The winner of the turkey reader recipe competition is Sarah Harman with her bacon-wrapped turkey legs. Turkey legs are wrapped in streaky bacon before roasting, and served with a turkey breast salad with little “gems’” of orange and cranberry for a Christmassy flavour. Sarah wins a 4.5kg Croziers Free Range Turkey valued at $74.99.
In answer to our “what’s the best way to serve turkey” question, here’s some of your ideas that have piqued our interest.
Whole vs pieces
We have boneless turkey breast/s stuffed with cranberry sauce and pine nut stuffing baked in the oven. Beautiful hot or cold. Katie Jane Whittington
Butterflied turkey breast wrapped in bacon. Inside this delicious crust, a filling of cranberry sauce, stuffing and asparagus spears — a Kiwi twist on an American classic. Thomas Kilroy
Stuffing
Stuffed with pistachios, cranberries, breadcrumbs, fresh herbs and lemons. Mel Collins
I stuff it with apricot and pistachio stuffing made with crusty bread torn into large chunks and apricots soaked overnight in sherry. Use a roasting bag to keep the turkey nice and moist. Sophie Mary
The classic Scottish way — slow-roasted with cranberry/chestnut stuffing. Lynnley Kirk
Dijon mustard and honey glazed with apricot and pine nut stuffing. Rebecca Young
Turkey with blue cheese and bacon stuffing. Chris Parminter
No stuffing for us, just put two oranges, cut in half, in the cavity with two peeled onions, then cover the breast and legs with bacon strips. Pour a cup of white wine in the pan then cover the turkey and pan with foil. A wonderful moist turkey and very tasty gravy. Nalda Williams
I use this walnut stuffing that was in the Christchurch Press a good 30 years ago, cooked separately in a baking tray. Clare Bray
Walnut stuffing
2 cups celery, thinly sliced
1½ cups onion, finely diced
1 cup butter
3 eggs
2¼ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 tsp chicken stock
2 cups walnuts, chopped
¼ cup parsley, chopped
4 cups white bread, cut in small cubes
- Cook celery and onion in the butter for 10 minutes, taking care not to brown.
- In a bowl, mix the eggs, salt, pepper and stock.
- Add the celery mixture, walnuts, parsley and bread to the egg mixture. Toss gently and spoon into a greased ovenproof dish. Cover with foil and place in a 160C oven for 1 hour, or for the last hour that the turkey is cooking.
- Cool while the turkey is resting and cut up into small portions.
Golden glaze
For a quick and inexpensive way to give your turkey golden-brown skin and that lovely moist taste, bathe your bird in buttermilk and hot sauce (Tabasco is the best sauce to go for). It'll give it the succulent taste without pricey ingredients like butter, wine or fresh herbs. We do this all the time and the result is amazing! Renuka Swaroop
I love to baste with cider and honey, I use cider in the stuffing and it also helps to have some in your hand as it cooks. Rose Elmon
My grandma always stuffed plenty of seasoned butter under the skin — not the most health-conscious these days but absolutely beautiful. Nikki Turner
Oven-free
We cooked our turkey last year in our slow cooker with the top covered with bacon strips. It was a bit of a struggle to get it in but we finally managed it. When cooked we popped it in a hot oven to crisp it all up. It was awesome and fell off the bones. Robyn Harding
Hangi turkey! Tracey Simon
Slow cook on the Weber barbecue. Give it time and keep the lid down. Doug Cockroft
Interesting ideas
Stuff it with kettle chips mashed into a stuffing. Gareth Whittington
The turkey is stuffed with a haggis and then deep fried. Darron Wills
I do wonder how turkey would be if you made a stuffing of grated kumara and breadcrumbs mixed with avocado — would this work or be a disaster? Sue Marett
Buy the turkey and ask Trevino Chef to cook it for me. YewPing Ling
And those leftovers…
Use leftover turkey to make a delicious, and healthy, turkey and corn soup — you can even boil the carcass to make a broth. Jennifer Jeffery
Toss a balsamic dressing through a rocket, cubed cooked beetroot, cubed feta, cherry tomato and chunks of cooked turkey salad. Natalie Sutcliffe
A simple leftover turkey bake — great for Boxing Day. Dice 1 onion, a few sticks of celery and turkey and place in a baking dish. Make a basic white sauce and pour over. Top with cheese and breadcrumbs and bake for 30 minutes at 180C. Tiffeny Little
Leftover Christmas turkey puds — Pop all the leftover trimmings from the turkey into yorkshire puddings. Top them off with gravy and put in the oven for 5 minutes. Lisette Montgomerie
Turkey and chorizo paella. Grace Mitchell
Roast turkey sammies. Bryony Chatterton
More turkey recipes
You'll find more Christmas turkey recipes in our Christmas poultry collection.
