Having got the bird home, what is the best way to cook it? The answer is to treat it like a large pheasant, cooking it hard and fast, without embellishment
Ingredients
1 turkey (allow about 500g per diner, adding about 2kg to the total if you want leftovers)
4 medium to large potatoes
2 medium to large onions
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4 tbsp duck fat, as soft as possible
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Water from a just-boiled kettle
Method
1 If the turkey is frozen, thaw it completely. This could take a couple of days in a cold garage or in the fridge. Allow at least 36 hours, even for a small turkey. It shouldn’t feel at all icy anywhere on the carcass, especially inside the cavity.
2 Remove the giblets from your turkey once thawed and use the neck and gizzards to make a stock straight away, which will give you stress-free gravy on Christmas Day. You can save the heart and liver to add to a stuffing if you wish.
3 Take the turkey out of the fridge and let it sit, free of any wrapping, for a couple of hours before cooking. This should bring it up to a cool room temperature. Weigh it and make a note of the weight.
4 Pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas 4 (or fan 140C). Generously season the cavity of the turkey with half the salt and pepper. Rub 2 tbsp of the duck fat on to the skin, then season it with the remaining salt and pepper.
5 Peel the potatoes and onions, then slice each of them into three discs. These will create a sort of vegetable trivet for the turkey, which helps to keep it moist. Rub the roasting tray with a little more of the duck fat and line the base with the potato slices. Place the turkey on top of this trivet, on its backbone, and stabilise it by placing the onion slices tightly around the bird. You could tuck one or two slices under the wings. This stops the turkey from wobbling or falling on to one side while cooking.
6 Place in a hot oven and cook for half an hour per kg up to 4kg, adding another 15 minutes per kg thereafter. Baste the turkey at least twice during cooking and test 20 minutes before the suggested finishing time to see if the juices run clear.
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7 Allow the turkey to rest in a warm place for at least half an hour. Don’t wrap it in foil. Make your gravy from the roasting juices after the resting time, as there will be lots more juices at this point.