CHRISTMAS MAIN 3 OF 3: SWEET & SMOKY BBQ TURKEY WITH PINEAPPLE, CHERRY & SPEKBOOM SALSA

- METHOD -

Season inside of turkey liberally with Cape Herb & Spice's Sweet & Smoky Seasoning. Bash garlic cloves with the flat side of a chef’s knife to break open the skins and pop cloves, skin and all, into the turkey cavity along with the onion. Mix a tablespoon of Cape Herb & Spice's Sweet & Smoky Seasoning with the butter. Use your fingers to gently pry the turkey skin from the breasts and spread the spiced butter under the skin. Tie together the legs, cover the wing tips with foil and place on a kettle braai prepped for the indirect cooking method.

Roast until the bird’s internal temperature reads 65 ºC. Mix together the honey, tomato sauce, lime juice and add a very generous sprinkling of Cape Herb & Spice's Sweet & Smoky Seasoning. Remove the foil from the wings and paint glaze over the turkey for the final minutes of roasting. It’s done when the internal temperature in the fattest part of the bird reaches 74 ºC. Make the salsa while the turkey rests.

Simply cube the pineapple and stone and slice the cherries. Add the coriander to it and drizzle with oil and lime juice. Local is ‘lekker’, so if you have a spekboom in your garden, strip off a few leaves and add that too, it lends an extra zesty something to your salsa.

Recipe concept & photography by Lizet Hartley.

Lizet Hartley is a freelance stills and reel food stylist, food photographer and recipe developer. In her spare time she – rather predictably – cooks. Get more of her recipes on her blog at http://www.melkkos-merlot.co.za