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Impress your family and guests at Christmas with this RACV Club recipe for a succulent stuffed and rolled turkey breast.
Looking for the perfect centrepiece for your festive occasion or Christmas Day? Try City Club Executive Chef Jason Camillo’s stuffed and rolled Christmas turkey breast.
With an outside layer of bacon to add flavour and moisture and a stuffing of sausage, breadcrumb, cranberries, herbs and nuts, this roll is a succulent alternative to cooking a whole turkey.
But if you do decide to cook a whole turkey, Jason has some tips to help you achieve brilliant results.
Jason recommends buying the turkey at a high-end butcher, such Peter Bouchier in Toorak or Meatsmith in Fitzroy, St Kilda, Balwyn and Brighton.
“It has to be a really good butcher, or any butcher that you have a good relationship with, someone local rather than the supermarket, because you’ll get a better, fresher product from them,” Jason says. “Many butchers prepare everything for you. It will be stuffed and organised, and you just need to cook it.”
Fresh is best because frozen turkey loses moisture when it is defrosted and ends up dry when cooked. “I use a lot of butter, and it depends on the stuffing inside how moist the turkey is going to be,” Jason says. “You can also use bacon around the outside of the breast and that will keep it nice and moist.”
For the stuffing, sage goes well with turkey, and fresh peaches, apricots or cherries will give it a festive lift. For gluten free, you can use cooked rice rather than breadcrumbs, but rice doesn’t absorb the juices and keep the turkey moist to the same degree.
Slow cooking is the key to getting the best out of your festive roast. Either start on a high temperature and turn it down, or start on a very low temperature and increase it gradually to get a nice colour on the outside.
“People get scared with turkey and chicken, and they tend to overcook it to be safe,” Jason says. “The best way is to use a thermometer and cook it to 70°C in the middle. If you’re doing a whole turkey, test the legs because they cook slower than the breasts. You want to get it to 70°C and then take the turkey out and rest it for about half of your cooking time.
Stuffed and rolled turkey. Photo courtesy of Peter Bouchier Premium Melbourne Butchers
Jason says stuffed and rolled turkey is a great alternative to whole turkey because it’s easier to cook evenly.
“This is what we do with our chicken in Sojourn. We break the whole chicken down and cook the breast in a rectangular terrine. The legs are rolled, stuffed and cooked in a different way. Then you get that moist, tender dish.”
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