“And he, he himself…the Grinch…carved the roast-beast!”
-The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Dr Seuss
So the thought behind this roast beast is this. You know how everyone, especially if you have a large number of family members at the table, jostle for the turkey drumsticks? Here we go, problem solved. That’s probably the real reason why the Whos were always so happy, no one ever had to fight over the legs.
In this case, we’ve added wings, because our turkey was a 3kg bird, therefore no space for extra drumsticks. Piddly in size but with only two of us to eat it, I didn’t want food to go to waste. If you happen to be working with a big bird? Attach some legs. It’ll look hilarious and the kids will have fun helping you plan the design of a ‘ beast’.
The instructions for making a roast beast is simple. You’re cooking a turkey just like normal, but adding additional pieces on.
For food safety, if you’re creating a bird, only use poultry pieces, so they cook at the same rate. Raw undercooked meat will be a problem otherwise.
- butchers twine
- a trussing needle
- baking tray
- a completely defrosted turkey or chicken
- stuffing
- ¼-1/2 cup butter
- poultry seasoning
- extra wings or legs, best with more flesh hanging where it's been cut (we used chicken wings on a turkey)
- Prepare your turkey by washing it, plucking excess feathers, stuffing it and sewing closed.
- Decide where you want your wings or legs to go.
- Starting with your first wing, use a metal skewer to help support the wing from underneath.
- With your twine and needle, use a looping stitch to attach the edge of the wing to the skin of the turkey. We found it best to select wings that had more skin where it had been cut, rather than wings that had the skin trimmed back.
- Repeat with additional wings.
- Preheat oven to 160C. Melt butter, brush over turkey skin and sprinkle poultry seasoning on top.
- Place in a baking tray and roast.
- For a 4-6lb/~2.5kg turkey, roast for 3½ to 4 hours. 6 to 8 lb/2.5-3.5 kg roast for 4 to 4½ hours. 8 to 10 lb/3.5-4.5kg roast for 5 hours. 10 to 16 lb/4.5-7.5kg roast for 5 to 6 hours.
You Forget Roast Beast