Purica s mlincima

Ingredients

The turkey

• 1turkey
• about 5 kg
• salt and black pepper
• 6garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 tablespoonslard or butter
• 2 sprigsrosemary
• a little white wine

The mlinci

• 500 gplain flour
• about 250 ml water
• 1egg, optional
• 1 teaspoonsalt

To finish the mlinci

• boiling water
• or hot stock
• the turkey roasting juices
• salt

To serve

• with the turkey
• and a green salad

Directions

1. Check it rather than guessing. Check there rather than the breast. The juices should run entirely clear. Wash hands after handling raw turkey. Wash boards and knives as well. Do not let raw juices touch other food. Put the flour and salt in a bowl. Add all of the water in gradually. Bring it together into a stiff dough. This is a stiff dough rather than soft.
2. Add water sparingly as you go. Knead it for about ten minutes. That is what lets it roll very thin. Wrap the dough up and let it rest. Give it about thirty full minutes. Divide the dough up into pieces. Roll every one of them out very thin.
3. Roll them about two millimetres thick. You should almost see through them. Take real time over the rolling. Lay the sheets on baking trays. Bake them at two hundred degrees. Give them about eight minutes.
4. Turn the sheets once as they bake. Judging them takes a careful look. Bake it for longer if it bends. They must be fully dry to keep. Let them cool completely on a rack. They must be cold before storing. Warm ones go soft in a container.
5. Keep them in a sealed dry container. They keep for several whole weeks. Break them up before storing if you like. Pat the turkey dry inside and out. Rub salt and pepper all over it. Rub crushed garlic into the skin. Heat the oven to one hundred and eighty degrees. Set the turkey in a large roasting tin. Start it breast side downward.
6. Turn the bird over partway through. A five kilo turkey takes about three hours. Allow longer rather than less. Baste it every thirty minutes or so. Use the fat and juices from the tin. Add a little wine as it cooks. That keeps the whole surface moist.
7. Turn it breast side up after two hours. It has been protected until now. Use two large forks to turn it. Cover the breast with foil if it browns early.
8. Take it off for the last twenty minutes. Judging it takes a proper check. Bone reads hotter than the meat. Check the thickest part of the thigh. Check both of the thighs to be sure. Pierce the thigh with a knife tip. The juices should run entirely clear. Let the turkey rest for thirty minutes. A large bird needs a real rest.
9. Cover the bird loosely with foil. A large turkey stays hot for a long time. Break the dried sheets into pieces. Break them into rough large pieces. About the size of a palm is usual.
10. Pour boiling water or stock over them. Put them in a colander or a bowl. Pour the boiling liquid right over. Let them stand for a minute only. Left too long they go to mush. Drain them the moment they soften. Judging them takes a careful feel.
11. Toss the drained mlinci in the roasting tin. Turn them all through thoroughly. Do not pour it off beforehand. Put the tin back in the oven briefly. Give the tin about ten more minutes. Carve the rested turkey up now. Serve it over all of the mlinci. Serve a green salad alongside. Leftovers keep three days refrigerated.

Technique

• Turkey must be cooked right through, since undercooked poultry carries real risk. Check the thickest part of both thighs, which cook last, for seventy-five degrees avoiding the bone, or pierce and look for entirely clear juices. Wash hands, boards and knives after handling it raw — but do not rinse the raw bird in the sink, which splashes bacteria around the kitchen without making it any safer.
• The mlinci soften very quickly: pour boiling water or stock over them, let them stand a minute only, then drain immediately. Left longer they go to mush, and soft mush is the common mistake — some real chew should remain.
• Toss the drained mlinci in the roasting tin with all the turkey juices and fat rather than pouring the fat off first. Soaking those up is the whole point of the dish, and putting the tin back in the oven for ten minutes crisps them at the edges.

Substitutions

• Dried mlinci are sold ready made in Croatian shops and are the practical route for most; making them means rolling a stiff dough about two millimetres thick and baking it pale and brittle at two hundred degrees.
• Start the turkey breast side down so the juices run into it and turn it over after two hours to brown, covering the breast with foil if it colours early.

Variations

• Mlinci are baked dry so they keep for weeks without refrigeration, which is a practical preservation from before modern storage; they are broken into rough palm-sized pieces rather than cut neatly.
• Rest the turkey a full thirty minutes, which a large bird genuinely needs — the juices redistribute, it barely cools, and carving is far easier.
• Turkeys are native to the Americas and reached Europe in the sixteenth century; Zagorje took to raising them early and the region became known for them.

History

The festive dish of Zagorje and Zagreb; turkeys have been raised in Hrvatsko Zagorje since the birds arrived from the Americas.

Frequently asked questions

What is Purica s mlincima?

Purica s mlincima is a main from Croatia: roast turkey with mlinci, torn sheets of baked dough softened in juices. The festive dish of Zagorje and Zagreb; turkeys have been raised in Hrvatsko Zagorje since the birds arrived from the Americas.

How long does Purica s mlincima take to make?

Purica s mlincima takes 40 minutes of preparation and 3 hours of cooking. The recipe makes serves 8. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Purica s mlincima?

Yes, within limits. Dried mlinci are sold ready made in Croatian shops and are the practical route for most; making them means rolling a stiff dough about two millimetres thick and baking it pale and brittle at two hundred degrees. Start the turkey breast side down so the juices run into it and turn it over after two hours to brown, covering the breast with foil if it colours early.

What is the most important thing to get right in Purica s mlincima?

Check it rather than guessing. Check there rather than the breast. The juices should run entirely clear. Wash hands after handling raw turkey. Wash boards and knives as well. Do not let raw juices touch other food. Put the flour and salt in a bowl. Add all of the water in gradually. Bring it together into a stiff dough. This is a stiff dough rather than soft.