For many households, there's an easy candidate for the most stressful part of Christmas: cooking the turkey.

Is it overcooked? Is it undercooked? How do you avoid it drying out?

Paul Flynn - chef and owner of the Tannery in Dungarvan, Co Waterford - spoke to Newstalk Breakfast about the dos and don'ts of cooking a turkey - and offered a recipe for anyone to try.

He said: “What people don’t want to do is overcook it. It’s a delicate meat and can dry out very quickly.

“Cooking temperatures and cooking times are really important. I’m going to give a recipe people can avail of - it’s a little bit different, but it is foolproof and failsafe.

"If you’re using a turkey crown, it is actually bang-on. It’s what I’m having at home myself.”

Crown of turkey with sherry chestnut cream

Ingredients:
1 celeriac
2 bay leaves
20g porcini mushroom (optional)
1.8 kg turkey crown
Salt and pepper
100 mls cream sherry
1 large sprig of thyme
4 slices smoked streaky bacon
300 mls chicken stock
100g softened butter
A squeeze of lemon
150 mls cream
10 cooked chestnuts roughly chopped (optional - it will still be delicious without)

Method:

1. Set the oven to 185 degrees
2. Trim the celeriac. It’s easiest with a large serrated knife. Cut into five even slices
3. Put these in the bottom of a medium-sized roasting tray then add the thyme, bay, bacon, mushrooms and stock
4. Sit the turkey on top of the celeriac and brush the skin with most of the butter, then season
5. Cover with foil and roast for one hour, covered
6. Remove from the oven and brush the skin with any remaining butter. Then put back in the oven for 45 minutes for it to finish cooking and turn golden
7. Set the turkey aside on another tray to rest, covered with foil
8. Take out the thyme, bay, bacon and mushrooms then strain off the juice into another pot
9. Leave the celeriac in the try and run a knife through it to make it easier to work with. Then crush and check for seasoning
10. Add a little lemon and transfer into a bowl to keep warm
11. For the sauce, add any turkey juice from the resting tray, then bring all the juice to a simmer
12. Add the sherry and the cream and reduce for a couple of minutes until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the chestnuts and a little lemon, check for seasoning, then keep warm
13. Slice the turkey and serve with the crushed celeriac, sprouts and parsnips
14. Delicately spoon the sauce over the top, like a professional

Paul also gave a recipe for a sage, onion and cranberry pudding, which you can find below:

Here is Paul's recipe for a sage, onion and cranberry pudding pic.twitter.com/cN9qt8QonI

— Newstalk Breakfast (@NTBreakfast) December 24, 2021

Main image: File photo. Photo via Picture Kitchen / Alamy Stock Photo