Turkey Butter

Nobody likes their turkey to be dry – this method and recipe virtually guarantees that this won’t happen using sous vide, and the butter it’s cooked in gives a nice Christmassy flavour.

Ingredients

– 250g butter

– 2 tbsp cranberry sauce

– 1 orange zest and juice

– 1tsp salt

– 200g pureed chestnuts

Method

– Melt butter in a pan, mix in cranberry sauce, orange zest, orange juice, salt and pureed chestnuts.  Pass through a fine sieve to help ensure the mixture is smooth.  The first time I tried this, I used whole chestnuts and mashed them with a fork, but the texture ended up not very good, so I switched to using pre-pureed chestnuts from a packet.

– Cook the turkey sous vide in bags with the butter mixture (you can allow the mixture to solidify first in the freezer for easier vacuum sealing).

Turkey sous vide times and temperatures are similar to those of chicken – my suggestion is 64 degrees C for 2-4 hours for breast.  It’s better without skin (it gets soggy and can be roasted separately), so this recipe works particularly well with pieces the butcher has pre-rolled.