaked in the drippings after adding my butter and brandy and I "bandage" the poor turkey

If you like light food beware of this recipe. Thousands of calories, tones of cholesterol etc etc etc : Everything that makes Christmas worth celebrating!



PS of course we put the turkey in the oven the night before Christmas, we wake up at 5 in the morning to go to church so this is the perfect time to "bandage" the Turkey and leave it there until 8 o'clock in the morning !

[HubUK]

Putting the mushy peas to one side - after all they are a side dish.

I cook my stuffing separately but I stuff my turkey with raw onion carrot and apple. No more than one or two onions and carrots and one apple just chopped enough to roughly insert them into the cavity. The turkey is then smothered in butter and covered with foil for most of its cooking time.

This creates wonderfully moist and flavoursome turkey even on frozen birds.

[chrose]

Sorry Brad,

Melina asked if she might propose something lighter and your name was right above it. My eyes and brain are playing tricks on me again. However you did say you have a ton of them. I like the Apple, Sausage, etc. Cornbread too.
I don't know what I'm going to do this year. Stay with tradition, make a clean break or just move over a litlle. Toss me a couple of ideas from your overflowing larder if you would.