Best Turkey With Country Ham Stuffing Recipes

TURKEY CORDON BLEU STUFFED WITH HAM, ROASTED GREEN CHILES AND BRIE

Steps:

• For the chile stuffing: Preheat a grill to high heat (you can also use a broiler if you don't have a grill). Place the whole chiles on the grill and cook until well charred and blistered, turning every 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and cover with plastic wrap so they "sweat," making them easier to peel. Let the chiles stand for 5 minutes before uncovering and using towels to rub off the skins. Discard the skins, remove the cores and seeds and finely chop the chiles. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the cheeses and stir together to form a stuffing. Set aside until ready to use.
• For the turkey cordon bleu: Make a horizontal cut down the length of the thin side of each turkey breast using a sharp thin knife. Open the breasts up like a book so the cut-sides are exposed facing up and the skin-side is down, with the "spine" of the chicken horizontal on your work surface. Sprinkle the turkey with salt and pepper.
• Lay 5 slices of the deli ham on each breast and trim the edges so the ham fits inside the breast and there is a small border around the turkey. Leaving this gap will ensure that when the turkey is rolled up it forms a nice seal and the stuffing doesn't ooze out everywhere. Divide the poblano-cheese stuffing in thirds and spread on each of the breasts evenly, leaving a small border around the edge. Starting from one side, tightly roll up the turkey away from you, stuffing in any of the filling as it tries to escape at the edges (it is important you roll it up this way, so when you make the slices in the finished roulade they are across the grain). Secure the roll with pieces of butchers twine every 2 inches to form a tight, even log. Repeat with the remaining breasts. Sprinkle the outsides with salt and pepper.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Heat oil in a turkey roaster set across two burners on medium-high heat. Add the roulades and brown evenly, 3 to 4 minutes per side. When browned all over, transfer the whole pan of the roulades to the oven and finish cooking. Roast until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Transfer to a platter and allow the meat to rest to allow for carry-over cooking and the internal temperature to reach 170 degrees F, 10 to 12 minutes. To serve, remove the twine and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Drizzle the pan juices over the top.
• Combine the honey and mustard and mix well.

CORNBREAD STUFFING WITH HAM

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F; butter a shallow 3-quart baking dish. Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the mustard greens and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Stir in the ham, thyme and sage. Add the broth, 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper; bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat.
• Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the bread cubes and ham-broth mixture and stir until combined. Transfer the stuffing to the prepared baking dish. Cut the remaining 2 tablespoons butter into small cubes and scatter evenly over the stuffing. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until golden, 20 to 30 more minutes.

TURKEY WITH COUNTRY HAM STUFFING

Steps:

• Place bread cubes in a single layer in a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes or until golden, stirring occasionally. Place in a large bowl set aside. In a large skillet, cook ham in butter for 5-10 minutes or until edges are crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and place over bread cubes. In the same skillet, sauté the onion, celery, sage, thyme and pepper until vegetables are tender toss with bread and ham. Stir in enough broth to moisten. Just before baking, stuff the turkey. Skewer openings tie drumsticks together. Place on a rack in a roasting pan. Bake at 325° for 4-1/2 to 5 hours or until the thermometer reads 185°. When the turkey begins to brown, cover lightly with a tent of aluminum foil and baste if needed. Remove all stuffing. Editor's Note: Stuffing may be baked in a greased 3-qt. covered baking dish at 325° for 70 minutes (uncover for the last 10 minutes). Stuffing yields about 10 cups.© Copyright Reiman Publications, 1993-1997

ROAST TURKEY WITH COUNTRY HAM STUFFING AND GIBLET GRAVY

Steps:

• Make the stuffing:
• In a shallow baking pan arrange the bread cubes in one layer, bake them in a preheated 325°F. oven, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until they are golden, and transfer them to a large bowl. In a large skillet sauté the ham in the butter over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 10 minutes, or until it is deep red and the edges are crisp, and transfer it with a slotted spoon to the bowl. To the fat remaining in the skillet add the onions, the celery, the sage, and the thyme, cook the mixture over moderate heat, stirring, until the onions are softened, and transfer it to a bowl. Toss the stuffing well, season it with salt and pepper and let it cool completely. The stuffing may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. (To prevent bacterial growth do not stuff the turkey cavities in advance.)
• Rinse the turkey, pat it dry, and season it inside and out with salt and pepper. Pack the neck cavity loosely with some of the stuffing, fold the neck skin under the body, and fasten it with a skewer. Pack the body cavity loosely with some of the remaining stuffing and truss the turkey. Transfer the remaining stuffing to a buttered 2-quart baking dish and reserve it, covered and chilled.
• Spread the turkey with 1/2 stick of the butter and roast it on a rack in a roasting pan in a preheated 425°F. oven for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F., baste the turkey with the pan juices, and drape it with a piece of cheesecloth, soaked in the remaining 1 stick butter, melted and cooled. Add the water to the pan and roast the turkey, basting it every 20 minutes, for 2 1/2 to 3 hours more, or until a meat thermometer inserted in the fleshy part of a thigh registers 180°F. and the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced with a skewer. During the last 1 1/2 hours of roasting, drizzle the reserved stuffing with the stock, bake it, covered, in the 325°F. oven for 1 hour, and bake it, uncovered, for 1/2 hour more. Discard the cheesecloth and string from the turkey, transfer the turkey to a heated platter, reserving the juices in the roasting pan, and keep it warm, covered loosely with foil.
• Make the gravy:
• Skim all of the fat from the roasting pan juices, reserving 1/3 cup of the fat, add the wine to the pan, and deglaze the pan over moderately high heat, scraping up brown bits. Boil the mixture until it is reduced by half. In a saucepan combine the reserved fat and the flour and cook the roux over moderately low heat, whisking, for 3 minutes. Add the stock and the wine mixture in a stream, whisking, and simmer the gravy, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add the reserved cooked giblets and neck meat, chopped, and salt and pepper to taste, simmer the gravy for 2 minutes, and transfer it to a heated sauceboat.
• Garnish the turkey with the sage leaves and serve it with the gravy and the stuffing.

ROAST TURKEY WITH HAZELNUT STUFFING

Steps:

• Prepare Turkey:
• Rub salt all over turkey, inside and out. Cover turkey with cold water and let sit for one hour in the sink (this will get rid of blood and gamey taste).
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Mix spices with apples.
• Put 1/2 of apple mixture inside turkey under white meat (front). Using the other half of apple mixture and quartered orange, stuff under the dark meat (back) inside turkey.
• Prepare basting sauce #1 by heating butter and adding juices and spices.
• Put turkey in roasting pan and add basting sauce.
• Roast, covered with foil, for 2 hours.
• Prepare Stuffing:
• Put hazelnuts in food processor and chop to medium coarseness.
• In a large skillet, brown pork sausage and drain. Add 3 teaspoons of butter to pan and fry chicken until done. Sauté onions, celery, and sage until translucent. Add ham and rest of vegetables in large bowl, adding the pork, chicken and bread, mixing well. Add eggs and Amaretto. Finally, add turkey stock to moisten.
• Put in baking pan and bake 1 hour at 350 °F.
• Finish Roasting Turkey:
• Remove foil and roast until internal temperature is 175°F, basting every 15 minutes.
• Prepare #2 basting sauce by heating butter and maple syrup.
• Remove bird from oven when it reaches 175°F. Let rest - turkey will continue to cook, reaching 180°F in the next 15 minutes.
• Baste with #2 sauce until all sauce is gone.
• Remove fruit from inside.

GRANDMA STOLL'S MOIST DRESSING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13x2-inch ovenproof serving dish or spray with nonstick spray.
• Put the turkey giblets in a medium pot, add 1 1/2 cups broth, place over high heat, and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, adding water if the liquid boils out. Strain and reserve the broth. Coarsely chop the giblets, removing any bones or extra fat. You should have about 1 cup giblets.
• In a large bowl, mix together the turkey giblets and the bread. In a large skillet on medium-high heat, heat the butter until it sings (is foamy). Add the onions and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Pour into the bread mixture. Stir in the poultry seasoning, parsley, salt, and pepper, and enough reserved giblet broth to moisten the mixture, adding plain broth, if necessary, so that you are using about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups all together. Toss thoroughly and pour the dressing into the prepared dish. Bake 30 minutes, adding more stock as needed to keep the dressing moist.
• The dressing can be refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Let it defrost in the refrigerator overnight, cover with foil, and reheat at 350°F. for 30 minutes.

TURKEY AND STUFFING

Steps:

• Prepare stuffing according to package directions, and set aside in a large bowl.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and stir in the onion, celery and sage. Boil 10 minutes, or until the onion is soft. Stir into the prepared stuffing.
• Rinse turkey, and pat dry. Loosely fill the body and neck cavities with the stuffing mixture.
• Place turkey in a large roasting pan and cook 3 to 3 1/2 hours in the preheated oven, or until the internal temperature of the thigh meat is 180 degrees F (80 degrees C) and the stuffing is at least 165 degrees F (75 degrees C).

EASY BEGINNER'S TURKEY WITH STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Rinse turkey, remove giblets and place in a shallow roasting pan.
• Prepare stuffing according to package directions. Mix in water.
• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and slowly cook and stir the celery and onion until tender.
• Mix celery, onion, and toasted bread pieces into the stuffing, and season with salt and pepper. Loosely scoop stuffing into the turkey body cavity and neck cavity. Rub the exterior of the turkey with vegetable oil.
• Loosely cover turkey with aluminum foil, and roast 3 1/2 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until the thickest part of the thigh reaches 180 degrees F (85 degrees C) and the interior of the stuffing reaches 165 degrees F (70 degrees C). Remove foil during the last half hour of cooking to brown the bird.

CLASSIC ROAST TURKEY WITH HERBED STUFFING AND OLD-FASHIONED GRAVY

Steps:

• Place oven rack in lowest position and preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 8-inch square baking dish or 2-quart casserole. Lightly brush roasting rack with vegetable oil and place in roasting pan.
• Remove plastic or paper packet of giblets from turkey (usually in small cavity). Remove from packaging and rinse; reserve gizzard and heart; discard floppy, dark purple liver. Remove neck from large cavity. Remove from packaging, rinse, and reserve. Using tweezers or needlenose pliers, remove any feathers and quills still attached to skin (kosher turkeys tend to require this more than others). Pull off and reserve any visible pale yellow knobs of fat from either side of tail (not found on all birds).
• Rinse turkey inside and out with cold water and pat dry. Loosely fill small (neck) cavity with stuffing. Fold neck skin under body and fasten with metal skewer. Loosely fill large body cavity with stuffing. Transfer remaining stuffing to buttered dish and drizzle with 1/4 cup stock. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate until ready to bake.
• Transfer turkey, breast-side up, to rack in roasting pan. Tuck wing tips under breast and tie drumsticks loosely together with kitchen string. Rub turkey all over with softened butter and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Tightly cover breast area with foil, leaving wings, thighs, and drumsticks exposed.
• Transfer gizzard, heart, neck, and reserved turkey fat to roasting pan around rack. Pour 2 cups stock into pan.
• Roast turkey 45 minutes. Baste with pan juices (lift up foil to reach breast area) and continue roasting, basting every 45 minutes, 1 1/2 hours more (2 1/4 hours total). Baste again and, if pan juices have evaporated into glaze, add 1 cup stock to pan. Roast another 45 minutes (3 hours total). Remove foil from breast area, baste, and add stock if necessary, until instant-read thermometer inserted into fleshy part of thigh (close to but not touching bone) registers 180°F, about 1 hour more (4 hours total).
• Insert instant-read thermometer into center of stuffing in body cavity. If thermometer does not read 165°F, transfer stuffing to microwave-safe baking dish and microwave on high until 165°F, about 3 minutes for 10 degrees. Cover and keep warm. Using turkey holders (or by inserting large metal serving spoon into body cavity), transfer turkey to large serving platter. Let stand 30 minutes before carving.
• Meanwhile, bake extra stuffing and make gravy: Raise oven temperature to 350°F. Remove giblets and neck from roasting pan and discard. Pour pan juices into measuring cup or gravy separator. Let stand until fat rises to top, 1 to 2 minutes, then skim off and reserve fat or, if using separator, carefully pour juices into measuring cup, reserving fat left in separator.
• Transfer foil-covered dish of extra stuffing to oven and bake 10 minutes. Meanwhile, add enough remaining stock to pan juices to total 4 cups. Measure turkey fat, adding melted butter if necessary to total 6 tablespoons. Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners on moderate heat and add fat. Whisk in flour, scraping up browned bits on bottom of pan, then cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Whisk in pan juice-stock mixture and bring to a boil, whisking often. Reduce heat to moderately low and simmer, whisking occasionally, until gravy thickens, about 5 minutes. Whisk in remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and keep warm. (Gravy can be kept warm over very low heat, covered, up to 20 minutes. If it thickens, thin with additional stock before serving. If skin forms on top, whisk well to dissolve.)
• When extra stuffing has baked 10 minutes, remove foil and bake, uncovered, until heated through, about 10 minutes. Pour gravy through fine-mesh sieve into large bowl, then transfer to gravy boat. Carve turkey and serve gravy and stuffing alongside.
• Test-Kitchen Tips:
• •To combat dryness, most frozen turkeys and some fresh are injected with a saline solution. This is not a good thing, though: Injected birds generally lack flavor and can have a mushy texture. For this reason, we recommend buying a fresh turkey and checking the label to be sure there aren't any additives. (Look for the words "all natural.") Don't be too concerned, though, with the many other terms that can be applied to turkeys, such as free-range, organic, or heritage. All can be excellent.
• •When buying a fresh bird, be sure to purchase it no more than two days before Thanksgiving. If you must get a frozen bird, defrost it in the refrigerator in a pan to catch drips, allowing a full 24 hours for each 5 pounds.
• •Warm, moist stuffing is an optimal environment for bacteria such as salmonella or E. coli to multiply, so it's important to follow safe procedures. Be sure to make the stuffing at the last minute so it can go into the bird warm. This helps it move above the "danger zone" (the optimal temperature range for bacteria growth) more quickly during roasting. When you remove the turkey from the oven, be sure to check the temperature in the middle of the stuffing to make sure it's 165°F, the temperature at which bacteria will be killed. If it's not 165°F, scoop it out of the cavity and microwave it as directed in the recipe.
• •More stuffing tips: Be sure not to overpack the cavities, as the stuffing will expand during cooking. Loosely fill the turkey, then spread the extra in a casserole dish (no more than 2 inches deep) and bake it after the turkey comes out (be sure to refrigerate it until then to impede bacteria growth). Drizzle the portion in the casserole dish with extra stock to make up for the juices it won't get from the turkey. If you want the stuffing that's cooked inside the turkey to be extra-moist (as opposed to having a crisp crust where it's exposed), cover the exposed portion with a small piece of aluminum foil.
• •Opinions vary on whether or not to stuff the bird-some people think it can cause uneven cooking. If you prefer not to stuff your bird, fill the cavities with a chopped vegetable and herb mixture that will impart its flavor to the meat and pan juices: Chop 1 onion, 1 celery rib with leaves, 1 carrot, and 3 tablespoons fresh parsley. Mix this with 1 teaspoon each dried rosemary, sage, and thyme. Sprinkle the cavities with salt and freshly ground black pepper and place the mixture inside. An unstuffed bird will take about 15 minutes to a half hour less to cook than a stuffed bird. When the turkey is cooked, tilt it to allow any juices that have collected in the cavity to drain into the pan. Do not serve the vegetable mixture, as it may not have cooked to a safe temperature.
• •This recipe can easily be scaled up to serve more people. Estimate about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds per person. Cooking times (for a stuffed bird, cooked at 325°F to an internal temperature of 180°F) will be as follows: 8 to 12 pounds: 3 to 3 1/2 hours 12 to 14 pounds: 3 1/2 to 4 hours 14 to 18 pounds: 4 to 4 1/4 hours 18 to 20 pounds: 4 1/4 to 4 3/4 hours 20 to 24 pounds: 4 3/4 to 5 1/4 hours
• •Some experts prefer to cook their turkeys to an internal temperature of 170°F (rather than 180°F, as in this recipe). If you don't mind having the meat slightly pink, this is perfectly safe and makes it more moist. However, Rick Rodgers, who created this recipe, believes that the dark meat in particular does not achieve its optimum flavor and texture until it reaches 180°F. If you choose to stuff your turkey and cook it to only 170°F, its stuffing will almost definitely not reach the safe temperature of 165°F. When you remove the turkey from the oven, be sure to check the temperature in the center of the stuffing, and if necessary remove it and microwave it as directed in the recipe.
• •Letting the turkey stand for half an hour after it comes out of the oven is an essential part of the roasting process. When meat roasts, its juices move to the outer edge of the flesh. Letting it rest gives the juices time to redistribute, making for a moister turkey. An added bonus: The resting time provides an excellent window of opportunity to make the gravy and reheat the side dishes. There's no need to cover the bird-it'll stay warm enough, and covering it would only soften the crispy skin.