Stuffed Turkey Roll

Posted by Shaina S.


Shaina was talking about how she prepares turkey (after I told her I yet again cooked one with the giblets inside, ugh!)  It sounded so delicious, so I asked for her to pass on the recipe.  "It seems like a lot of work but it isn’t bad.  Dinner will be breeze to serve and it really is beautiful on a platter! Then afterward there is no turkey to mess with cleaning off!  We love it, it has definitely become our family tradition.  Enjoy…"


Ingredients:
1 whole fresh turkey or  1 whole fresh turkey breast.( If you use the breast only make sure it is the whole breast with the skin on)
Strong kitchen shears and deboning or filet knife is best.
Upholstry needle
Butchers Twine
Stuffing mixture of your choice, you family favorite will work fine.
Cheese cloth
Dry white wine
Butter
This is really more of an instruction sheet for assembling a turkey roll rather than a recipe.
I really like this best with a whole turkey but it works fine with the breast as well or if you family only likes white meat.
There is always a little meat ‘wasted’ or left on the bone.  Save it and roast it with the bones, onions and seasoning and make your gravy with it.  All of this prep is done a day or two ahead so Thanksgiving Day is really easy!

Take your whole turkey and lay it breast side down.  Cut with strong kitchen shears all the way down the middle of the back.  Pull the turkey in half until you can see the back side of the breast bone.  Using a strong butcher knife and or your shears cut the breast bone down the middle. This is the hardest part.  Don’t cut all the way into the meat.  After the breast bone is in half you can take a filet knife and start to separate the bone from the meat.  I just work the filet knife in and around the bone separating it from the meat.  It’s not pretty and doesn’t have to perfectly preserve the turkey in its shape.  It will appear to be a mess from the inside.  The important part is to perfectly preserve the skin with meat attached when possible. I trim away the knuckles after removing the leg meat and wings as well.  When you are done you will have a mostly flat turkey.  If the breast is too thick compared to the other areas you will want to filet it and lay the extra piece somewhere else on the turkey.  Remember that the skin will serve as your ‘case’ to sew the whole thing up in. Once all of the bones and unwanted parts are removed you can take a mallet to it and flatten out any areas if necessary.  I season the meat with salt and pepper and cover to with saran wrap and refrigerate it.  Then make your stuffing.  When you are ready to assemble it; have your needle and twine already threaded and ready using about 20 inches of twine or more if you like, lay it out flat and pile the stuffing down the middle, start with your needle at one end of the turkey and pull the sides up making a stitch as you go alternating each side.  I use a twisted running stitch but you will get a feel for what you like.  Work your way all the way down drawing the sides up around the stuffing and sewing the ends of the meat with the skin together.  This seam will be underneath so it doesn’t have to be pretty.  When I was first trying this technique years ago I would tie it off with the twine like a roast.  But as I got better at it I wanted the roll to be really smooth and pretty so it has evolved for me.  


After it’s all sewn up I put it in the roasting pan and cover it with a cheesecloth.  I leave the cheese cloth on during the baking and baste often with melted butter and white wine.  The cheese cloth keeps the skin wet and doesn’t let it brown too early but it will let the skin get crisp.  Roast for about 2 ½ hours or until a meat thermometer inserted is 165-170 deg.