Roasted Turkey and Homemade Gravy

By JimMac

Ingredients

• BRINE:
• Remove the neck, giblets, and liver from the cavity of the turkey and reserve for the gravy. Rinse the turkey inside and out under cold running water.
• 1 cup Kosher salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 oranges - quartered
• 2 lemons - quartered
• 6 sprigs of thyme
• 4 sprigs of rosemary
• TURKEY BROTH:
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Reserved turkey neck and giblets
• 1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 large celery stalk, coarsely chopped
• 1 small bay leaf
• 3 cups turkey stock, chicken stock, or canned low-salt chicken broth
• 3 cups water
• ROAST TURKEY:
• soft butter
• 1/2 lb butter, melted
• injector
• 1 onion, cut into eighths
• 1 orange cut into eighths
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped,
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs thyme
• celery - 1 bunch, cleaned and chopped coarsely
• 1 head of garlic, cloves peeled and left whole
• 1/2 cup turkey broth
• 1/2 cup apple cider

Details

Servings 12

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

... To make the brining solution, dissolve the salt and sugar in a small amount of hot water; add the dissolved sugar/salt to 2 gallons of cold water in a non-reactive container (such as a clean bucket or large stockpot, or a clean, heavy-duty, plastic garbage bag.) Add the oranges, lemons, thyme, and rosemary.
Note: if you have a big turkey and need more brine than this, use 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup brown sugar for every gallon of water. Brine the turkey from 4 hours to 24 hours.


Broth: Heat the oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium high heat. Add the turkey neck, heart, and gizzard to the pan and saute until just beginning to brown, about 1 minute. Add the chopped vegetables and bay leaf to the pan and saute until soft, about 2 minutes. Pour the stock and 3 cups of water into the pan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the stock is reduced to 4 cups, about 1 hour, adding the chopped liver to the pan during the last 15 minutes of cooking. NOTE- The broth can also be done in a pressure cooker - cook all ingredients for 45 minutes at 15 pounds pressure. You can use a quick release or natural release.

Strain the stock into a clean pot or large measuring cup . Pull the meat off the neck, chop the neck meat and giblets, and set aside.


Turkey

Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels, inside and out. Place breast side down in a large, heavy roasting pan, and rub on all sides with butter. Season lightly inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff the turkey with the onion, orange, celery, carrot, bay leaves, and thyme. Loosely tie the drumsticks together with kitchen string.

Inject the melted butter into the turkey - the breast, thighs, legs. Spread the chopped celery and garlic cloves on the bottom of the roasting pan.

Roast the turkey, uncovered, breast side down for 1 hour. Remove from the oven, turn, and baste with 1/2 cup turkey stock and 1/2 cup apple cider, mixed together. Continue roasting with the breast side up until an instant-read meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F when inserted into the largest section of thigh (avoiding the bone), about 2 3/4 to 3 hours total cooking time. Baste the turkey once every hour with turkey stock and apple cider.

Remove from the oven and place on a platter. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.