Christmas classic roast turkey
Get your Christmas dinner ready with this fabulous classic roast turkey recipe that works every time!
Ingredients:
6kg turkey (or a little bit smaller if you don’t have that many guests)
Salt and pepper as much as desired. (Freshly ground pepper is preferable).
1 Quartered onion
1 Carrot, cut into chunks
1 Stalk celery, cut into chunks
1 tablespoon chopped sage leaves + 3 or 4 fresh sage leaves.
1 tablespoon chopped thyme leaves + 3 sprigs thyme.
1 teaspoon rosemary+ 3 sprigs rosemary.
12 tablespoons unsalted butter.
1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic.
3 tablespoons lemon juice.
3 tablespoons yogurt.
For the classic gravy you need:
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more as needed.
Fat from the roast turkey.
Turkey neck.
1 quartered onion.
1 chopped carrot.
1 chopped stalk celery.
3 sprigs thyme.
3 sprigs rosemary.
2 bay leaves.
100 millilitres of dry white wine.
1.8 litre of low-sodium turkey broth, plus more as needed
100 grams all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper as mush as desired.
How to start:
If you bought a fresh turkey you should leave it to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. If you have a frozen one, you need to take it out and let it defrost before cooking it, this will take many hours, sometimes days. If you are unsure of how to defrost your turkey click here for a quick guide to Christmas food safety. When it’s completely defrost, start by removing the neck and any giblets from the turkey and pat it dry very well from the inside and outside.
Position the oven rack at the lowest position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, or 180 C. Put the turkey on your work tray and start by rubbing the inside and outside of it with salt and pepper, be generous! Stuff the cavity with the onion, carrot, celery, sage leaves, thyme and rosemary sprigs, and use a kitchen twine to tie the legs together.
Melt the butter and mix it with lemon juice, garlic and yogurt then add the chopped rosemary, sage leaves and thyme and whisk well. Use a brush to apply this mix all over the turkey and then put it in a roasting bag. Make sure you tucked the wings under the body or they will burn early before the rest of the turkey is ready. Transfer the turkey to a new tray, put it in the oven and let it roast for at least 1 hour.
After 1 hour, open the roasting bag a little from the side, be careful of the burning smoke, and use a big spoon to take a good amount of the drippings inside the bag and spread it all over the turkey to keep it moist and give it that golden look. Repeat this step once every 30 min until the turkey is golden brown.
Once ready, take the turkey out of the oven, place it on the serving tray and let it rest. Take all the drippings and brown bits from the oven tray and save it to make the gravy.
The classic gravy:
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the turkey neck (some people may add giblets too except for the liver). Stir for about 5 minutes then add the onion. Stir for another 2 minutes then add the carrot, celery, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves. Stir well for 2 minutes then add the wine. When the mix start to boil, add the turkey drippings that you’ve saved and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the broth and let the mix simmer on a low heat for about 1 hour. When it’s ready, strain the mix through a fine-mesh sieve and put it aside.
Melt the remaining 8 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan and add the flour gradually. Whisk well as you add the flour until you have a smooth mixture. Add the previous stock mix gradually to the saucepan and whisk well. Let it cook on a low heat until thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
