Five Spice Turkey with Roasted Red Apples

A fresh twist on the traditional turkey, flavoured with Chinese 5-spice.

INGREDIENTS

1 x 3.5 – 4.5kg turkey, defrosted overnight in the fridge
1 whole garlic bulb
200g salted butter
6 Tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, quartered
300g leeks, split lengthways
2 sprigs of bay leaves
3 star anise for bottom of casserole
4 red apples, halved and quartered

For the Five Spice:

2 cinnamon quills
4 star anise
2 tsp cloves
1 Tbsp fennel seeds
½ Tbsp juniper berries
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to season

METHOD

For the Five Spice:
Dry fry the cinnamon quills, star anise, cloves and juniper berries for approximately 30 seconds to develop the flavour. Remove from the pan, then dry fry the fennel seeds for a 10-20 seconds.

Grind all the spices together with a little salt and pepper in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar to form a powder.

For the Turkey:
Remove the bag of giblets from the cavity of the turkey (the giblets can be used to make stock). Rinse the turkey and pat dry. Bruise the garlic cloves and stuff into the cavity

Carefully stuff 150g of softened butter under the skin of the breasts of the turkey, to ensure moist meat. Do this slowly and carefully so you don’t tear the skin as the skin is what keeps the moisture in.

Brush 2 – 3 T olive oil over the turkey skin, then sprinkle over ½ the five-spice mixture.

Place the turkey back in the fridge for 5-12 hours to allow the flavours to penetrate.

Roasting:
Remove the turkey from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature an hour before cooking.

Toss the onions, leeks, bay leaves and star anise in 2 T olive oil, then place into the bottom of a 35cm Le Creuset Signature Oval Casserole.

Place the turkey, breast side down, into the casserole. Cover with the lid and roast for 30 minutes in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius.

Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 150 degrees Celsius.

Carefully flip the turkey over breast side up and baste with the remaining butter. Sprinkle over the remaining five spice and season well.

Place the apples into the casserole, cover with the lid, and roast for another 45 – 60 minutes (15 minutes per 500g). Baste with the butter from the casserole, every 15 minutes to ensure a succulent roast.