How to Make the Easy-Sew Turkey

Materials

• Turkey pattern (Click here to download PDF.)
• Muslin for body, 4″ x 13″
• Fall fabric squares for tail, 2 pieces, 6″ x 6″
• Coordinating felt square for tail, 6″ x 6″
• Coordinating embroidery floss or thread for tail
• 3 tablespoons uncooked rice
• Stuffing (sponge, fabric strips, or batting will work)
• Fabric paint: black for eyes, red for wattle, yellow for beak
• Craft glue or hot glue
• Buttons or scrap fabric (optional)
• Makeup blush or rouge (optional)

Tools

• Scissors
• Sewing machine
• Embroidery needle
• Tooth pick
• Q-tip

Directions

1. Fold muslin in half crosswise, then press. Place turkey body pattern on top of folded muslin, trace pattern on fabric with fold along bottom of body, then cut fabric along trace lines (do not cut fabric along fold).



2. Sew around edge of muslin with ⅜-inch seam allowance. (You’ll want to use a light color thread—I sewed these seams with a darker thread to make it easier to see in the tutorial.)



3. Pull about ½-inch bottom of body up and push fold against body so fabric lies flat, making a hexagon. Sew two seams about ¼-inch from each point of hexagon as shown below.



4. With scissors, cut 1-inch slit in the middle of the body—be sure not to cut too close to the bottom or the rice may spill out when you are filling the turkey. Turn right side out.



5. Fill bottom half with rice and top with stuffing, then stitch closed. (No need to have a perfect seam; this is where you will attach the tail.)



6. Trace tail pattern on each felt and fall fabric square and cut. Then layer fall fabric and felt as shown below: fall fabric wrong side up, felt, and fall fabric right side up on top. Pin layers together. Use a running stitch (or another embroidery stitch you like) to join layers. I used DMC floss, but thread can also be used.



7. Glue tail with craft or hot glue to back of body, covering seam from previous step. Dip toothpick in black paint to create eyes and eyebrows. If you’re nervous about your design, practice on scrap fabric or paper first. Add a dab of red paint for the wattle. I glued small triangles of yellow felt for beaks but paint will also work. Create rosy cheeks with a Q-tip and some makeup blush. Then personalize your turkey with buttons or fabric circles, which can be glued or sewn on.

Turkey Roulade 
with Peach and Sage Gravy

Photo by Steven Freeman. Reprinted from Emeril at the Grill, HarperCollins Publisher, New York, © 2009 MSLO Inc. All rights reserved.

Ingredients

• 4 quarts water
• 1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
• ¾ cup kosher salt, plus more for seasoning roulade
• 1 7-pound whole turkey breast, skin on, deboned
• 4 cups coarse fresh breadcrumbs (from a loaf of French or Italian bread)
• 8 ounces bacon, chopped and cooked until crisp, fat reserved (or substitute olive oil)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon Emeril’s Original Essence or Creole Seasoning, plus more for seasoning roulade
• ¼ cup olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Peach and Sage Gravy (Click here for recipe.)

Directions

1. Combine water, brown sugar, and salt in 2-gallon or larger stockpot, and whisk until sugar and salt have dissolved. Place turkey breast in stockpot and refrigerate for 8 hours.
2. Remove turkey breast from brine, and pat dry with paper towels. (At this point you can proceed with recipe or refrigerate turkey up to 1 day until ready to cook.)
3. Preheat oven to 350° F.
4. Cut three lengths of kitchen twine to 32 inches, and lay across cutting board. Making sure skin is pulled down to cover as much of breast meat as possible, lay turkey breast, skin side down, on top of strings. Cover turkey with parchment paper or plastic wrap, and pound with heavy mallet or bottom of cast-iron skillet until thickest part of breast is no more than 2 inches thick.
5. In large mixing bowl, use rubber spatula to combine breadcrumbs, bacon, ¼ cup reserved bacon fat, butter, garlic, parsley, and Original Essence or other seasoning.
6. Lightly season turkey breast with Original Essence. Pack stuffing mixture tightly into 1-cup measure, and then empty stuffing onto middle of breast. Repeat two more times. Roll breast up as tightly as you can to form a cylinder, and use twine to tie breast together in three places. Snip off extra length of twine. (You can also tie twine vertically around breast, tucking in flaps at ends, if necessary to keep stuffing inside.) Brush olive oil all over roulade, and season lightly with Original Essence, kosher salt, and pepper.
7. Heat large skillet or ovenproof roasting pan over medium-high heat. When hot, place turkey roulade into pan and sear until golden brown on all sides. Transfer pan to preheated oven and cook uncovered until center reaches an internal temperature of 155° to 160°F when tested with instant-read thermometer, 60 to 90 minutes. Remove turkey from oven and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.
8. Remove strings and slice roulade crosswise into ½-inch-thick slices. Serve with Peach and Sage Gravy.

Kemal Pasha as Field Marshal of the Turkish Army

THERE was a time when Angora was famous solely for cats and goats. Today the shambling, time-worn town far up in the Anatolian hills has another, and world-wide significance. It is not only the capital of the reconstructed Turkish Government and the seat therefore of the most picturesque of all contemporary experiments in democracy, but is likewise the home of Ghazi Mustapha Kemal Pasha—to give him his full title—who is distinct among the few vital personalities revealed by the bitter backwash of the World War.

Only Lenin and Mussolini vie with him for the center of that narrowing stage of compelling leadership. Each of these three remarkable men has achieved a definite result in a manner all his own. Lenin imposed an autocracy through force and blood. Mussolini created a personal and political dictatorship in which he dramatized himself. Kemal not only led a beaten nation to victory and dictated terms to the one-time conqueror, but set up a new and unique system of administration.

Lenin and Mussolini have almost been done to death by human or, in the case of the soviet overlord, inhuman interest historians.  Kemal Pasha is still invested with an element of mystery and aloofness largely begot of the physical inaccessibility of his position.  To the average American, he is merely a Turkish name vaguely associated with some kind of military achievement. The British Dardanelles Expedition know it much better, for he frustrated the fruits of that immense heroism written in blood and agony on the shores of Gallipoli. The Greeks have an even costlier knowledge, because he was the organizer of the victory that literally drove them into the sea in one of the most complete debacles of modern times.

At Angora I talked with this man in a critical hour of the war-born Turkish Government.  The Lausanne Conference was at the breaking point. War or peace still hung in the balance. Only the day before, Rauf Bey, the Prime Minister, had said to me: “If they [the Allies] want war they can have it.” The air was charged with tension and uncertainty. Over the troubled scene brooded the unrelenting presence of the chieftain I had traveled so far to see. Events, like the government itself, revolved about him.

In difficulty of approach and in the grim and dramatic quality of the setting, Anatolia was strongly reminiscent of my journey a year ago to the Southern Chinese front to see Sun Yat-sen. Between him and Kemal exists a certain similarity. Each is a sort of inspired leader. Each has his kindling ideal of a self-determination that is the by-product of fallen empire. Here the parallel ends. Kemal is the man of blood and iron—an orientalized Bismarck, as it were—dogged, ruthless, invincible; while Sun Yat-sen is the dreamer and visionary, eternal pawn of chance, and with as many political existences—and I might add, governments—as the proverbial cat has lives.

Turkey for the Turks
As with men, so with the peoples behind them.  You have another striking contrast. While China flounders in well-nigh incredible political chaos, due to incessant conflict of selfish purpose and lack of leadership, Turkey has emerged as a homogeneous nation for the first time in its long and bloody history, with defined frontiers, a real homeland, and a nationalistic aim that may shape the destiny of the Mohammedan world, and incidentally affect American commercial aspirations in the Near East.  ”Turkey for the Turks” is the new slogan. The instrument and inspiration of the whole astonishing evolution—it is little less than a miracle when you realize that in 1919 Turkey was as prostrate as defeat and bankruptcy could bring her—has been Kemal Pasha.

He was the real objective of my trip to Turkey.  Constantinople with its gleaming mosques and minarets, and still a queen among cities despite its dingy magnificence, had its lure, but from the hour of my arrival on the shores of the Golden Horn my interest was centered on Angora.

I had chosen a difficult time for the realization of this ambition. The Lausanne Conference was apparently mired, and the long-awaited peace seemed more distant than ever. A state of war still existed. The army of occupation gave the streets martial tone and color, while a vast Allied fleet rode at anchor in the Bosporus or boomed at target practice in the Sea of Marmora. The capital in the Anatolian hills had become even more inaccessible.

Every barrier based on suspicion, aloofness and general resentment of the foreigner—the usual Turkish trilogy— all tied up with endless red tape, worked overtime. It was a combination disastrous to swift American action. My subsequent experiences emphasized the truth of the well-known Kipling story which dealt with the fate of an energetic Yankee in the Orient whose epitaph read: “Here lies a fool who tried to hustle the East.”

To add to all this handicap begot of temperament and otherwise, the Turks had begun to realize, not without irritation, that the consummation of the Chester Concession was not so easy as it looked on paper. The last civilian who successfully applied for permission to go to Angora had been compelled to linger at Constantinople seven weeks before he got his vessica—as a visa is called in Turkish.  Two or three others had departed for home in disgust after four weeks of watchful and fruitless waiting. The prospect was not promising.

When I paid my respects to Rear Admiral Mark L. Bristol, the American High Commissioner, on my first day in Constantinople, I invoked his aid in getting to Angora. He promptly gave me a letter of introduction to Dr. Adnan Bey, then the principal representative of Angora in Constantinople, through whom all permits had to pass.

I went to see him at the famous Sublime Porte, the Foreign Office and the scene of so much sinister Turkish history. Here the sordid tools of Abdul-Hamid, the Red Sultan, and others no less unscrupulous, lived their day. I expected to find the structure almost as imposing as its richer mate in history, the Mosque of St. Sophia. It proved to be a dirty, rambling, yellow building without the slightest semblance of architectural beauty, and strongly in need of disinfecting.

In Adnan Bey I found my first Turkish ally. Moreover, I discovered him to be a man of the world with a broad and generous outlook. An early aid of Kemal in the precarious days of the nationalist movement, he became the first vice president of the Angora Government.  Moreover, he had another claim to fame, for he is the husband of the renowned Halide Hanum, the foremost woman reformer of Turkey, whom I was later to meet in interesting circumstances at Munich, and whose story will be disclosed in a subsequent article. Adnan Bey, however, is not what we would call a professional husband in America. Long before he rallied to the Kemalist cause he was widely known as one of the ablest physicians in Turkey.

He at once sent a telegram to Angora asking for my permission to go. This permission is concretely embodied in a pass—the aforesaid vessica—which is issued by the Constantinople prefect of police. Back in the days of the Great War it was a difficult procedure to get the so-called white pass which enabled the holder to go to the front. Compared with the coveted permission to visit Angora, that pass was about as inaccessible as a public handbill, as I was now to discover.

Adnan Bey told me that he would have an answer from Angora in about three days. I found that three days was like the Russian word seichas which technically means “immediately” but when employed in action or rather lack of action on its own ground, usually spells “next month.”

Red-Tape Entanglements
After a week passed, the American Embassy inquired of the Sublime Porte if they had heard about my application, but no word had come. A few days later Turkish officialdom went mad. An order was promulgated that no alien except of British, French or Italian nationality could enter or leave Constantinople without the consent of Angora. People who had left Paris or London, and they included various Americans, with existing credentials, were held up at the Turkish frontier, despite the fact that the order had been issued after they had started. Thanks to Admiral Bristol’s prompt and persistent endeavors, the frontier ban was lifted from Americans. Angora became swamped overnight with telegraphic protests and requests, and I felt that mine was completely lost in the new and growing shuffle.

Meanwhile I had acquired a fine upstanding young Turk, Reschad Bey by name, who spoke English, French and German fluently, as dragoman, which means courier and interpreter. No alien can go to Angora without such an aid, because, save in a few isolated spots, the only language spoken in Anatolia is Turkish. Reschad Bey was really an inheritance from Robert Imbrie, who had just retired after a year as American consul at Angora. Reschad Bey had been his interpreter. Much contact with Imbrie had acquainted him with American ways and he thoroughly sympathized with my impatience over the delay. He had a strong pull at Angora himself and sent some telegrams to friends in my behalf.

At the expiration of the second week Admiral Bristol made a personal appeal to Adnan Bey to expedite my permission, and a second strong telegram went from the Sublime Porte to Angora. Other Turkish and American individuals whom I had met added their requests by wire. Of course I was occupied with other work, but I had only a limited amount of time at my disposal and when all was said and done, Kemal was the principal prize of the trip and I was determined to land him. Early in July therefore I sent Reschad Bey to Angora to find out just what the situation was. He departed on the morning of the Fourth. When I returned to my hotel from attending the Independence Day celebration at the embassy I found a telegram from Angora addressed to Reschad Bey in my care from one of his friends in the government, saying that my permission to go to Angora had been wired nine days before! Yet on the previous morning the Sublime Porte had declared that Angora was still silent on my request.

Roast Turkey with Apples

Roast Turkey with Apples

(Makes 12 servings)

Brine:

• 1 1/2 cups kosher salt
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 10 whole cloves
• 3 teaspoons black peppercorns
• 2 quarts apple cider
• 4 quarts water
• Zest from 1 orange
• 3 teaspoons dried thyme

Make brine 1 day before roasting turkey. Combine all ingredients in nonreactive pot. Bring mixture to boil. Lower heat, simmer 15 to 20 minutes (partially covered).

Allow brine to cool completely.

Turkey:

• 3/4 cup apple cider
• 4 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons corn syrup, divided
• 1 (12 pound) free range turkey
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 large garlic cloves, sliced and divided
• 2 onions, quartered and divided
• 3 Golden Delicious apples, cored, quartered, and divided
• 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
• 3 cups gluten-free chicken stock, divided
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Remove giblets from turkey cavity. Set aside. Rinse turkey under cool running water, pat dry with paper towels. Pour brine in container large enough to hold turkey and small enough to fit in refrigerator. Immerse turkey in cooled brine; turkey should be completely submerged in liquid. Cover, refrigerate at least 8 to 10 hours, up to 24 hours.

Make turkey day of meal. Remove turkey from brine, rinse. Preheat oven to 375 F. combine 3/4 cup cider and 4 tablespoons corn syrup in small saucepan. Bring mixture to boil. Remove from heat, set aside. Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck under turkey. In medium bowl, combine herbs, salt and pepper. Rub turkey all over with olive oil, then rub herb mixture over skin and inside cavity. Place half garlic, onion quarters, and apple quarters into body cavity. Place turkey breast side up in shallow roasting pan. Arrange remaining garlic, onions, and apples around turkey in pan. Place turkey in oven, roast 45 minutes. Baste turkey with cornstarch-apple cider mixture, cover loosely with foil. Continue roasting 2 hours and 15 minutes more or until meat thermometer registers 180 F. Baste every 30 minutes with cornstarch-apple cider mixture.

While turkey bakes, melt butter in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add reserved giblets and neck; sauté 2 minutes each side or until browned. Add 2 cups chicken stock, bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat. Simmer 45 minutes. Strain mixture through fine sieve into bowl, discarding solids. Reserve 1/4 cup broth mixture.

Remove turkey from oven, let stand 10 minutes. Remove from pan, reserving drippings for sauce. Place turkey on platter and keep warm.

Spoon off any excess fat from drippings in roasting pan. Spoon out solids from pan, place in fine sieve set over bowl, pressing on solids to release any excess juice. Place roasting pan over 2 burners over medium-high heat. Add 1 cup chicken stock, cook (scraping up browned bits on bottom of pan.) Strain drippings through sieve into medium saucepan. Add juices from solids and giblet broth mixture to pan, cook over medium heat. Combine reserved 1/4 cup giblet broth with cornstarch; whisk into saucepan. Add 2 teaspoons corn syrup, stirring with whisk. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer until thickened. Carve turkey and serve with gravy.

Recipe from Glutenfreeda Online Magazine and Recipe Book.

Turkey Vegetable Soup

Turkey Vegetable Soup

(Makes 4 servings)

• 2 1⁄2 pounds turkey breast
• 5 cups cold water
• 2 onions, quartered
• 1 carrot, cut in chunks
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 black peppercorns
• 2 cubes low-sodium turkey broth or chicken bouillon
• 1 can corn, or one ear corn, cut into 1⁄2″ slices
• 1 carrot, peeled and cut into 1⁄2″ slices
• 1 stalk celery, cut into 1⁄2″ slices
• 1 medium zucchini, cut into 1⁄2″- 3⁄4″ slices
• 4 medium tomatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
• 1 cup sugar-snap peas or green beans
• 1 medium leek, well rinsed and thinly sliced
• 1⁄2 cup lima beans
• 1 cup broccoli flowerettes
• 3 tablespoons pearl barley
• 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped; or 1 tablespoon dry
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped; or 1⁄2 teaspoon dry
• 1 clove garlic, mashed with 1⁄4 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 3⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In 5-quart saucepan, combine first seven ingredients. Bring to boil over high heat. Skim off any foam. Reduce heat, cover and simmer mixture 1-11⁄4 hours. Remove turkey from cooking liquid and allow to cool. Remove poultry from bones, discarding skin and bones. Cube poultry, cover and chill.

Strain broth. Discard seasoning, vegetables and spices. Skim off any remaining fat. Return broth to saucepan.

Add remaining vegetables, barley and seasonings. Over high heat, bring mixture to a boil. Cover and immediately reduce heat to a simmer. Cook 20 minutes or until all vegetables are tender. Add reserved turkey and gently cook 5-10 minutes. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Turkey Breast Provençal with Vegetables

(Makes 12 servings)

• 1 cup turkey broth, or reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1⁄4 cup dry white wine
• 1⁄4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 head garlic, cloves separated, unpeeled
• 1 bag (10 oz.) frozen whole petite onions
• 2 teaspoons dried rosemary, crushed
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
• 6 plum tomatoes, quartered
• 1 box (9 oz.) frozen or fresh artichoke hearts, slightly thawed
• 10 ounces frozen or fresh asparagus spears, slightly thawed
• 1 can (31⁄4 oz.) pitted black olives, drained
• Olive oil, salt and black pepper as needed
• 1 bone-in turkey breast (41⁄2 lbs.), fresh or thawed if frozen.

In 9″x13″ baking pan combine broth, wine, lemon juice, garlic, onions, rosemary, thyme, salt, fennel seeds, and pepper. Cover pan with foil. Heat 20 minutes in preheated 325° F oven. Remove pan from oven.

Add tomatoes, artichoke hearts, asparagus and olives in pile in center of pan. Rub turkey breast with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place turkey breast—breast side up—on top of vegetables. Float foil over top of turkey and roast 1 hour. Remove foil and roast additional hour or until food thermometer inserted in thickest part of breast registers 170° F. Baste turkey and vegetables frequently with pan juices. Remove turkey and vegetables to serving platter. Reserve 6 cloves garlic and pan juices. Remove skin from reserved garlic. Combine garlic with pan juices in food processor bowl, fitted with metal blade. Process 30-60 seconds until mixture is smooth. Reheat sauce to piping hot.

To serve, pass sauce to pour over turkey and vegetables.

Garlicky Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Garlicky Mashed Sweet Potatoes

(Makes 4 servings)

• 2 sweet potatoes (about 8 oz. each)
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 3 whole garlic cloves, peeled
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 cups chicken broth, plus extra if needed
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1⁄4 cup low-fat sour cream
• 1⁄4-1⁄2 cup low-fat milk

Peel and cut each sweet potato into eight pieces. Place in medium saucepan with herbs, garlic, salt, pepper and broth. Add additional broth, if needed, to cover sweet potatoes. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 15-18 minutes or until tender when pierced with fork. Drain sweet potatoes. Discard rosemary and thyme. Transfer sweet potatoes and garlic to medium bowl and lightly mash with fork. Add butter, sour cream and milk. Using hand mixer on low speed, mix until well blended and slightly chunky. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve warm.

Turkey Meatloaf

Turkey Meatloaf with Spinach

(Makes 6 to 8 servings)

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cups chopped onion
• 1 small fennel bulb, finely chopped, about 2 cups
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons dried whole basil
• 1 teaspoon dried whole oregano
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 pounds ground turkey thigh
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup dry whole-wheat bread crumbs
• 5 ounces coarsely chopped fresh spinach, about 3 – 4 cups
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 cup tomato sauce

Heat olive oil in large skillet. Add chopped onion and fennel and cook over medium-high heat for 6 – 8 minutes, stirring often until softened. Stir in minced garlic, thyme, oregano, peppers, and salt and cook for 1 more minute. Set aside.

Tear off sheet of aluminum foil about 30 inches long and fold it in half to make double-thick rectangle about 12 inches by 15 inches. Use foil to line bottom and sides of crock. The two ends of sheet running up the sides of crock will allow you to easily lift meatloaf out after it is done.

Combine ground turkey, beaten eggs, breadcrumbs, and spinach in a mixing bowl. Add the contents of skillet to bowl and mix well. Form an oval shaped loaf and place it in the foil-lined crock. Spread the tomato sauce on top. Cook on high for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours or on low for 5 to 7 hours, or until meat thermometer inserted in center of loaf reads 165 degrees. Remove loaf by carefully pulling up on ends of foil extending up sides of crock. Allow any liquid or grease to drain off and slide loaf onto serving platter.

Chef’s Notes: Onion, fennel, spinach, and whole-wheat bread crumbs provide good amount of fiber in this loaf. If you don’t like the taste of fennel, substitute equal amount of chopped celery. For a hyper-healthy version, replace 1/4 to 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs with equal amount of oat bran, wheat bran, or freshly ground flaxseeds. All three add additional fiber, and flaxseed contributes a dose of omega-3 fatty acids.

Turkey Potpie

Turkey Potpie

(Makes 1 9-inch pie)

• 3 potatoes
• 3 cups cooked turkey
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/4 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1-1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup frozen peas & carrots
• 1 refrigerated pie crust (top and bottom)

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Peel and cut potatoes into bite-size pieces and boil over medium heat. Cut turkey into ½-inch cubes or pull into shreds. Melt butter in large pot. Stir in celery, onion, and mushrooms. Cook until tender. Add salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, basil, and flour. Stir in broth and milk (both at once). Stir until thick. Remove from heat. Drain potatoes and add to mixture. Stir in peas and carrots; add turkey.

Form pie crust into pie pan and pour mixture into prepared crust. Top with second pie crust and flute the edges. Cut slits in crust to allow steam to escape.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.