Citrus Sage Roast Turkey With Gravy Large Crowd Food

PERFECT CITRUS TURKEY AND GRAVY

Steps:

• Take the turkey out of the refrigerator and leave it to come to room temperature, about 30 minutes prior to preparing and cooking. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• In a mixing bowl, add the 1/2 cup softened butter, lemon zest and chopped chives. Halve the lemons and squeeze the juice of 1 lemon half into the butter. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
• Prepare the turkey: Remove the inner packet of giblets from the cavity and set aside.
• Run your fingers underneath the skin of the breast to make a little pocket between the skin and the flesh. Using your fingers, scoop up some of the lemon-chive butter and push the butter under the skin, filling up the pockets. Do the same thing on the legs. Once each pocket has been filled, take the rest of the butter and rub it all over the outside of the bird. Sprinkle about a tablespoon and a half of coarse salt on top.
• Insert the halved lemons, orange and grapefruit into the cavity of the turkey. Insert as much of the citrus as you can. Give each piece a little squeeze as you insert them to get the juices distributed. (You may have to leave some out depending on the size of the cavity. Use any extra citrus for garnish later.)
• Remove the giblets from the packet, rinse and pat dry. Place the giblets on the bottom of a large roasting pan. Place the turkey on top of the giblets. Tuck the wings under the turkey.
• Place the turkey in a preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes. Then, turn down the heat to 350 degrees F and roast for about another 2 hours, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 175 to 180 degrees F. (The general rule is to cook a turkey about 15 minutes per pound.)
• Remove the bird from the pan onto a carving board or platter and cover with foil to keep warm. Allow it to rest for 15 minutes before carving.
• Place the roasting pan over low heat on the stovetop. Add white wine and deglaze the pan, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour in the chicken stock. Whisk the cornstarch into it. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter and the Dijon mustard. Whisk well to combine. Strain the gravy into a small saucepan and simmer over low heat until thick and smooth, about 8 minutes.
• Bring your turkey to room temperature to ensure that the bird will cook evenly.
• Stuffing a turkey with fruit keep the bird moist and acts as a secondary cooking agent. As the juice of the fruit steams inside the cavity, it helps cook the bird from the inside. The juices also help to flavor the pan juices used for making the gravy.
• Stuffing butter between the skin and the flesh, keep the meat moist and flavorful. The butter and salt on the outside help create a tasty, crispy skin.
• I like to use the giblets as a platform for the bird. It stops the bottom of the bird from burning and adds flavor to the pan juices.
• A good rule for roasting times is to plan on roasting a turkey for about 15 minutes per pound.
• A meat thermometer is the best tool for figuring out if your turkey is fully cooked.

ROSEMARY AND CITRUS TURKEY FOR A CROWD

Steps:

• Remove giblets from inside the turkey; reserve for stock or gravy. Pat meat dry with paper towels. In a small bowl, stir together salt, pepper, allspice, garlic and citrus zests. Pat mixture all over turkey and turkey parts (including inside the whole turkey cavity). Stuff one bunch of rosemary in cavity of whole turkey. Strew remaining rosemary and the thyme all over turkey and turkey parts. Refrigerate, uncovered, overnight.
• Remove whole turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before you plan to cook it so it can come to room temperature. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange oven racks so the pan with the whole turkey will fit on top rack, and the two pans with parts will fit underneath.
• Place whole turkey (with herb branches clinging to it) on a rack in a roasting pan. Take parts out of the fridge and place the breasts in a 9-by-13-inch roasting pan. Place the legs and wings in a separate 9-by-13 roasting pan.
• Distribute onions, carrots, celery and apples into all three pans, scattering them on the bottom of the large roasting pan under the whole turkey, and tucking them in among turkey pieces. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons wine over each pan of turkey parts and pour 1/2 cup wine in the bottom of the whole turkey pan.
• Transfer whole turkey to the oven and roast for 1 hour (let the parts come to room temperature while the turkey starts roasting).
• Add parts to the oven underneath the rack with the whole turkey on it, and roast for an additional 30 minutes.
• Squeeze the juice from the 2 zested oranges. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees and sprinkle about a third of the orange juice into the bottom of each of the three pans.
• Drizzle the butter or oil all over the whole turkey and the pieces. Continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the meat registers 165 degrees, about 20 to 30 minutes more for the whole turkey, and 15 to 45 minutes longer for the parts. (Note: The turkey breasts may cook faster than the dark meat, so keep your eye on them.) If the breast of the whole turkey starts to look too brown before the bird is cooked through, cover it loosely with foil.
• When the whole turkey is cooked through, remove from oven, cover with foil and let rest for 20 minutes while the parts finish cooking.
• When all the turkey parts are cooked through, adjust oven temperature to broil. Broil turkey parts until skin turns golden brown and crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Let parts rest for 5 minutes before carving and serving. If you want to use the drippings for gravy or stock, strain or use a slotted spoon to remove vegetables first.

CITRUS-SAGE ROAST TURKEY BREAST WITH GRAVY: SMALL CROWD

Steps:

• Roast turkey breast:
• Heat oven to 425°F with rack in lowest position. Discard any excess fat from inside turkey cavity. Pat dry inside and out.
• Stir together butter, sage, lemon zest, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. Grate enough zest from orange to measure 1 teaspoon and add to butter mixture. Halve orange lengthwise and save one half for another use. Cut remaining half into wedges.
• Starting at wider, thicker end of breast, gently slide an index finger between skin and flesh of breast to loosen skin, leaving skin attached to breast at other end (be careful not to tear skin). Push butter mixture evenly under skin on both sides of breast, and massage skin from outside to distribute butter evenly.
• Put turkey on V rack in roasting pan and sprinkle all over with 3/4 teaspoon salt (if using a kosher turkey, see the Cooks' notes) and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Put orange and red onion wedges in area between rack and breast. Add 1 cup water to pan and roast turkey 30 minutes.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Rotate breast 180 degrees and baste with pan juices, then roast 30 minutes.
• Rotate breast again 180 degrees, and baste with pan juices. Tent breast loosely with foil and continue to roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast (test both sides, close to but not touching bone) registers 165°F, 25 to 40 minutes longer. (Baste with juices once more; if pan becomes completely dry, add 1/2 cup water.) (Total roasting time: about 1 1/2 hours.)
• Transfer turkey to a platter, reserving juices in pan. Let turkey stand, uncovered, 25 minutes. Discard orange and onion wedges.
• Make gravy while turkey stands:
• Pour pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve into 1-quart glass measure (do not clean roasting pan), then skim off and discard fat. (If using a fat separator, pour pan juices through sieve into separator and let stand until fat rises to top, 1 to 2 minutes. Carefully pour pan juices from separator into measure, discarding fat.)
• Position roasting pan across 2 burners, then add 1 cup water and deglaze roasting pan by boiling over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 1 minute. Pour through sieve into glass measure containing pan juices. Add enough turkey stock to pan juices to bring total to 2 1/4 cups (if stock is congealed, heat to liquefy).
• Melt butter in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart heavy saucepan over medium-low heat and whisk in flour. Cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Add stock mixture in a stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps, then bring to a boil, whisking occasionally. Stir in any turkey juices accumulated on platter and simmer 5 minutes. Season gravy with salt and pepper.

ROAST TURKEY WITH SAGE AND SHERRIED CIDER GIBLET GRAVY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425° F.
• Rinse turkey and pat dry inside and out. Season turkey inside and out with salt and pepper and pack neck cavity with 1 lemon wedge, 1 sage sprig, and 1 bread slice. Fold neck skin under body and fasten with a skewer. Fill body cavity with apple, onion, 3 sage sprigs, and remaining lemon wedge and bread slice and truss turkey.
• Rub turkey with remaining 3 sage sprigs and arrange sprigs on a rack set in a roasting pan. Spread turkey with butter and arrange on rack in roasting pan. Roast turkey in middle of oven 30 minutes.
• Reduce temperature to 325° F. and baste turkey with pan juices. Add water to roasting pan and roast turkey, basting every 20 minutes, 2 1/2 to 3 hours more, or until a meat thermometer inserted in fleshy part of a thigh registers 180° F. and juices run clear when thigh is pierced. Transfer turkey to a heated platter, reserving juices in roasting pan, and discard string. Keep turkey warm, covered loosely with foil.
• Make gravy:
• Skim fat from pan juices, reserving 1/4 cup fat, and on top of stove deglaze pan with Sherry over moderately high heat, scraping up brown bits. Stir in cider. Bring Sherry mixture to a boil and remove pan from heat.
• In a heavy saucepan whisk together reserved fat and flour and cook roux over moderately low heat, whisking, 3 minutes. Add Sherry mixture and 2 cups stock or broth in a stream, whisking to prevent lumping, and simmer, whisking occasionally, 10 minutes. Whisk in additional stock or broth to thin gravy if desired. Season gravy with salt and pepper and transfer to a heated gravy boat.
• Garnish turkey with sage.