Roasted Stuffed Turkey

Ingredients

• 3.5 kg turkey (1 small turkey; ready to cook)
• Salt
• black pepper (freshly ground)
• 2 Celery stalks
• 1 onion
• 75 g butter
• 200 g Ground beef
• 1 bunch parsley
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 3 sprigs sage
• 200 ml chicken broth
• 400 g stale whole‑grain rolls
• 3 tbsp clarified butter
• 250 ml poultry stock
• 100 ml light grape juice
• 200 ml heavy cream

Instructions

1. 1.

   Peel the onion and wash the celery. Dice the vegetables finely. Melt the butter in a pan, cook the onion and celery over low heat for about 5 minutes. Add the ground beef and continue cooking for another 3–4 minutes while stirring. Wash and dry the herbs, then chop them. Stir the herbs into the vegetable mixture. Season everything with salt and pepper. Cut the rolls into small pieces and gradually mix them with broth and the vegetable mixture until the filling is moist but not liquid. Use only as much bread as needed. Wash the turkey. Rub it inside and out with salt and pepper, then fill it with the bread mixture. Tie it with kitchen twine. Heat clarified butter in a large roasting pan on the stove. Brown the turkey all over over high heat, then place it breast side up. Roast in a preheated oven at 180 °C (convection: 160 °C; gas: level 2–3) for about 2 hours.

2. 2.

   Occasionally baste the roast with stock. Wrap the finished turkey in aluminum foil and let it rest briefly.

3. 3.

   Degrease the roasting liquid, return it to the stove, deglaze with grape juice and break up any browned bits. Add poultry stock, strain through a fine sieve into a pot, reduce over high heat until half its volume, then gradually add cream and continue reducing. Season with salt and pepper. Serve on cabbage leaves garnished with assorted fruits.