En estos días festivos, no hay nada más importante que estar con la familia y los seres queridos. If you want your Thanksgiving table to feel a little different this year, here's how Abuela Conchita does her turkey — not the traditional American way, but the way that fills a Cuban home with the smell of mojo, bitter orange, and slow-cooked love.
Ingredients
• One 12 to 14 pound turkey, washed inside and out and dried with paper towels
• 1 stick of salted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup of Conchita Bitter Orange Marinade
• ¼ cup of Conchita Mojo Criollo Marinade
• 5 garlic cloves crushed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 pound ground ham
• 1 pound ground beef round
• 1 large onion chopped finely
• 1 large green bell pepper chopped finely
• 4 hard boiled eggs chopped finely
• ½ pound slivered blanched almonds
• ½ cup of pure Conchita Spanish Olive Oil
• ½ cup of Conchita tomato sauce
• ½ cup finely chopped drained Conchita pimiento-stuffed green olives
• ½ cup dark raisins
• 5 cloves garlic chopped finely
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 teaspoons of Spanish paprika
How to make it
Season the turkey inside and out, on a pan with salt, pepper and crushed garlic. Pour Conchita Bitter Orange Marinade over the turkey and set it aside. To prepare stuffing, heat oil over low heat in a large skillet until fragrant. Cook all vegetables with garlic until tender. Add pork, ham and beef and raise heat to medium and cook uncovered, for 20 minutes or until the meat is cooked through. Add the remaining ingredients and reduce heat to low. Cook, covered for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 325 F. Fill the turkey cavity with the stuffing, pack it loosely, rub the butter into the turkey's meat and close cavity with trussing skewers or sew with trussing needle and thread. Place the turkey breast-side up in an aluminum-foil-lined roasting pan, cover loosely and roast about 2½ hours, check every now and then and add butter and juices if necessary. Remove foil and continue cooking for another half hour. When ready, transfer to a serving platter and let it rest covered with aluminum foil for 30 minutes at room temperature.
