Chef Lucas Moyano is chef at Sivela 465 Restaurant at Hotel Mio Buenos Aires. There are many ways to prepare a Thanksgiving feast, but every year I continue to go back to his turkey recipe. I love that his recipe is traditional with classic flavors and it also makes me happy to share a recipe from one of Argentina's celebrated chefs at my family's Thanksgiving table in the United States.
Serves 12 People
Ingredients:
For the roast: one turkey (6kg/13 lb), 4 juicy apples, 4 stalks of celery, 2 onions, olive oil, fresh garlic butter, wild sage, 300 ml chicken stock, salt and pepper.
For the classic filling: 400g of cornbread, 1 onion, 100g of bacon strips, 20-30 currants, 400 ml chicken stock, 200 ml Catena classic chardonnay.
For the classic side dishes: Mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, squash, beans and wild rice with maple syrup or molasses in our case, cranberry sauce and gravy.
Preparation:
Slice the apples into small pieces and place them inside the turkey. Smear the turkey with a mixture of butter, olive oil and chopped sage, salt and pepper. Cover the legs with a bit of foil to prevent burning. Arrange the turkey on a baking tray with celery, onions and the remaining sliced apples and chicken broth. The juices and garnishes will be used to make the gravy after the bird is fully cooked.
To prepare a tender, juicy turkey, it is advised to use two baking temperatures, a lower temperature at the beginning of the process and a higher one at the end of it. To start cooking we set the oven to 140°C for 2.5 hours, and then for the last 30 minutes, increase the temperature to 170° C. Turn the oven off and leave the turkey inside to cool off until you are ready to serve.
If you want to prepare the turkey in a more country style, but you do not have a clay oven or stone as we use in our Lodge, it is a good idea to take a bunch of dried sage, rosemary and wild thyme, and turn it to generate it smoke, then leave the herbs inside the oven once it has been turned off so the turkey will absorb a touch of natural smoke flavor.
You can also cook your turkey in a cooking bag, similar to the kind used to cook chickens. Bake the turkey at 170 °C for 3 hours.
While the turkey is cooking, prepare the stuffing.
Lightly fry the bacon with finely chopped onion, when the onion is transparent, add Catena chardonnay wine, then bread crumbs, corn bread and the chicken broth, continue stirring until the mixture becomes the consistency of a wet dough. Save and serve with the turkey.
For the cranberry sauce, place 170 g of cranberries in a bowl with 200 g sugar, 150 ml water, 1 orange peel, pinch of salt, bring to boil and cook for 25 minutes until the cranberries are soft. To finish, add some Catena Malbec wine to give a delicate and velvety touch to the sauce.
Serve the turkey with trimmings and sauces. Tradition says you should take a piece of turkey, some mashed potatoes and squash. Add stuffing and sauces to taste.
Salud and happy Thanksgiving!