Recipe - Roast Turkey With Corn Bread-Chorizo Stuffing

1 Turkey (12 lb)
One half cup Unsalted butter; softened

STUFFING
4 Onions; coarsely chopped
5 Celery stalks
coarsely chopped
1 pound Chorizo (Spanish sausage)
broken up
6 cup Dayold corn bread, crumbled
3 cup Dayold white bread, cubed
2 cup Frozen corn kernels; thawed
2 tablespoon Chopped fresh cilantro
=OR= Dried cilantro
2 tablespoon Chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper; to taste

GRAVY
3 cup Chicken stock; as needed
1 cup White or rose wine

Wash turkey under hot water. Pat exterior and cavities completely dry with
paper towels. Smear turkey with 4 Tbsp butter. Saute onions and celery in
the remaining butter over medium heat until translucent. Remove with
slotted spoon to a very large bowl. Saute the chorizo in the same pan until
lightly brown. Remove to same bowl and add remaining stuffing ingredients.
Toss to combine completely. (If mixture seems dry, add chicken stock or
apple juice. ) Salt and pepper the turkey's cavity and loosely stuff the
cavity and the neck with the breadchorizo mixture, leaving some room for
expansion during cooking. (Extra stuffing can be refrigerated in a covered
casserole and baked @ 375 degrees for 40 minutes. )Sew up and truss the
turkey. Return to rack in roasting pan and turn turkey on its left side.
Add 1 cup stock and wine gravy to pan. Place in preheated 400 degree oven
for 20 minutes. Turn turkey onto its right side and continue roasting
another 20 minutes. Lower oven to 325 degrees. Turn turkey breastsidedown
and roast for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Baste every 15 minutes or so, adding
stock as needed. Turn turkey breastsideup and continue basting every
1520 minutes. (For a 12 pound turkey, cooking time will be from 15 to 20
minutes per pound; the internal temperature should reach 180 degrees. The
juices in the thigh should run clear when pierced with a fork. )Remove to a
heated platter to rest. Skim off as much fat as possible from the pan
drippings. Transfer pan drippings, including brown bits, to a saute pan.
Reduce to a gravy over high heat. Carve turkey. Serve gravy and dressing on
the side. Total cooking time: 3 4 One half hours.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini