Rum Glazed Turkey 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.

SPICED GLAZED TURKEY

Steps:

• Position an oven rack in the lowest position (remove the other racks); preheat to 350 degrees F. Remove the neck and giblets from the turkey and reserve for gravy. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels and put breast-side up on a rack set in a large roasting pan.
• Combine 2 tablespoons salt, 1 tablespoon pepper and the coriander and allspice in a small bowl. Squeeze the orange halves all over the turkey and rub the juices into the skin, then stuff the squeezed oranges into the cavity along with the shallot and parsley. Brush the turkey all over with the melted butter, then sprinkle all over with the spice mixture. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine and tuck the wings under the body. Pour the broth into the roasting pan.
• Microwave the pineapple preserves in a small microwave-safe bowl until melted, about 1 minute; strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl. Stir in the vinegar. Set the glaze aside.
• Roast the turkey until the skin is golden brown and a thermometer inserted into the thigh registers 165 degrees F, 2 1/2 to 3 hours, brushing with the pineapple glaze twice during the last 30 minutes of roasting; use about two-thirds of the glaze. (Tent the turkey with foil if the skin gets too dark.) Remove from the oven and brush with the remaining glaze. Transfer the turkey to a cutting board and let rest at least 30 minutes before carving.
• Pour the pan drippings into a fat separator and let stand until the fat rises to the top. Discard the fat (or drizzle on your stuffing). Serve the turkey with the defatted drippings.

RUM GLAZED TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter. Add onions, carrots and celery and saute until tender. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and toss with parsley, sage, chestnuts, apples, dried cranberries, mushrooms and bread. Pour eggs, stock and remaining 12 tablespoons of melted butter over, season with salt and pepper and toss again well. If the stuffing is too dry add a bit more stock or water. It should not be saturated or soggy, though.
• Place the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan. Rub the cavity opening with salt and pepper. With your fingers, carefully separate as much of the turkey's skin from the breast, as you can, trying not to puncture any holes in the skin as you go.
• In a small mixing bowl stir together 8 tablespoons of the softened butter with 1 cup of the brown sugar. Smear about half of the softened butter and sugar mixture over the breast under the skin. Rub the remaining butter and sugar mixture all over the turkey.
• Loosely stuff the turkey with the cooled chestnut stuffing. If there is extra stuffing bake it in a buttered baking dish next to the turkey in the oven.
• Roast the stuffed turkey about 3 to 3 1/2 hours, basting often during the last hour of cooking with the buttered rum glaze, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the turkey leg registers 155 degrees F; it will continue cooking for another 20 minutes or so out of the oven. If the turkey skin starts to get too dark, tent it with foil while it roasts.
• While turkey is cooking, in a small saucepan combine remaining 8 tablespoons of the butter with 1 cup of the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, freshly ground nutmeg, dark rum and a little salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then lower and simmer for 10 minutes until slightly thickened and syrup-like, stirring often.
• Transfer the turkey to a carving board to rest and loosely tent with foil and allow to cool. Brush the outside of the turkey with syrup mixture to get a glazed look.