HOW TO CARVE TURKEY RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. For this recipe, you will need 800 g cooked white turkey meat, torn into big chunks.
  2. This is dead simple, completely versatile and absolutely gorgeous. It’s not a pretty-boy pie; it’s a proper, old-school pie that everyone will be over the moon to see on the table. I’m putting leftover white turkey meat to good use here, but you could also mix brown meat in there too.
  3. Preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Put your bacon in a large pan on a medium heat and add your thyme leaves. Add a lug of olive oil and let it all fry off a few minutes. Add all of your prepped leeks and fry them off for about 3 minutes. Add a pinch of salt and pepper then pop the lid on top, turn the heat down to medium and let them cook away gently for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 to 10 minutes to make sure they don’t catch. There’s going to be enough moisture in the leeks to keep them happy in the pan so they should be soft and melt in your mouth once they’re done.
  4. When your leeks are ready, add the turkey meat to them and stir. If you’ve got a bit of stuffing mixed in there you can put that in too. Add the flour, mix it in well then pour in your stock and stir again. Add the crème fraîche then turn the heat up and bring everything back up to the boil. Have a taste and add a bit more salt and pepper if it needs it then turn the heat off. Pour the mixture through a sieve over another large empty pan and let the wonderful gravy from the mixture drip into the pan while you roll out your pastry.
  5. Get a deep baking dish roughly 22 x 30cm. Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with a bit of flour and roll your pastry out so it’s about double the size of your dish. Crumble the chestnuts over one half of the pastry then tear a few of the sage leaves over the chestnuts. Fold the other half of pastry on top then roll it out carefully and evenly so you have a rectangle big enough to cover your baking tray. Don’t worry if a few bits stick out here and there.
  6. Spoon that thick leek mixture from your sieve into the pie dish and spread it out evenly. Lay your pastry on top, tuck the ends under then gently score the pastry diagonally with your knife. Add a pinch of salt to your beaten egg then paint this egg wash over the top of your pastry. Pop your pie in the oven for about 35 to 40 minutes or until the pastry is puffed up and golden brown. When the pie is ready, re-heat the lovely gravy and serve with your pie, along with some peas tossed in butter, lemon, salt and pepper and everyone’s happy!

Steps:

• Take the turkey breast out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature for an hour.
• Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Put a rack inside an oven tray with the onions and carrots underneath, or arrange the veg inside an ovenproof frying pan.
• Weigh the turkey breast and calculate 40 mins per kilo, plus an additional 20 mins.
• Rub the butter over the skin and season well. Put the turkey breast on the rack or rest it on top of the veg in the pan.
• Pour in enough water to cover the veg and cover the whole tin or pan with a tent of foil.
• Roast for the allotted time, taking the foil off 20 mins before the end to brown the skin. Test with the point of a knife and see if the point feels hot as soon as you pull it out (be careful) and the juices run clear. If you have a thermometer then it should read 65-70C. If the joint appears to be underdone, then put back in the oven for another 10 mins.
• Leave the turkey to rest for 20 mins somewhere warm, it will keep cooking so the final internal temperature will rise to 70C, or just above that. Don’t skip this step otherwise the juices will run out as you carve.
• Use the strained veg and liquid in the bottom of the tin and the juices from carving to add to this gravy, if you like, and serve with the turkey and veg.