NZ Chef Peter Blakeway felt inspired to create this unique roast turkey recipe, especially for Thanksgiving but also because avocados are nature’s ‘super fruit’ and we are currently enjoying our biggest ever avocado season.
The award-winning professional chef has almost 20 years experience working in Michelin-starred establishments around the world and has now settled in the Bay of Plenty – the heart of New Zealand’s avocado industry.
We tend to over-indulge at festive times of the year, but Blakeway has come up with a novel way to enjoy a little ‘healthy decadence’.
Roast Turkey with Pork, sage and onion stuffing. “This is the real deal but with an avocado twist.”
Ingredients:
1 carrot
1 onion
1 stick celery
1 tablespoon standard flour
1 litre chicken stock
4 tablespoons verjuice or white wine
6.5 kg oven ready turkey
3 – 5 avocados
5 tablespoons Avocado Oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 shallots finely chopped
3 heaped tablespoon mixed herbs, finely chopped (parsley, thyme, chive)
1 lemon, zest and juice
300g fat streaky bacon
Seasoning
For the stuffing
1kg finely minced pork
4 heaped tablespoons white breadcrumbs
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 heaped dessertspoon dried sage
A little boiling water
1 beaten egg
Seasoning
Method
Preheat the oven to 220˚C. Combine diced onion, carrot and celery and spread in the bottom of the roasting tin. Sprinkle flour over the top.
In a large bowl beat together the avocado and avocado oil until buttery in consistency. Mix in the garlic, shallots and herbs (which herbs are really up to you), season to taste with salt, pepper, lemon juice and lemon zest. By now you’ve got a lovely, herby butter like consistency, which you can put in a piping bag to make the next stage easier. Gently slide your fingers under the skin of the turkey and get as far down the breast as you can, loosening the skin all the way, don’t forget the top of the legs and thighs. This is where the piping bag is so handy as you can slip it under the skin and just pipe away. Lastly, with your hands on the outside, just smooth the mixture out, again making sure that the legs and thighs get some attention.
Combine all the ingredients for the stuffing and stuff the bird. Lay bacon over breast, overlapping and season all over. Build a foil tent around the bird and the tray and roast in a pre-heated oven at 220˚C for 30 minutes. Lower temperature to 170˚C and cook for a further 3 hours. Uncover and cook the bird for a final 30 minutes at 200˚C. Check and rest, on a clean warm oven tray covered loosely with foil, for at least 45 minutes before carving. (The core temperature of the bird should be 68˚C.)
Meanwhile, place the cooking tray over a medium heat and add verjuice or white wine to the cooked ‘mire poix’ and deglaze the roasting tin by stirring with a wooden spoon to mix in the dripping and browning from the turkey. Add the stock and bring to a rolling boil then strain mixture through a sieve and serve
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