We should use a little more imagination when we stuff the turkey. There are so many ingredients that can be used to ehance the flavor of the bird, and for that matter the rest of the meal. Why not use citrus fruits? A large bouquet of spices and green onions or sweet onions with lots of garlic cloves? I have even stuffed a bird with a mixture of pork sausage and ground turkey.
Many cooks still stuff their turkey with a bread based stuffing. This is done because they believe that the stuffing will be more flavorful. The belief is that the turkey dripping will flavor the stuffing. While this is true, there are better ways to make your bird more flavorful. .
I like to stuff my turkey with three main recipes. I love the citrus stuffing. I will cut up six or seven oranges and limes and place these into the cavity of the bird, and place a bouquet of sage, rosemary, crushed garlic, pepper, ginger, salt etc. wrapped in cheesecloth. Also take some of the bouguet and rub it between the skin and the meat of the breast area of the turkey.
I will also stuff the bird with green onions, sweet onions and an abundance of crushed garlic, even though I love garlic, I have had complaints that there was too much garlic flavor in the Turkey. On this bed of green onions put a bouquet of spice, wrapped in cheesecloth. Rub between the skin and the meat of the breast area of the turkey. After the the bird has been cooked the onions can then be used in the stuffing, the gravy, etc. With the drippings in the bird basting the onions, this makes them more flavorful and enhances the rest of your meal.
My third favorite recipe is stuffing the bird with a mixture of lean pork sausage and ground turkey. Grind this meat twice or put it through a food processor until it is quite fine. The recipe is:
1/2 pound of ground pork
1 pound of ground turkey
4 stalks of celery minced
2 onions minced
1/2 tsp of sage
1/2 tsp of pepper
2 tsp of crushed garlic
1/2 tsp of ginger
1 tsp of honey
salt to taste.
You can cook this in the bird for the length of the bird’s cooking process. This can then be cut in thin slices and served on crackers or melba toast.
When you start the cooking of your turkey, make sure that you have a stock pot going. This is were you are going to cook the neck and most of the trimmings from the vegetables,. I never throw away the bones of a chicken from a previous meal, I will stick them in the freezer and use them to start up my stock pot. As the turkey cooks every hour or so you will baste the bird and pour the excess drippings into your stock pot. I will put a small bouquet of spices in cheesecloth and leave it hanging in the stock pot. This is where you will flavor your gravy, your stuffing, your rice, your vegetables etc. Put the liquid that you use for vegetables into your stock pot, and use it to make some great turkey soup. Everybody loves my turkey soup, and it is because of this stock pot.
