Christmas is around the corner and Mama’s turkey is a main feast that all our family is patiently awaiting. And so are her friends. You could certainly call it Lebanese as my wife jokingly says since it has the 7-spices, but this is a recipe that mom cooked and perfected for decades using a creative blend of techniques and ingredients from different cuisines.
Mama’s roasted turkey has a deeply satisfying earthy aroma that is a bit unconventional compared to the sweet flavors coming along with American Turkey recipes. The deep flavoring in this case mostly emanates from her special mix of herbs and spices in addition to starchy vegetables in the gravy.
Add to that an amazing side of “hashweh” rice made with beef, spices, and garnished with an ocean of fried almonds, pistachios, chestnuts and pine nuts.
My mouth is watering as I write, so on to the recipe my friends…
Mama's Christmas Turkey: How to Cook a Turkey, Lebanese Style
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
An amazingly hearty and earthy Lebanese turkey recipe created with love.
Author: Esperance Sammour
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Serves: 10
Ingredients
Turkey Ingredients
- Whole Turkey Cleaned, 10 lbs
- Lebanese 7-spices, 2 table spoons
- Cinnamon powder, 1 table spoon
- Bouquet Garni (herb leave mix such as thyme, rosemary, savory, bay leaf..etc) , 5 table spoons
- Salted Butter, 100-200 grams (1/4 to ½ lb)
- A dash of salt
Garnish of Nuts, Ingredients
- Pine Nuts ½lbs
- Almond Halves ½lbs
- Green Pistachio ½lbs
- Raw Chestnuts (peeled) 1.5lbs
- A dash of salt
- Vegetable oil for light frying
Gravy Ingredients
- Raw Chestnuts (peeled) 1.5lbs
- Carrots cleaned and chopped 1lb
- Leek, cleaned and cut, 1 cup
- Celery cleaned and cut, 1 cup
- 1 Large onion peeled and cut
- 1 medium size potatoe peeled and cut into cubes
- Butter (1/2 lb)
- Lebanese 7-spices, 5 table spoons
- Salt to taste (1/2 to 2 teaspoon)
Hashweh Rice Ingredients
- 1 Medium onion, chopped
- Finely ground beef 100% lean, 1 lb
- Salt, 1 teaspoon
- Lebanese 7 Spices, 1 table spoon
- Gravy, 1.5 cups
- Rinsed and strained rice, 4 cups
Instructions
Preparing the Nuts
- Warm some vegetable oil in a frying pan, add all nuts and fry on medium heat until they turn golden. You may fry the nuts one category at a time.
- Place the nuts in a strainer for later use as a garnish.
Turkey Method
- Rinse the turkey with cold water, rub with salt and some flour then rinse again.
- Rub the insides and outsides of the turkey with about ¼ lb of butter, then rub it with all of the allotted spices (cinnamon, 7-spices, bouquet garni herb leaves etc..).
- Rub butter over a large aluminum foil and wrap the turkey tightly with it.
- Place the wrapped turkey on a tray in the center of an oven pre-heated to 500F and cook for 10 minutes.
- Lower heat to 350F (less than medium), and cook for 1.5 hours.
- Pull the turkey out of the oven very carefully and empty the melted butter and juices from the tray into a separate pot.
- Unrap the turkey, rub it with butter again inside and out (watch your hands), wrap it back with the aluminum foil and back in the oven for another 3 hours.
- Plan your timings so that the turkey finishes cooking about 30mins prior to serving time.
Gravy Method
- On a large aluminum foil rubbed with butter, pour all of the gravy ingredients.
- Mix well then wrap the foil tightly and place in the oven (on an optional tray) while the turkey is cooking for 30-45 minutes. We don't need to fully cook the ingredients here, but just tenderize them a bit.
- Empty the ingredients in the pot where you previously saved the melted turkey
- butter/juice, add 3-4 cups of water and boil gently until the veggies are fully cooked and
- soft. Leave contents in pot until it cools down.
- Grind finely in a food processor.
- Place contents back into pot and cover until serving time when you would reheat a few mins prior to serving.
Hashweh Rice Method
- In a pot, sautee the finely chopped onions on medium heat with some butter or vegetable oil until they start turning golden.
- Add the ground beef, salt and 7-spices, sttir well until the beef starts pinkish/brownish.
- Add the rice and stir well.
- Add 1.5 cups of gravy made in the above step and stir well.
- Add 4.5 cups of water, stir well. As soon as the pot boils, lower heat to minimum, cover and let
- simmer for 15 minutes or until fully cooked.
Serving the Feast
- Place cooked rice in a large serving tray and garnish with the fried nuts following this optional order: almonds on the outer layers, then pistachio, then pine nuts in the middle. And garnish the sides of the tray with the fried chestnuts.
- If your tray is large enough you can place the turkey in the middle, or you can place it on a separate tray along with the warmed gravy.
- Serve with love.
What is your recipe for the bouquet garni? I know it can be any combination but I am interested in an approximation. Thanks always love your recipes!