For the Brining Liquid:

3 cartons of apple juice
2 cartons of cranberry juice
4 oranges, roughly chopped up
1/2 cup salt
2 tbs allspice
5 cinnamon sticks
6 litres water

For the Glaze:

6 Tbs Salted Butter, melted
1 cup Canadian Maple Syrup
2 Tsp crushed black pepper
1/2 cup Molasses
1 tsp salt

For the Stuffing:

1 kg Italian Pork Sausages ( the Farmers Choice brand is quite acceptable )
2 cups polenta
1 tbs butter
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup cranberries
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp crushed black pepper
1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika

For the Port and Redcurrant Sauce:

3 punnets of redcurrants ( if you can’t find these, you can use dried cranberries, soaked in hot water to plump up)
1 cup cranberry juice
1 cup of port juice
2 tsp white sugar

To ensure a juicy, plump, moist, Turkey there is a very important stage that you must must endure. BRINING. The evening before you want to cook the Turkey, fill a very large basin with the brining liquid. Make sure the turkey is fully submerged, breast side down. Cover and leave in a cool place, if its not possible to place in the fridge. Turn a few times during this process.

Preparing the Stuffing:

This is my twist on a traditional cornbread thanksgiving stuffing. I love making cornbread but I also like to keep it as a separate dish for my guests to enjoy.

First make the polenta by boiling the water and adding the butter. Now add the polenta and mix thoroughly. Let this cook and thicken for a few minutes. You should have a thick, heavy mixture.

Now squeeze all the sausagemeat from their casings. Roughly chop this all up into tiny pieces. Heat a frying pan and gently fry the sausagemeat till half cooked.

Now mix together all the rest of the ingredients. Check for seasoning and adjust accordingly.

Divide the mixture in half. Set aside some for stuffing the turkey and the rest, roll into small medium sized balls.

Heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade. I follow the simple rule of 40 minutes for every 500gms of turkey. It seems like a short cooking time for turkey, but trust me, you do not want a dried out turkey. For the last 1 hour, lower the temperature to 170 degrees. You will see a huge difference to your turkey if you have never used the brining method. It is truly my Turkey rescue trick!

Remove the turkey from the brining liquid and pat dry. Now stuff the turkey and truss up the legs tightly to ensure the stuffing stays intact.

To prepare the glaze, combine all the ingredients together over a low heat. Pour some of this  generously over the turkey.

Now, this is a serious Taste Safari giveaway trick for a perfectly golden brown turkey. Wrap a large piece of white muslin cloth around your turkey. This should be a new cloth and not used before. It has to be white as some colored muslin cloths run colour and this is definitely not what we want.

Place your turkey in a large roasting pan and pour some more glaze over the muslin layer. The reason for the muslin layer is to protect the skin from burning, allowing it to cook and roast to a perfect burnished brown.

Every 25 minutes, pour some glaze that has started to collect in the bottom of the roasting pan over the turkey. This is quite important, so please make sure you keep a timer on to keep reminding you!

To check your turkey is cooked through, pierce the thickest part of the thigh and check to see the juices run clear and are not bloody. That is when your turkey is cooked through.

Preparing the Port and Redcurrant Sauce:

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. When you see a shine coming to the sauce, you know the sugars have melted and the sauce is ready. Serve this piping hot with the turkey.

Place the rest of the stuffing balls in a roasting tray and cook for 40 minutes. Place these all around the turkey just before serving, along with some moorish chipolatas wrapped in bacon.