Readers’ Classic Christmas Cuisine: The Ultimate Roast Turkey by Annabel Langbein, November 1988

Favourite recipe of Greg Head, Wellington.
Greg says: I love turkey with all the trimmings and have found this recipe to be the best of many I have used. I have used this recipe every year since first cooking it in 1988, sometimes twice a year if we indulged in a mid-year celebration. It has never failed and continues to impress after all these years. I have slightly altered the recipe and no longer stuff the cavity with the apricot/macadamia stuffing mix. Instead I just use some to stuff the neck cavity and bake/roast the rest in muffin tins (individual stuffings my partner calls them). I stuff the turkey chest cavity with lemons and onions after seasoning with salt and freshly ground pepper. I also more or less double the stuffing recipe so there are plenty of ‘stuffing muffins’ for all on the day, and for the next as well. The red cherry sauce is just superb.

I originally cooked it in a traditional oven however over the past 10 or so years I used a lidded barbecue and for the last few years my Traeger wood-pellet barbecue/smoker. The result was still the same: moist and succulent turkey with beautiful stuffing and sauce. Hard to beat so I haven’t tried!

ANNABEL’S 2024 UPDATE:

I have moved on with roast turkey these days to always brining it. See instructions below langbein.com

View the recipe collection here

Instructions

1.	Soak the dried apricots in Grand Marnier and water until plump, or microwave on defrost for 10 minutes.
2.	Sauté the onion and celery in butter until tender.
3.	Add the breadcrumbs and fry for a few minutes then add the nuts, spices and chopped soaked apricots and their juices. Mix well then leave to cool.
4.	Stuff into the cavity of the turkey and tie with string to secure.
5.	Place 3 cups of water in a large roasting pan.
6.	Place a rack on top and place the turkey on the rack.
7.	Cover tightly with greased tin foil or a tightly fitting lid.
8.	Bake at 170°C for 1½ hours, basting twice.
9.	Remove the cover, brush the turkey with butter and cook at 190°C for about 15-20 minutes until crisp and golden.
10.	Allow to stand for 5 minutes before carving.
11.	Accompany with red cherry sauce.
12.	RED CHERRY SAUCE
13.	Heat the sugar and vinegar until boiling.
14.	Add the orange juice and stock and boil hard for 15 minutes.
15.	Mix in the cherries and their syrup: allow to boil.
16.	Mix the cornflour and Grand Marnier together and stir into the mixture, stirring over heat until it simmers and thickens.
17.	If desired, add pitted fresh cherries to the sauce just before removing from the heat.
18.	BRINE
19.	To make the brine, put all the ingredients in a large bowl and stir until the salt and honey are fully dissolved.
20.	Mix in 7 cups of cold water (or if you are in a hurry use half cold water and half ice cubes to cool the brine more quickly).
21.	I often tip the brine into a very large, unscented, new rubbish bag and then sit this in a chilly bin with the turkey inside. Twist and seal the bag so the turkey is surrounded by brine in the bag and then put ice all around in the chilly bin.
22.	Leave in the brine for up to 14 hours. Drain, pat dry inside and out before stuffing and roasting.