2 1/2 Hour Turkey for 4

Appetizer, Dinner and Stock

This turkey dinner take just about 2 1/2 hours and comfortably serves a family of 4 with just enough left over for great turkey sandwiches the next day to go with the soup made from the carcass. I use the whole turkey, even the liver I make into pate (recipe below) and the carcass for stock. If you are serving more I don’t enlarge the turkey I add more 2 small turkeys serves 8 to 10 and it still only takes 2 1/2 hours. Just double the gravy recipe

Serves 4

Turkey

1 6-7 pound turkey

3 -4 lbs young turkey, fresh or thawed in refrigerator

3 teaspoons poultry seasoning

2 teaspoons garlic powder

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Keep refrigerated. Preheat oven to 350°F.

Release legs some are trussed in a slit of skin, others oven-safe clamp.

Remove neck and giblets from body and neck cavities.

Rinse turkey inside and out and drain well. Pat dry.

Season cavity with spices of your choice (salt, pepper, thyme, etc).

Stuff cavities at both ends of the bird. 

Retruss legs. 

Wrap neck, heart and giblets in foil (reserve liver for pate see recipe below) and tuck into pan to reserve for soup later.

Place turkey breast side up, in a deep covered roasting pan, 

tuck wings under back of turkey. 

 

Cover turkey for the first 1 and a quarter hours, this eliminates the need to baste and prevents excessive browning. Roast for approx 2 hours or when an instant read thermometer reads 170°F in the inner thigh and stuffing is at least 165°F.

Rice Stuffing

5 bunches green onions sliced, (about 3 cups)

1 cup flaked corn or gluten free old fashioned oatmeal

1/4 lb butter                                                                           

4 cups cooked brown rice

1/3 cup dry cranberries, chopped (optional)

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon dry thyme

1/4cup parsley, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Toast flaked corn or oatmeal in a dry non stick skillet stirring until lightly brown and fragrant, remove and add to rice.

Sauté onions and garlic in butter for 10 min, or until just wilted; mix in herbs. Pour over rice and oatmeal, add cranberries, season with salt and pepper; toss lightly to mix. Stuff into cavities at both ends of bird or bake separately in a greased dish, covered, at 350°F for 40 minutes.

Turkey Liver Pâté

Makes about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of Pâté (depending upon the size of liver)

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 turkey liver, rinsed and cleaned and chopped(remove the lighter, stringy fibres)
butter, about 3/4 the size of the liver, softened
pinch of dry thyme
1 teaspoon apple juice
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the minced shallots and sauté until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the turkey liver and sauté until cooked through. Remove from heat.

Place the contents of the saucepan in a food processor. Add the butter, thyme and apple juice and pulse until combined. Season with salt, pepper and a bit more juice if desired. Place in a small ramekin, and serve with crackers as a pre-dinner appetizer.

Removing Turkey from Oven

When turkey is done remove it to a plate and cover with foil let sit for 15 minutes to let the juices absorb back into meat. 

Use pan juices for gravy and use roaster to collect bones while carving.

Pan Gravy

Yields 2 cups

Reserved pan juices from turkey roasting pan

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon gluten free chicken bouillon granules

water

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

When roasted turkey is done cooking, pour pan juices into a 2-cup measuring cup or bowl. Use a spatula to scrape flavourful pan dripping into the cup or bowl.

When fat rises to the top of the cup, skim off most of the fat and discard, add enough water to bring the level up to 1 1/2 cups and pour in a medium skillet or saucepan; mix in bouillon. Mix cornstarch with 1/2 cup water. Stir until smooth and dissolved.

Whisk dissolved cornstarch into the pan and cook over medium heat while continuing to whisk for about 5 minutes, until thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Carve the bird

First cut off legs and thighs, cut off meat. remove wings cut at joints

Next cut off breast, slice 

and arrange on platter. 

Throw all bones in roast pan to make a stock with the carcass.

After a typical turkey dinner there is never room in my refrigerator for a whole turkey carcass so I like to pull all the meat off my carcass and divide it into smaller containers, some for sandwiches and casseroles, bits and pieces for soup. I then pop the carcass and all the bones back in to the roasting pan cover it with water, put the lid back on and let it roast at 200°F overnight. This gets all the flavour from the roast pan and I don’t have to think about it until the next morning.
serves 6-8

Stock

(do not salt stock until making soup)

1 turkey carcass

Enough water to cover carcass

2 onions, unpeeled, roots trimmed

2 carrots, washed

2 ribs celery with leaves

1 handful parsley

bayleaf

1 teaspoon dry oregano
1/4 teaspoon dry thyme

Remove all the usable turkey meat from the turkey carcass to save for adding to the soup.

Break up the leftover bones of the carcass a bit, so they don't take up as much room in the pot. Put the leftover bones and skin back into original roasting pan and cover with cold water by an inch. 

Add any drippings that weren't used to make gravy, the neck, popes nose and any giblets (except liver) that haven't been used already. Add onions, celery and carrots that has been quartered, parsley, thyme, and bay leaf.

Put in the oven at 350°F for 1 hr. then reduce heat to 200°F and let cook overnight or on the stove top partially covered for 4 hours.

Remove the bones and vegetables and strain the stock, fine mesh strainer.

In a sauce pan on the stovetop on medium heat reduce the stock by simmering uncovered until stock is reduced to 4 cups. Skim off extra fat or refrigerate and the fat will solidify and can be easily removed.

Refrigerate or freeze until ready to use. The stock will last for about a week in the fridge, you can freeze the stock and it should maintain taste and quality for about three months.