Roast turkey, with gluten free stuffing 

Cranberry stuffing (make the previous day or earlier in the day)

• 1/3 cup rice, millet or quinoa
• 2 tsp whey or lemon juice
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup water (or use turkey or chicken stock for more flavour)
• 1 Tbs butter (or olive oil)
• a little sea salt
• 2-3 Tbs dried or frozen cranberries
• 1 lemon
• 1 small onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 Tbs butter (or olive oil)
• a few fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
• some sprigs of thyme, finely chopped
• some sprigs of parsley, finely chopped
• 1 egg yolk
• a little sea salt

Soak grain overnight and cook according to instructions in Lesson 9. When nearly all of the liquid has been absorbed, stir in 1 Tbs butter & a little sea salt and turn off the heat. Meanwhile, soak the cranberries in boiling water, if dried. Squeeze the lemon & grate the rind. Finely chop the onion & garlic & fry up in 2 Tbs butter. Add to the grains, along with the cranberries, lemon juice & rind, the fresh herbs, egg yolk and extra salt. Mix well, then leave in the fridge to set.

NB: If the turkey is frozen, take out of freezer about 36 hours before cooking, and let defrost in the fridge

Turkey:

NB : These times are for a 3.25kg turkey. Increase times as needed.

• 4 hours before serving: Preheat the oven to 220C (425F). Stuff the turkey from the neck end, pushing as much stuffing up under the skin as possible. Fold the spare skin underneath and fasten with a skewer. Take out the giblets and neck from the inner cavity. Put any remaining stuffing in the neck of the cavity. Put in roasting pan breast side up. Mix together some melted butter with a little honey and about ½ cup orange juice. Pour over the turkey. Sprinkle with sea salt. Put a little water or turkey stock in the bottom of the pan. Cover with a lid, or with a piece of tin foil, leaving an air pocket inside.
• 3 ½ hours before: Put the turkey in at 220C (425F)
• 3 hours before: Turn oven down to 170C (350F), and baste the turkey. Baste every half hour.
• 1 hour before: Take the lid off and turn the oven up to about 190C (375F), so the turkey can brown.
• ½ hour before: Take the turkey out of the pan and leave to rest while making the gravy. Pour off all the juices, strain off any excess fat, and simmer juices till reduced. Thicken with a little arrowroot, mixed with cold water.

A footnote about kumera, yams and sweet potatoes:

If you’re not from New Zealand, you may not know what a kumera is. And if you are from New Zealand, you may have been confused in the past by references to sweet potatoes and yams. So, let’s have a look and clear up some of the confusion.

These fall into three different families:

The following are all sweet potatoes from the Morning glory family (Ipomoea batatas), but with different characteristics. Some are dry fleshed and some are moist fleshed.

• The vegetables commonly called sweet potatoes in the US. These come with different coloured flesh (white, yellow and even purple) and are usually dry fleshed.
• The vegetable called a yam (or sweet potato yam) in the US. These are actually moist fleshed sweet potatoes and not true yams at all.
• The different varieties of NZ kumera are all sweet potatoes. Some are dry and some moist fleshed.
• The vegetable called a yam in NZ and Australia is also not a true yam. It comes from the South American Andes and is also called an oca (Oxalis tuberosa). As its name suggests, it contains oxalates, which are not neutralised when cooked. The traditional method of reducing oxalates is to leave them out in the sun for several days, after which they can be eaten raw or cooked.
• A true yam is of the Dioscorea family and these are not widely available, at least in NZ. The wild yam that is used for balancing female hormones is also in this family.

If you have a NZ recipe and want to convert to US types:

If you have a US recipe and want to convert to NZ types:

• Sweet potato usually means a dry-fleshed sweet potato – use a red or gold kumera
• If the recipe says yam, or yam-sweet potato, or sweet potato yam, this means a moist fleshed variety – use an orange (Beauregard) kumera
• If you want to read more, this site gives good explanations: Saturday Market

Remember I haven’t actually tasted sweet potatoes and yams, and I’m going on pictures and descriptions. So use your own discretion. If you use one type in a recipe and don’t like how it comes out, try a different one next time.