Wines to drink with turkey—and a recipe
An easy pairing, Beaujolais Nouveau was only released at the end of November and this is a perfect companion to pretty much all poultry. This very light fruity wine is the white wine drinkers red, not only that, it goes wonderfully with the gentle flavours of roast turkey. Pellerin Beaujolais Nouveau €15
For the white wine drinkers nothing works better than the refreshing crisp, citrus fruit filled grassy whites of the Loire valley. Don’t get me wrong the sauvignons of Sancerre, Pouilly Fume etc are wonderful but the citrus fruit and minerality of Domaine Gautherin Chablis is perfection. Dom Gautherin Chablis €21.99
In this part of the world rose seems to sadly be over looked or considered only for the girls. This is most certainly not true. Mas des Bressades Rose from between Nimes and Avignon is not only beautiful on its own but its subtle fruitiness of strawberry and raspberry are fantastic with delicate white meat. €14.99
Turkey is either amazing or down right bloody awful and that’s all down to cooking. Lots of people have started removing the crown to cook the turkey in two stages. Don’t make things difficult for yourself if you don’t have to; follow my steps below for the perfect dinner paired with the perfect wines.
My Recipe
- Since we’re cooking turkey I assume you have one and that if it was frozen that you have well and truly defrosted it (Buy fresh though!)
- Get a big block of room temperature salted butter, a handful of chopped parsley, Rosemary and sage aswell as three cloves of crushed garlic in a bowl, add a good few twists of salt and black pepper and mix into an herby buttery paste. If you’re a citrus fan a few grates of lemon zest into the butter mixture goes down a treat.
- Now for the bit most people don’t like for some reason but its well worth it. With the neck cavity facing you gently separate the turkey skin from the breast, pushing your hand right in there. Once separated grab a handful of the butter mixture and stuff between the skin and breast meat. Once stuffed, smooth out so all areas have equal amounts of butter. Throw a couple of halved lemons inside and sprinkle coast salt on the skin for crispiness.
- Pre-heat your oven to 165C/gas mark 3 and bung the bird in the oven covered in foil for 2½ - 3hrs (calculated for a bird between 6-8lbs). Check the turkey towards the end and in the last ½ hr remove to foil if needed to crisp the skin
- Let her rest for about 30 mins and enjoy this succulent bird with a large glass of Pellerin Beaujolais Nouveau.
