Darina Allen: How to deep-fry a turkey and the perfect pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving

Deep-frying a turkey sounds terrifying but is great fun, and very delicious

It's best to experiment with deep-frying a turkey outdoors or in a garage. 

We have seven nationalities with us here at the Ballymaloe Cookery School for the Autumn 12-Week Program. All have, of course, fully quarantined after the long journey from the other side of the world to come to a cookery school at an organic farm in East Cork to learn how food is produced ‘from farm to fork’.

They are learning how to cook and bake but also how to keep hens, milk cows, make cheese, smoke food, make charcuterie, pickles and ferments as well as wonderful 48-hour naturally fermented sourdough bread. After the intensive course, they will be snapped up by restaurants, catering businesses and publishing houses around the world.

Excitement is gathering for our American students as they look forward to celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday on the last Thursday of November.

Thanksgiving is almost bigger than Christmas in the US: the Pilgrim Fathers arrived in New England in 1620 having crossed the wild Atlantic to America. They almost starved during their first harsh winter, so when the first harvest was gathered, they had a celebratory feast. This became known as Thanksgiving and is still celebrated every year on the last Thursday of November by Americans both at home and abroad. This year it is on November 25.

Americans crisscross the country and the globe to join their family and loves ones. They feast on turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potato, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie. Another favourite is sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. The latter is quite the leap of faith for us but apparently, it isn’t Thanksgiving without this bizarre-sounding dish — so pick up courage and try it, you may find that it is super delicious as my American students predicted.

Every family has their own favourite stuffing and traditions. The turkey in particular can be cooked in an ever-evolving number of ways. One way or another, dry or wet brine the bird for 6-8 hours, this really enhances the flavour. Then stuff with your favourite ‘dressing’. Alternatively, spatchcock the bird and slather with spices or a gutsy herb butter. The best fun of all is to deep-fry the turkey — it sounds terrifying but I have to tell you, it’s delicious. You’ll need a large, deep saucepan and a powerful gas burner. Don’t attempt this in the house: best to experiment in the garage or outdoors if the weather is clement. Fill the deep saucepan with oil or dripping, gently dunk the turkey up and down a few times before submerging in the hot oil. Keep a good eye on progress, this is more of a ‘macho thing’ — it’ll take about 45-50 minutes to cook through. The skin will be a crisp mahogany colour and irresistible and the flesh, moist and juicy.

We surely need another celebration and indeed, despite the challenges, many of us have much to be grateful for. Let’s gather our families around us, give thanks and remember those who are no longer with us.

Here are a few tried and tested recipes that friends and students have shared with me over the years.

Green bean casserole with mushrooms

recipe by:Darina Allen

This is super delicious, but I must admit I tweaked the recipe — the original was made with a packet of mushroom soup, freeze-dried onions and frozen beans. This is even better!

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 40 mins

Total Time

 50 mins

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 50g (2oz) butter

• 350g (12oz) onion, finely chopped

• 900g (2lbs) mushrooms, sliced

• 225ml (8fl oz) cream

• 225ml (8fl oz) milk

• a squeeze of lemon juice

• salt and freshly-ground pepper

• For the roux:

• 110g (4oz) butter

• 110g (4oz) flour

• For the green beans:

• 900g (2lbs) French beans

• 1.2 litres (2 pints) water

• 3 tsp sea salt

• 25-50g (1-2oz) butter or extra virgin olive oil

• salt and freshly ground pepper

• For the crispy onions:

• 700g (1 ½ lb) of onions, peeled and sliced into rounds.

• 25g (1oz) butter

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• To garnish:

• 50g (2oz) flaked almonds

Method

1. First make the roux. Melt the butter and cook the flour in it for 2 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally. Use as required. Roux can be stored in a cool place and used as required or it can be made up on the spot if preferred. It will keep at least a fortnight in a refrigerator.

2. First, make the mushroom sauce. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan until it foams. Add the chopped onions, cover and sweat on a gentle heat for 5-10 minutes or until quite soft but not coloured. Meanwhile cook the sliced mushrooms in a little butter, in a hot frying pan in batches if necessary. Season each batch with salt, freshly ground pepper and a tiny squeeze of lemon juice. Add the mushrooms to the onions in the saucepan, then add the milk and cream and allow to bubble for a few minutes. Thicken with a little roux to a light coating consistency. Taste and correct the seasoning.

3. Next, cook the crispy onions. Melt the butter in a sauté pan, add the olive oil, toss in the onions and cook stirring regularly on medium heat until golden and crisp — 10 minutes approximately.

4. Meanwhile, prepare and cook the beans. Choose beans of a similar size. Top and tail the beans. If they are small and thin leave them whole, if they are larger cut them into 2.5- 4cm (1- 1½ inch) pieces at a long angle.

5. Bring the water to a fast-rolling boil, add 3 teaspoons of salt then toss in the beans. Continue to boil very fast for 5-6 minutes or until just cooked (they should still retain a little bite). Drain immediately. Taste, season with freshly ground pepper and a little sea salt if necessary.

6. To finish, heat the mushroom sauce, stir in the beans and transfer to a gratin dish. Sprinkle the top with crispy onions and flaked almonds and heat through in a moderate oven for 5-10 minutes.

Deep-fried turkey

recipe by:Darina Allen

Who but the Americans would have thought of deep-frying a turkey? I bet you are deeply sceptical — so was I. But I’ve become quite an enthusiast, it is such fun and a much faster way to cook the bird. But NEVER leave the deep-fryer unattended

Servings

8

Cooking Time

 45 mins

Total Time

 45 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 1 x 4.4 – 5.4kG (10-12lb) organic or free-range turkey, brined overnight

• For the brine:

• 6 litres (10 ½ pints) water

• 600g (1 ¼ lb) salt

• To cook:

• Enough oil to cover - peanut is good, in America they use pomace

Method

1. dd the salt to the water and stir to dissolve. Put the turkey into a deep stainless-steel saucepan or bucket, or a plastic bucket. Cover with the brine and a lid and chill for 24 hours. Drain and dry well. This is of course optional, but it hugely enhances the flavour of the turkey.

2. To cook the bird, you’ll need a large deep pot, preferably with a turkey tray, lift hook and thermometer. If you don’t already have a suitable pot, there are several options on the internet so get Googling. Grill gloves or thick oven mitts are also worth having.

3. Carefully choose a safe, level spot preferably concrete on your patio or close to the door in the garage. Set up the gas burner and cylinder. Remove the turkey from the brine. Lift the empty saucepan onto the propane burner. Lower the turkey into the pot, cover with water, mark the level on the side of the pot — the waterline should be at least 10 - 12.5cm (4-5 inches) from the top of the pot.

4. Remove the turkey onto a tray, pour out the water and dry the pot. Fill to the water mark with oil. Turn on the heat and warm the oil gradually to 190˚C/375˚F. Meanwhile, drain and dry the bird meticulously both inside and out. Insert the lifting hook and impale the turkey neck downwards on the tray (there are several designs so follow instructions on your model.)

5. When the temperature reaches 190˚C/375˚F, turn off the heat.

6. Gently and gradually lower the turkey into the hot oil. Relight the burner, maintain the oil temperature at 180˚C/350˚F and cook for 40-45 minutes allowing 3 – 3 ½ minutes per 450g (1lb).

7. Slowly and carefully, lift the turkey out of the hot oil allowing it to drain over the pot for a few seconds and transfer to a tray. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh). The internal temperature should read 75˚C/165˚F. Allow to rest for 15-20 minutes.

8. Serve on a large platter. Carve and serve with all the trimmings.

9. Be super careful: It may be prudent to keep a fire extinguisher close by and, I REPEAT, NEVER LEAVE UNATTENDED!

Eoin Cluskey's pumpkin pie

recipe by:Darina Allen

The recipe for this delectable Pumpkin Pie came from the same Eoin Cluskey, who is the brainchild behind Bread 41 in Pearce St in Dublin where there is a continuous queue for the sourdough bread and irresistible pastries. He did a 12-Week Course at the Ba

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 60 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 10 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• For the pastry:

• 200g (7oz) plain flour

• 100g (3 ½ oz) butter

• 50ml (2fl oz) water

• pinch of salt

• For the filling:

• 300g (11oz) pumpkin flesh (finely chopped) (variety – Uchiki Kuri)

• 225g (8oz) golden syrup

• 75-100g (3 – 3 ½ oz) pumpkin skin

• 80g (3oz) breadcrumbs

• juice and zest of 1 lemon

• pinch of ground ginger

Method

1. First make the pastry. Sieve the flour and salt into a large bowl. Cut the butter into cubes, toss in the flour and then rub in with your fingertips. Keep everything as cool as possible; if the fat is allowed to melt, the finished pastry may be tough. When the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs, stop.

2. Using a fork to stir, add just enough water to bring the pastry together, then discard the fork and collect it into a ball with your hands, this way you can judge more accurately if you need a few more drops of liquid. Flatten into a round and wrap in parchment paper and leave to rest in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.

3. Once rested, roll out, line the tart tin and retain the excess pastry. Line the tin with parchment paper and fill with baking beans and chill for 5-10 minutes in a refrigerator.

4. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

5. Bake the tart base blind for about 25 minutes in the preheated oven or until pale and golden, remove the beans and paper.

6. Brush the prebaked tart shell with a little beaten egg and pop back into the oven for 5-10 minutes or until almost cooked. Cool.

7. Peel the pumpkin and set aside the skin (keep the seeds for roasting for a healthy snack). Finely chop the flesh. Heat the golden syrup in a pan and add the pumpkin flesh, lemon zest and juice. Bring this mixture to the boil and remove it from the heat. Blitz the breadcrumbs and pumpkin skin in a food processor and add a pinch of ground ginger. Mix the bread crumb/pumpkin skin mixture into the pumpkin flesh/syrup mixture.

8. Fill the tart case with this pumpkin mixture and decorate as your wish with the left-over pastry — lattice, leaves etc.

9. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Cool, remove from the tin. Serve either warm or cold with softly whipped cream.

HOT TIPS

Just Cook It, Christmas with Rachel Allen at Ballymaloe Cookery School

Wednesday, December 15 from 2pm – 7pm.

This half-day course gives you a tantalising taste of Ballymaloe Cookery School favourites and provides inspiration for anyone eager to cook a variety of festive dishes with greater confidence.

Limited numbers, complying with all government and NEPHET regulations. €215 per person. Recipes and tasting of all dishes included.

Thanksgiving Dinner – Ballymaloe House

Thursday, November 25

Celebrate Thanksgiving at Ballymaloe House. Head chef, Dervilla O'Flynn will include some Thanksgiving-themed dishes and sommelier, Samuel Chantoiseau, will ensure there are some delicious Californian wines available on the night too. €85 per person for 5-courses.

Thanksgiving Fireside Chat with Rachel Allen at Ballymaloe House

Thursday, November 25

These fireside 'chats' are part of a mid-week dinner, bed, and breakfast couples’ package. €430 per couple which includes a signed copy of Rachel's new book — Soup, Broth, Bread which is packed full of delicious warming recipes. Speakers will host their relaxed gathering and dialogue/subject of their choice with participating guests for 45 minutes at 6pm for approx. 45 minutes before guests move to their table to enjoy their own leisurely five-course dinner.

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