Roast Turkey with Gravy (Dad’s recipe)
This is a more traditional turkey recipe my dad made with his own twist, and he left out most of the herbs. I've tried it with the herbs and like it, but I stick to the simpler recipe my dad used. If he didn't make this recipe, he would roast a de-boned turkey Asian style, stuffing it with traditional Lo Mai Fan (sticky rice)- not sure how he did this but the turkey looked fully intact at the dining table.Some friends like to use more herbs, dry rubs or brining, frying, smoking methods which are all great, too!
Equipment
- 1 roasting pan to cook turkey
- 1 medium saucepan for giblet stock
- 1 small skillet
- 1 Disposable plastic cooking gloves (when handling turkey and spreading herb butter)
- 1 baster
- 1 fat separator for turkey drippings
Ingredients
Turkey
- 1 Turkey (like Diestel turkey brand), 10 lbs for 4-6 guests, 12-15 lbs for 8-10 guests
- 4 tbs butter, room temperature
- 2 tsp salt, I always add a little extra
- 2 tsp pepper
- 1 Optional add-ins to herb butter: 6-8 cloves of minced garlic, chopped fresh or dry herbs like rosemary, sage, thyme (about 1 tbs of each herb). Herbs help cut some of the gamey flavor some people find in turkey
Giblet Stock
- 1 giblets from turkey and neck (separate liver and finely dice and set aside)
- 4 tbs butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 celery stalk, including leaves ok, diced
- 1 small leek, washed and rough chop
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 cups water
Gravy
- 1.5 cups Madeira cooking wine (or Masala wine also works)
- 3 tbs all purpose flour or cornstarch and make a slurry with 1/2 cup of water
- 3/4 tsp salt (more per your taste)
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp rosemary, finely minced (optional, herbs help cut some of the gamey flavor that some people find in turkey)
- 1/4 cup canned peas and carrots (optional, my dad used to add this into the gravy but I have not seen this done elsewhere)
- 1/8 cup smoked bacon bits, cooked well and chopped (optional, my dad used add this into the gravy for an additional layer of flavor)
Instructions
Prepare the Turkey
- Prepare the turkey 2-4 days before roasting. If frozen, thaw in refrigerator (1 day for every 5 pounds), and give it an extra day to make sure turkey if fully thawed before roasting.
- The night before, take the turkey out of wrapper and pat dry, place back into refrigerator with plastic wrap.
- An hour before you plan to roast the turkey, take the turkey out and place on the roasting dish. Sprinkle cavity and top of turkey with some extra salt and pepper. Then prepare the herb butter, mix the butter with salt and pepper, and additional minced garlic and herbs of your choice.Lift the skin over the breast and spread 1 tbs of the herb butter. Melt remaining herb butter and spread over the rest of the top of the turkey skin.
Prepare Stock for Gravy
- In a medium saucepan, melt 3 tbs butter over medium heat. Add chopped onion, celery and leek. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Then add 4 cups of water, bay leaf, gizzard, heart and neck (do not add liver). Bring to a boil, then reduce to low simmer, cook for about 45 minutes.
- Melt remaining 1 tbs butter in a small skillet on medium low heat, add liver and cook stirring frequently, until liver is no longer red, about 4-6 minutes. Set aside.
- Strain the stock (about 3 cups), chop gizzard and heart fine, and add to strained stock along with chopped liver. Pick off meat from neck and add to stock. Set aside until needed to finish gravy recipe.
Roast Turkey
- Preheat oven 375 degrees F. Roast turkey for about 2.5 hours, basting often (10-12 lbs, roast for about 3.5 hours, 12-15 lbs, roast for about 4 hours). Temperature of turkey breast should be 157 degrees F when done.Temperature of thigh should be 175 degrees F when done. Baste often.Note: I have not tried this but plan to sometime for roasting the turkey:-Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and roast for 1 hour.-Then turn down to 325 degrees F and roast until the turkey is done, reaching the above temperatures. Baste often.
- Once turkey reaches the proper temperature, let it sit for 30 minutes before serving.
Finalize Gravy
- Heat the strained gravy stock in a small sauce pan (My dad liked to keep the neck meat in the final gravy which makes it heartier).
- Using a fat separator, pour the turkey drippings into it. Let it settle and pour the drippings (leaving out the fat) into the sauce pan with stock, and scrape everything out of turkey pan into the stock as well for extra flavor.
- Bring this to a light boil, add the madeira wine, salt and pepper. Then add the flour or cornstarch slurry (stir and make sure there are no lumps) into the gravy. Optional, this is when you add the rosemary, peas, carrots, and bacon. Skim off any fat on top of the gravy and it's ready to serve with your turkey.
Notes
I also love and highly recommend the ThermoWorks thermometer that takes the guesswork out of cooking meats.
Once, I tried roasting turkey upside down, as I heard the breast doesn’t get dry with little basting. However, it didn’t make that huge of a difference or work well for me.
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