Roasted Turkey
For all your Christmas and friendsgiving needs... My absolute favourite protein to eat on Christmas day (and after).
Ingredients
For the dry brine:
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup salt flakes
- 2 tbsp onion powder
- ½ tsp nutmeg, finely grated
- 1 x 7kg turkey, defrosted (this can take days, so double check with your butcher when ordering that it will come defrosted)
For the roast:
- 14 shallots, halved
- 3 heads garlic, halved
- 3 lemons, halved
- 1 bunch thyme
- 200g butter
For the turkey stock:
- Reserved turkey neck, heart and liver
- 750ml chicken stock
- 1 onion, halved
- 1 carrot, roughly chopped
- 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
For the gravy:
- 50g butter
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 500ml turkey stock
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp chopped thyme
- Turkey drippings
Equipment:
- Baking tray
- Wire rack
- Basting brush
- Meat thermometer
Method
- 8-24 hours before you plan to cook your turkey (the longer = the better), we dry brine. Remove the insides - what you get will depend on your supplier but what you need to reserve for the turkey stock/gravy includes the neck, heart and liver.
- In a bowl, stir to combine dry brine ingredients.
- Place turkey on a wire rack on a baking sheet, gently pat dry brine over all the surface area of the turkey, and refrigerate uncovered for 8-24 hours.
- Do ahead: To make the turkey stock, preheat oven to 200°C. Place neck, heart and liver on a lined baking tray and roast until golden brown. Transfer to a pot, add chicken stock, onion, carrot and celery and simmer for 30 mins - 1 hour.
- The day of roasting, remove turkey from the fridge 2-3 hours before cooking to allow it to come to room temperature. Pat the skin until dry.
- Preheat oven to 160°C. Place turkey on a baking or roasting tray lined with a wire rack. Toss shallots, garlic, lemon and thyme in some olive oil, then stuff the turkey with some, scattering the remainder around it on the wire rack.
- Melt butter and drizzle/brush half over the turkey and vegetables. Season all with salt and cracked black pepper.
- Place turkey in the oven to bake, basting with remaining melted butter every 30 mins - 1 hour. Rotate the baking tray every hour. If the bottom of the pan is looking a little dry, add ½ cup of water when required to maintain moisture. The turkey will take around 4 hours to cook.
- If the turkey isn’t looking golden brown in the last hour of cooking, be prepared to increase the oven temp to 200°C for the last 5 minutes. The goal is to have a meat thermometer read 74°C or slightly above when inserted into the thigh/thickest part of the leg, and at this point, simultaneously have a golden brown bird that can be removed from the oven.
- Once out of the oven, place a sheet of alfoil loosely over the top to help retain heat, and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.
- For the gravy, melt butter in a saucepan.
- Add flour and cook, whisking often, until the flour goes golden, toasty brown.
- Bit by bit, whisk in turkey stock to achieve a smooth sauce.
- Stir through chopped thyme and simmer until it reaches your desired consistency (I like it a little thicker just coating the back of a spoon). If it gets too thick, add water or stock.
- Stir through soy sauce and red wine vinegar, taste and season, carve ya bird and serve!