[entourage]

Hi,

We are have a dinner party with friends we try to catch up a couple of times a year usually around Xmas time with all of our kids & now one friend suggested Christmas in July without the kids & just us adults.It is at our house & one friend is doing entree & one doing dessert & one veggies I guess but I am not sure what to do for main.I am thinking some kind of roast someone mentioned Turkey but I have not made one before & we were hoping to use the webber as it will free up the oven.Any suggestions. We usually do ham in the wbber at Xmas so wanted someting different.

TIA

[Lynken]

You can do turkey in the weber. We always do ours on Xmas Eve and have it cold the next day. Doing it in the weber means I don't have to have the oven running when it's usually stinking hot!

Try a butcher for a whole turkey at this time of year. They should also be able to guide you on cooking time.

[entourage]

Thanks how long do you usually cook it for & what flavours do you use like a marinade & what do you serve with it?

[Lynken]

We cook ours slowly so it takes hours. It's usually pretty big (like 6-7kg). This is a good guide. Note that you will need several days to defrost it! DH sets the weber going to heat up for 20-30 mins so the beads are nice and hot and then it's in with the turkey to cook for 5 or 6 hours. He checks it every half hour or so.

I just do a normal stuffing (from a packet!). I don't marinade it. I think most turkeys are self-basting??

Serve it with your regular roast veg (potato, pumpkin, carrot) along with steamed greens (peas, broccoli etc). You could also do other root veg roasted like parsnip. Gravy is a must as is cranberry sauce.

[entourage]

Thank you I am feeling game now & yes cranberry & gravy we the only things I had on my list.
I was also going to ask our butcher & may see if I could get it close to the day.

[smultron]

Sounds great- the only thing I would be checking would be that all the guests like turkey- otherwise you are going to have a lot of leftovers. I am always surprised at how many people do not like turkey these days- only a couple of my family do which is a pain so I usually just do a breast and a whole ham..

[Like a tiger]

I usually make a walnut and cranberry stuffing and baste it with chicken stock whilst cooking. This recipe is always a winner in our home. I serve the turkey with gravy and cranberry sauce.

[ingrid74]

The other thing that gives it a really nice flavour (and tastes good itself) is to wrap the turkey with some bacon while it is cooking). Helps it keep moist, gives it flavour and the crunchy bacon is to die for!

[Escapin]

And if you're really going the whole hog, try and get a proper free range turkey and brine it yourself, it's the only way to make sure it doesn't dry out.

[entourage]

This is all sounding good ladies thank you I will take on all advice & check out recipes & then show DH.One of the other couples suggested Turkey so they are good & I am fairly sure the other couple will eat most things but I will check I am not always a big protein fan so I eat a small bit & lots of vegies but I may lean towards the bacon as I do love crispy bacon.