Delia's Traditional roast turkey

Follow Delia's foolproof countdown to Christmas day for the perfect bird with all the trimmings

Early am, Christmas Day WHAT TIME IS LUNCH?

The specific timings that follow are those tested over the years in our house, but because lunch time will vary from one family to another you can adjust these timings to suit yourself.

With young children you will doubtless be up early and want to eat lunch reasonably early; with older children it’s not quite so important to open the presents at the first light of dawn!

For an average family-sized 6.5kg (14lb 5oz) turkey (oven-ready weight) I am calculating for a 2pm lunch. If you plan to eat half an hour later or earlier, simply add or subtract 30 minutes to or from my timings.

TRADITIONAL ROAST TURKEY For a 6.5kg (14lb 5oz) turkey

It’s only dangerous to put turkey stuffing inside the body cavity if either the turkey or the stuffing is not defrosted properly, because the heat will not penetrate it quickly enough. If both are at room temperature it is perfectly safe. 6.5kg (14lb 5oz) turkey, oven-ready 75g (2¾oz) butter, softened 225g (8oz) very fat streaky bacon Seasoning 1 quantity of stuffing Extra-wide strong turkey foil and a small skewer or cocktail sticks.

7.45 am

Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas 7. First stuff the turkey with your chosen stuffing. Loosen the skin with your hands and pack the stuffing into the neck end, pushing it up between the flesh and the skin towards the breast (not too tightly, because it will expand during the cooking).

Press it in gently to make a nicely rounded end, then tuck the neck flap under the bird’s back and secure with a small skewer or some cocktail sticks. Don’t expect to get all the stuffing in this end – put the rest into the body cavity.

Now arrange two large sheets of foil across your roasting tin, one widthways and the other lengthways (no need to butter them). Lay the turkey on its back in the centre, then rub it generously all over with the butter, making sure the thigh bones are particularly well covered. Next season the bird all over and lay the bacon over the breast with the rashers overlapping. I always put some over the legs as well.

Now wrap the turkey loosely in the foil. The parcel must be firmly sealed but roomy enough to provide an air space around most of the upper part of the bird. So bring one piece of foil up and fold both ends over to make a pleat along the length of the breastbone.

Then bring the other piece up at both ends and crimp and fold to make a neat parcel.

8.15 am

Place the turkey in the preheated oven, where it will cook at the initial high temperature for 40 minutes. Once it is in, you can peel the potatoes ready for roasting and keep them covered with cold water in a saucepan. Because of the sausagemeat in the stuffing and the bacon rashers already on the bird, we don’t serve bacon rolls and chipolatas. But if you do, now is the time to prepare them as follows: brush a shallow baking tray with oil and arrange the sausages on it in two rows.

For the bacon rolls, stretch the rinded rashers out as far as you can, then roll them up very tightly, thread on to long flat skewers and place them next to the chipolatas and pop them all back in the fridge ready to go in the oven at 1.15pm.

Now begin making the Traditional Bread Sauce (see page 40) and leave in a warm place for the milk to infuse for 2 hours or more (see 11.45am).

8.55 am

Lower the oven temperature to 170°C/ gas 3. Now take a break! At this point everything should be under control, so you can take time out of the kitchen to help the kids unwrap their presents, have a coffee or tidy the house. After that, prepare and set the lunch table, making sure you have all the right glasses for pre-lunch drinks as well as the table. It’s a good idea to arrange the coffee tray now, too, and line up the brandy and liqueur glasses.