Roast Vermont Turkey with Giblet Gravy and Sausage and Sage Dressing, for Thanksgiving
3.4
(12)
Turkey may not have played as big a part in the first Thanksgiving, held back in 1621, as it does in our contemporary celebration. If turkey was served at all, it was probably one of many game birds, that were served along with venison, oysters, clams, lobsters, and eels, as well as succotash, beach plums, sweet potatoes, leeks and cornbread. My own Thanksgiving menu is intended to pay homage to the foods of the first Thanksgiving , as well as to the foods that have become associated with this holiday. I believe that holidays by their own nature demand that traditional foods be served. In America, there is no stronger correlation between the food and the day than that of the venerable Thanksgiving Day turkey.
Ingredients
Serves about 10 as an entrée
Vegetable Stuffing
Turkey Stock
Flour Paste
For Basting
Giblet Gravy
For Serving
Preparation
Step 1
1. Prepare the turkey. Remove all extra parts; reserve giblets. Cut off wingtips and any excess neck, etc. Season turkey inside and out with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper; be generous. Loosen up leg joints without tearing skin.
Step 2
2. Make the stuffing by roughly chopping the lemon , apple, onion, thyme, rosemary, sage, parsley and bay leaves into 1/2-inch pieces. Mix with oil. Put stuffing into cavity and truss the bird. Do not tie too tight.
Step 3
3. Start the stock at least 30 minutes before roasting the turkey. Place the wingtips and neck in a saucepan; add 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Skim off any foam. Reduce heat to a slow simmer. Add onion, celery, carrot, bay leaves, peppercorns and parsley stems. Allow to simmer about 2 1/2 hours. Strain stock and reserve. You should have about 3 cups.
Step 4
4. Make a paste by kneading 6 tablespoons unsalted butter with 1/4 cup flour. Rub this vigorously and thoroughly into the skin of the bird.
Step 5
5. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons flour evenly on the bottom of a roasting pan. Place turkey on a rack in the pan. Allow time for turkey to come to room temperature if it is still cold to the touch.
Step 6
6. Place turkey in oven. Leave in oven for 40 minutes or until the bird is browned all over. Combine 8 tablespoons butter with 1 teaspoon of water and bring to a boil. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and baste the turkey generously with the butter mixture. Repeat this process twice, once every 10 minutes, until basting liquid is used up. At this point, the turkey should be in the oven about 1 hour. Now baste 2 more times at intervals of 15 minutes, using pan drippings. At this point, the turkey has been in about 1 hour 30 minutes. Cook 20 minutes more without basting, to allow the skin to crisp. Remove from oven. Allow to rest at least 30 minutes before carving. Make the gravy during this resting period.
Step 7
7. To make the gravy, remove turkey to a serving platter. Place roasting pan directly on top of a burner on medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, allowing excess liquid to evaporate. Stir constantly. Now carefully remove any excess fat that has not combined with the flour to make a roux. Add the diced leek and cook for 1 minute. Slowly add 3 cups turkey stock, allowing the gravy to thicken as it comes to a boil. At this point it may be switched to a saucepan. Make sure that every bit of the pan drippings has been incorporated into the gravy. Add the giblets and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir in the hard-boiled egg and remove from heat. Season to taste with freshly ground pepper and salt, if necessary.
Step 8
8. Carve the turkey and pass the gravy. Serve with country sausage and sage dressing and cranberry relish.
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Reviews (12)
Back to TopMmmm, this turkey is REALLY REALLY good. It is so tender in the inside, and the gravy is heaven. I can't tell you how much I love this turkey and I will use it again this Sat. :P
Anonymous
CA, USA
11/23/2003
This recipe is a standard way to make a turkey, although i have never kneaded flour and butter together to make a rub. The idea of basting a bird with anything with water in it isnt a very good idea. use a pastry brush to baste the bird and use clarified butter or an oil that can withold the temps. for the experienced, try deboning the the turkeys legs and then truss them. notice that the legs are always the longest part of the bird to cook, so by deboning the legs you cut down on cooking time.therefore you have juicy breast.
marty rose
arkansas
11/24/2002
Not too fond of Fried Turkey for Thanksgiving. I stole the giblet cream gravy idea and used that instead with a molasses brined turkey- much better and more "southern" for my tastes...
josh
St.Louis, MO
10/25/2002
The turkey was moist and tasty, but didn't stand out. the gravy, though, was a huge hit.
Anonymous
new york, ny
11/23/2001
Too lemony! And that's after I only used about 3/4 of a lemon. I didn't follow the recipe's cooking instructions or the gravy... too weird with the egg. The stuffing was too dry and very time consuming to make. Not worth it and there are many superior turkey recipes to be found.
Anonymous
West Vancouver, BC
10/10/2001
Excellent recipe: the meat came out tender and moist and the stuffing added terrific flavor. I was worried about the skin as it looked a bit too golden right from the beginning. This being my first turkey, I was very nervous yet received raving reviews.
OK
Tokyo, Japan
12/21/2000
I was really disappointed with the skin of the turkey. It came out of the oven with a golden-burnt crust of flour and butter, I thought this might add to the flavour, but it tasted really floury, most of my guests picked it off the skin. The dressing was fantastic, although the chunks of bread were a little large.
Anonymous
Burlington, VT
12/19/2000
I was really disappointed with the skin of the turkey. It came out of the oven with a golden-burnt crust of flour and butter, I thought this might add to the flavour, but it tasted really floury, most of my guests picked it off the skin. The dressing was fantastic, although the chunks of bread were a little large.
Anonymous
Burlington, VT
12/19/2000
I was really disappointed with the skin of the turkey. It came out of the oven with a golden-burnt crust of flour and butter, I thought this might add to the flavour, but it tasted really floury, most of my guests picked it off the skin. The dressing was fantastic, although the chunks of bread were a little large.
Anonymous
Burlington, VT
12/19/2000
My family used this recipie at Thanksgiving this year. We decided that we'd make it again next year. I did want to point out that, if you use this recipie, the turkey will come out of the oven looking a little bit like fried chicken (due to the butter and flour paste you rub onto the turkey before roasting it). I was a bit surprised when I saw it, but I wouldn't have been if I had looked at the picture on-line first. I looked at the picture afterward and it was a nice affirmation that I hadn't done something wrong. Enjoy. PS: We made an Onion Tart (using an Epicurious recipie) to accompany the turkey. It was very, very good. I recommend you find the recipie and give it a try.
Marc DiPaolo
Las Vegas, NV
11/23/2000
I partly followed this recipe and I also used some of my own tried and true ideas, and the result was the best turkey I ever made! First, I used a regular frozen turkey that I had defrosted. Then, I used the kosher salt and pepper as directed. I used an 11.5 lb. turkey. I stuffed it with my own stuffing recipe. I then rubbed the butter and flower paste all over the outside. It turns out I had alot of extra butter, so I melted that and continued to baste the turkey with it until I ran out of it. Then I used the pan drippings to baste. Also, I added two large onions quartered to the roasting pan. (This will make the gravy nice and brown, I also basted them with butter). Started in the oven for 30 mins. at 450, then turned down to 325 for the remaining time, which wound up being about 5 hours! All I can say is it turned out wonderfully with a rich dark brown skin. I kept basting every 30 mins. Really beautiful! Then I made the gravy using the blackened onions. I skimmed off fat in roasting pan, then added more flower, made a roux, cooked that for a minute or two with onions still in pan, and then added turkey broth gradually and kept whisking until smooth and strained in sieve over med. flame. Salt and pepper, delish! I'm not called the gravy queen in my family for nothing!
Anonymous
Verona, NJ
11/19/2000
Would this recipe work with cornbread?
Ruth
Texas
11/18/2000
I agree with the above comment about the turkey and I also don't understand why you would not want to stuff the turkey with the dressing. Isn't that the whole idea.
Dennis
San Diego
11/16/2000
Either I can't read very well, but couldn't find any reference to country sausage in the dressing. As I was looking for a sausage dressing I checked out this recipe. Something is wrong with this picture. Whoops, guess if I had clicked on the Country Sausage recipe, I would have found it! Looks good but don't understand why it wouldn'tbe good inside the bird.
Anonymous
11/15/2000
