Turkey Recipes – Alternatives for Christmas lunch
Not everyone will have the time or inclination to cook a whole turkey with all the trimmings for their Christmas lunch. There are plenty of turkey recipes you can use for a less traditional Christmas meal and you can also substitute turkey for different meats in other recipes.
Tips for creating turkey recipes
If you’re adapting existing recipes into turkey recipes the important things to remember are;
- Turkey can dry out easily, so for converting recipes into turkey recipes, choose meat cooked in a sauce or wrapped in something to contain the juices.
- Turkey recipes rarely need a whole bird so you might want to consider either buying a turkey crown or jointing a whole bird and freezing portions of it.
- Turkey goes really well with fruit, so consider adding some to simpler turkey recipes to jazz things up a bit.
Dinde au Vin
This Christmas twist on the French classic will wow your guests, is one of the most impressive turkey recipes and is relatively simple to pull off. Fry your turkey joints, skin on, in butter until browned and then set into a cooking pot. Add fried bacon, garlic, thyme and red wine then simmer for 45 minutes, adding mushrooms about half way through. Move the meat and mushrooms to a serving dish, reduce the liquid into a luxurious sauce and serve with parsnip mash.
Smoked Turkey Salad
Liquid smoke is a fantastic addition to any kitchen and not just for use in turkey recipes. Combined with oils and herbs, you can marinate meat in liquid smoke for up to 24 hours to give all your turkey recipes a delicious smoky flavour. For this simple salad fry the marinated meat until cooked through, cut into strips and toss with apple, cranberry, walnuts and baby salad leaves. Add a simple vinaigrette to serve.
Rolled Stuffed Turkey
This is one of those turkey recipes with a real wow factor. Take a boned breast roll (butterfly) and lay between two large pieces of cling-film. Beat with a meat hammer or rolling pin to an even thickness of about 1cm, folding in the edges where necessary to keep the meat roughly rectangular. Spread with a stuffing made from bread crumbs and seasoned with sage and onion, or other flavours from your favourite turkey recipes. Roll, wrap in bacon and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Seal the meat in a hot, heavy pan and roast at a medium temperature until cooked through. Serve with bubble and squeak and a rich fruity just.