How To Cook Turkey And Ham Easy Recipes

A turkey recipe and a baked ham recipe in one article. Quick recipes make short work with these easy recipe steps. They will please everyone at your Christmas party.

How to make a turkey and a ham in one article! The easy recipe for turkey is first and it turns out moist and perfect every time, no matter how new the chef may be.

Moist, Perfect Roast Turkey

You will need:

A thawed turkey
2 tsp. Sea salt
½ cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (evoo)
Fresh cracked black pepper
3 Tbsp. Garlic powder
¼ cup of fresh Parsely
Turkey Seasoning or the following spices mixed together;
2 tsp. dried rosemary
2 tsp. dried sage
2 tsp. dried thyme

1. Preheat the oven to 350(f) degrees.
2. Remove any packaging around turkey and rinse it under running water, inside and out.
3. Pat turkey dry inside and out with a towel or paper towels.
4. Set the turkey breast side down on the rack.
5. Mix all the spices and the parsely with the evoo and stir well.
6. Pour a third of the oil mixture on the turkey and massage the spices in.
7. Turn the turkey over and pour another third on the bird and massage in well, all over it.
8. Take the remaining third and pour it inside the turkey’s cavity and rub it around. The idea is to get the flavors all over the bird.
9. If you’re going to stuff the bird, this is the time to do that.
10. After it’s stuffed, close any flaps of skin and tie the legs together with a piece of butcher’s string.
11. Tear off two pieces of foil that are about 6 inches longer than the roasting pan.
12. Put the dull sides together and fold the long sides together on one side, so it makes them one larger piece of foil.
13. Put the joined foil pieces over the turkey, trying to make sure there’s room between the foil and the top of the bird.
14. Carefully lift the heavy pan to the oven and bake.
15. In two hours, pull the pan out and cautiously open the foil at the folds in the top. Be careful of the hot steam that may rush out.
16. Use the turkey baster, basting it all over, and then replace the foil and put it back into the oven.
17. Baste the turkey every hour until an hour before it’s done.
18. Remove the foil so the skin can brown and get crispy and put it back in.
19. Baste it every 20 minutes until it’s browned well.
20. Allow to sit for 20 minutes before carving.

How to Tell When The Turkey is Done

Usually, when a turkey is well finished, the legs move quite easily and feel as if they could be simply pulled off, which may be the case. A poke with a fork to the leg joint will let out a stream of juices that should be clear or just slightly pink. However, a meat thermometer is the only truly safe way to make sure the turkey is done inside and out.

The internal temperature should be a minimum of 165(f) degrees and a maximum of 180(f) degrees.
The thermometer should read 180(f) degrees when put in the thigh.
The stuffing should be a minimum of 165(f) degrees.
The center of the breast should give a reading of 165 – 170(f) degrees.

A Quick Recipe for Ham at Christmas Dinner

Most hams come cured or salted, or even smoked. They all cook the same unless the packaging says it’s been cooked. If that’s the case, then 90 minutes in a 350(f) degree oven will do nicely. Otherwise, here’s how to cook a ham with a nice maple syrup glaze.

You will need:

A ham of any size that will fit into the oven.
1 cup of brown sugar
2 cups of maple syrup
½ cup spiced rum

1. Preheat the oven to 325(f) degrees
2. Wash ham and dry it
3. Set ham on rack in the pan
4. Put the lid on the roaster and put the ham into the oven.
5. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, syrup and rum. Heat until all the sugar is melted.
6. After two hours, remove the ham from the oven and spoon the glaze all over the top of it. Do this once an hour until the last hour, when glazing should be done every 20 minutes.
The meat will continue to cook in the center for a good ten minutes after it’s removed from the oven. Therefore, it can be taken out of the oven at 5 degrees below the finished temperature and it will be okay.

Of course, a meat thermometer is the only exact way to measure when a ham is really done. It should read no less than 140(f) degrees to be safe to eat.

Happy holidays!