Turkey breast stuffed with wild mushrooms &
Turkey legs stuffed with apples, celery and calvados

For those of you who have read the book, you know that it ends up with a chapter titled Thanksgiving in Paris. After nearly a year of training to bone virtually every kind of meat, I find myself with a massive turkey from my French butcher that will never fit into our oven. So, on Mike’s advice, I bone it the whole thing and stuff it.

You can purchase a boneless turkey breasts for this first step. If you're not feeling up to the task of deboning the turkey legs, or you don't have the time, you can ask the butcher.  Brining the turkey ahead of time yields more flavorful and tender meat. You'll need a trussing needle and string, or you can bind up the turkey with caul fat.

You can read about deboning a turkey here on my blog, along with photos.

Wild mushroom stuffing with cognac
3 oz. porcini mushrooms, steeped in 2 cups hot water
4 tablespoons of butter
1 onion, chopped fine1 shallot, chopped fine
4 sprigs fresh thyme, tied together with a bay leaf
1 lb. of mixed fresh wild mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup of white wine
¼ cup of Cognac
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
salt, plenty of cracked pepper
1/4 cup whipping cream

Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the onions, shallots and thyme and cook until softened. Add the fresh mushrooms and porcini to the pan and stir until they release their liquid and brown slightly. (If they absorb too much butter and the pan gets dry, add enough olive oil to coat.) Add white wine to the pan, scraping the bottom of any browned bits. Add the Cognac and cook for a couple of moments until reduced. Add the parsley, salt and cracked pepper and stir through. Taste to assure its well seasoned. Remove tied thyme leaves. Then, add the bit of cream and stir through. Set aside until cool. Place a layer of the stuffing onto the turkey breast, roll up and truss into a tight package. Roast as you would a regular turkey, basting regularly with butter until a thermometer inserted into the meat registers 160 degrees F. Let rest at least 10 minutes before carving.

Note: I use the liquid from porcini in gravy served with the meat, adding a bit of Cognac toward the very end to further extend the flavor of the stuffing. This is a good basic gravy recipe.

Apple and celery stuffing with Calvados
4 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped fine
2 shallots, chopped fine
4 ribs of celery, chopped fine
2 Golden Delicious apples, cored, seeded chopped
4 sprigs thyme tied together
1/2 tsp nutmeg
¼ cup spiced cider
¼ cup of Calvados
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
salt, pepper

Melt the butter into a sauté pan over medium heat and sauté the onion, celery and shallot until slightly softened, about five minutes. Add the apple, thyme and nutmeg and continue until very soft, about eight minutes. Deglaze the pan with the cider, scraping the bottom for any brown bits. Add the Calvados and let simmer briefly until reduced. Add the chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Taste to check seasonings and set aside to cool. Carefully place half the stuffing into the cavity of one leg, extending up to the thigh area. (Careful, don’t overdo it or you won’t be able to truss up the leg.) With a trussing needle, sew up the edges of the leg tightly. This will get more difficult the further “up” the leg you go, and it may no longer be possible to truss without exposing a lot of meat. One option is to add a piece of bacon to cover the meat so that it doesn’t dry out. Place in a roasting pan atop roughly cut onions, apples and celery. Coat with butter, and then cook at 350 degrees for about one hour to 90 minutes, depending on the size of the legs. Baste every 10 minutes with fresh butter and pan drippings. Let rest for a least a few minutes before carving.

Note: To extend the flavor, I simmer onion, apples and shallots and a small amount of spiced apple cider in turkey stock for a separate gravy to go with the legs. Just before serving, I stir in a bit of Calvados.


For the brine: Soaking turkey in a brine overnight softens and seasons the meat. Make sure your turkey stays cold. I used 1 quart spiced apple cider, 1 cups kosher salt, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup whole allspice, 10 garlic cloves minced, 4 bay leaves, 4 quarts cold water. One good thing about a boned turkey? It's easier to fit into your fridge.

Have feedback on his recipe? Email info @ kathleenflinn.com

From "The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry," Viking/Penguin, all copyright reserved 2007
 Knife, the Less You Cry," Viking/Penguin, all copyright reserved 2007