The Alternative Roast Turkey Presentation – far easier for Christmas function service.
When I was an apprentice chef at Cave Castle in East Yorkshire, Ron the head chef introduced the team to his method of serving Christmas Turkey for functions. This method is ideal for silver service, it ensures every guest gets white and dark meat, you achieve more portions than hand carving, the serving dish can be smaller and everything can be prepared a day in advance.
How to do it……
Separate the legs from the turkey crown, Roast the crown breast meat, being sure to have some water in the roasting tin and the skin coated in butter and seasoning. Once cooked to the correct temperature, cool completely then refrigerate. N.B. Its important not to over cook or dry out the breast meat.
Cut the two legs in half and place into a large pan with onions, leek, celery and carrot. Add a few bay leaves and seasoning. Cover with plenty of cold water. Bring to the boil, skim, then reduce to a simmer for several hours.
Once the meat is tender, remove from the stove, place the contents, vegetables & stock into a blast chiller container. Chill until it reaches a minimum of +4 degrees Celsius. Its important the leg meat is cooled within the stock.
Next day, or when everything is cooled.
The next day, carefully remove the breast meat from the bone, Slice breasts length ways on a meat slicer to maintain consistent portion control. Stack slices, wrap in cling film and place in fridge.
Lift out the leg meat and remove all the meat from the bone. This cooking method will make removing the ligaments, sinews, fat, skin and bone easy, leaving delicious red meat only.
Lay each breast slice out on a clean table, place a portion of red meat on each breast slice, roll up into a parcel and if necessary, hold together with a cocktail stick. The appearance should be similar to a Herring rollmop.
Arrange parcels on a serving flat/dish along with pre cooked pigs in blankets, stuffing balls, glazed chestnuts etc.
Now the real star of this method is the incredibly tasty stock left over from poaching the leg meat. This becomes the base of a stellar turkey gravy.
Add a little stock to the serving dish to retain moisture around the meat. Cover with foil and place in the oven about 25 minutes before service, or as the starters are going out.
Once thoroughly reheated (use temperature probe to ensure a minimum temperature of 74c), remove foil, drain the stock into the gravy, nap or coat each parcel with gravy, add a bunch of washed Watercress to garnish, and go!
Try this method as it removes a lot of anguish on Christmas Day and is ideal for festive functions. It is much easier to silver serve for Waiting staff and stays hotter longer due to its parcel shape.
Happy Roasting!
