Best Portuguese Roast Turkey Recipes

PORTUGUESE ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• REMOVE THE GIBLETS from the turkey for another use. Fill the neck and body cavities of the turkey with coarse salt, then rub the skin well all over with salt. Place the turkey and remaining coarse salt in a large deep kettle, adding enough cold water to just cover the bird. Set in a cool spot for 3 to 4 hours. Put the butter and olive oil in a large heavy sauté pan, or better yet, a kettle, and place it over moderate heat. When the butter is melted, add the garlic and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until limp. Meanwhile, tear the bread into small chunks. Add the bread and the fine salt and pepper and toss well. Pour in the chicken stock and beat hard with a wooden spoon until the mixture is pastelike. Turn the heat to its lowest point, cover the kettle and steam 15-to-20 minutes until the bread absorbs all the liquid. Add the egg yolks to the stuffing mixture and beat hard until smooth. Remove from the heat and reserve. Preheat oven to 400℉ (200℃). Drain the turkey and rinse several times in cool water so that all traces of salt are gone. Place the bird on the counter with the neck cavity facing you. With your hands, begin working the skin free from the breast. Proceed gently, taking care not to tear the skin. It's slow going at first, but once you begin to free the skin, the job goes quickly. Loosen it all the way down the bird to within about 1 inch of the tail end, down both sides. With your hands, push the stuffing bit by bit far down under the skin and continue, packing it in lightly, until the breast is covered with about a 1-inch layer. Next fill the neck cavity, skewer the neck skin flat against the back to enclose, and truss the bird. Place the turkey breast-side up in a large shallow roasting pan without a rack and roast uncovered for about 2½ hours. Do not baste. When the bird is richly browned and a leg moves easily in the hip joint, remove from the oven. Let stand, uncovered, 20 minutes. Drain drippings into a sauce boat and keep warm. Remove trussing string and skewers and serve at once on a warmed platter.

PERFECT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the zest and juice of the lemon and 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves to the butter mixture. Set aside.
• Take the giblets out of the turkey and wash the turkey inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the turkey in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the turkey cavity. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, halved lemon, quartered onion, and the garlic. Brush the outside of the turkey with the butter mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey.
• Roast the turkey about 2 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh. Remove the turkey to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil; let rest for 20 minutes.
• Slice the turkey and serve.

PORTUGUESE ROAST TURKEY RECIPE

Steps:

• Remove packaging. Remove the neck and giblets from both cavities of the turkey. Wash the turkey, the neck and giblets in very cold water. Rub the inside and outside of the turkey evenly with the salt. Slice the lemon in half and rub the inside and outside of the turkey with the lemon half squeezing the juice as you rub. Place the used lemon halves inside the cavity. Place the butter underneath the turkey skin over the breast Sprinkle the paprika, pepper and garlic powder evenly over the turkey leaving a small amount to marinate the cavity. Place the neck and gizzards inside the turkey. Add the wine and remaining spices into the cavity to marinate. Place the celery, onion and carrot inside the cavity. Drizzle and rub the Olive oil over the Turkey. Place in the refrigerator overnight or up to 48 hours before cooking. Take the turkey out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before cooking. *Remove the neck and gizzards from the cavity and save in the refrigerator until you are ready to make stock for the turkey stuffing. Cook the turkey with the remaining vegetables inside the cavity to add flavor. My roaster is over 50 years old and it makes a perfect turkey every time! Cook in Roasting pan, or cover with heavy aluminum foil. An average turkey of about 15 pounds will take about 3 hours to cook at 350F. Recipe & Photo Credit: Tia Maria's Blog, portuguesediner.com/tiamaria

SIMPLE ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Remove any giblets from the cavity and reserve for stock or gravy. Pat turkey and turkey neck dry with paper towel; rub turkey all over with 1/2 teaspoon salt per pound of turkey, the pepper and the lemon zest, including the neck. Transfer to a 2-gallon (or larger) resealable plastic bag. Tuck herbs and 6 garlic cloves inside bag. Seal and refrigerate on a small rimmed baking sheet (or wrapped in another bag) for at least 1 day and up to 3 days, turning the bird over every day (or after 12 hours if brining for only 1 day).
• Remove turkey from bag and pat dry with paper towels. Place turkey, uncovered, back on the baking sheet. Return to the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to 12 hours to dry out the skin (this helps crisp it).
• When you are ready to cook the turkey, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature for one hour.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. In the bottom of a large roasting pan, add the cider and enough wine to fill the pan to a 1/4-inch depth. Add half the onions, the remaining 6 garlic cloves and the bay leaves. Stuff the remaining onion quarters and the lemon quarters into the turkey cavity. Brush the turkey skin generously with oil or melted butter.
• Place turkey, breast side up, on a roasting rack set inside the roasting pan. Transfer pan to the oven and roast 30 minutes. Cover breast with aluminum foil. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of a thigh reaches a temperature of 165 degrees, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours more. Transfer turkey to a cutting board to rest for 30 minutes before carving.

PORTUGUESE TURKEY WITH BREAD STUFFING

Steps:

• Soak turkeys in salted water under refrigeration for 24 hours.
• Combine wine, garlic, paprika, bay leaves, salt, hot pepper sauce and oregano. Marinate turkeys in this mixture for 24 hours under refrigeration. Turn occasionally.
• When ready to cook, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove turkeys from marinade, reserving marinade. Pack turkeys loosely with stuffing and cover openings of cavities with bread crusts; sew cavities closed. Bake remaining stuffing separately during the last half-hour turkeys are roasting.
• Wrap turkey wings in foil. Put turkeys into roasting pans and top with pieces of bacon, putting some beneath turkeys as well. Pour reserved marinade over turkeys.
• Roast turkeys for 30 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and roast turkeys about 2 1/2 hours more. If turkeys get too brown before they are cooked, put aluminum foil over the top. If turkeys are roasted in a single oven, they may need 30 minutes or more of extra roasting time.

PORTUGUESE ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Stuff your turkey with favorate stuffing. I use Bells Stuffing (it is made in Bridgewater,MA ) very hard to find in the Southern States. Don't let the simpleness of the spices turn you off, it will supprise your family.
• You need a coffee cup for this recipe, take your salt and sprinkle into coffee cup as you make believe your putting salt on the turkey (include the area in pan that is left over space) do the same with the garlic, ground red pepper add 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of ground aniseed( if using)? Add water slowly to get dry ingredients into a paste then add more water until cup is about 1/2 full. As your stirring pour over Turkey.
• You don't want it to thick on the bird and you want a nice flavor not to salted, after I pour the spice mixture on the bird I take my baby finger touch it to the turkey then taste it, if too salty drizzle a little water on it. Now you can shake more red pepper flakes if you want it more spicy and you can also sprinkle more garlic powder on it now.
• You also want about 1/2 to 1 inch of water on bottom of pan, make sure the water in the pan has some seasoning flavor in it too. (the little pinky finger test) Pour any left over into pan this will add to the flavoring of the gravey. You can add potatoes to the pan also. Cook as you do your birds or follow cooking directions on the bird package. Hope you like