Peppered Lemon Thyme Turkey With Golden Crackling Recipes

Steps:

• Let the turkey sit at room temperature, 30 minutes. Position an oven rack in the lowest position (remove the other racks); preheat to 350 degrees F.
• Remove the neck and giblets from the turkey; set aside for the gravy. Finely grate the zest from all 4 lemons; combine with the peppercorns and 1 tablespoon salt. Pat the turkey very dry with paper towels. Season the inside with about one-quarter of the lemon-pepper mixture, then rub the rest all over the skin. Cut one of the lemons into quarters; stuff inside the cavity along with the onion, celery and thyme sprigs. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Put the turkey on a rack set in a large roasting pan and tuck the wings under the body.
• Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, 7 to 8 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain, reserving the drippings in the skillet. Chop the bacon; set aside for the gravy. Add the butter to the skillet with the drippings and stir until melted, then pour into a bowl and stir in the juice of 2 lemons. Let the lemon butter cool slightly, then brush all over the turkey. Transfer to the oven and roast 1 hour. Meanwhile, make the Classic Gravy.
• After the turkey has roasted 1 hour, baste it with the drippings. Continue roasting, basting every 30 minutes, until the skin is golden brown and a thermometer inserted into the thigh registers 165 degrees F, about 2 more hours.
• Transfer the turkey to a cutting board and let rest 30 minutes before carving; reserve the drippings for the gravy. Stir the bacon into the finished gravy.
• Prepare the stock: Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the turkey neck and giblets; cook, turning, until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the onion, carrot, celery, thyme and bay leaves; stir to coat. Add the wine and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until reduced by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the broth, reduce the heat to low and simmer about 1 hour. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup; reserve the saucepan. You should have 7 cups stock-if you're short, add more broth.
• Melt the remaining 8 tablespoons butter in the reserved saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth and bubbling, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the 7 cups stock; bring to a simmer and cook, whisking occasionally, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Set aside until the turkey is done.
• Pour the turkey pan drippings into a fat separator and let stand until the fat rises to the top. Discard the fat (or drizzle on your stuffing). Whisk the defatted drippings into the gravy; season with salt and pepper. Reheat before serving.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a small bowl, combine the butter, lemon juice, lemon zest and minced thyme. Pat turkey dry. Sprinkle salt and pepper over skin of turkey and inside cavity; brush with butter mixture. Place the lemon, onion, garlic and thyme sprigs inside cavity. Tuck wings under turkey; tie drumsticks together., Place flour in oven bag and shake to coat. Place bag in a roasting pan; add turkey to bag, breast side up. Cut six 1/2-in. slits in top of bag; close bag with tie provided., Bake at 350° for 2-1/4 to 2-3/4 hours or until a thermometer reads 180°. Remove turkey to a serving platter and keep warm. Let stand for 15 minutes before carving. If desired, thicken pan drippings for gravy. Freeze option: Freeze cooled turkey and gravy in freezer containers. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Heat through in a covered skillet, gently stirring and adding a little broth or water if necessary.

Steps:

• Up to two days ahead, make the salt mix by grinding the salt with the thyme leaves and pepper in a spice grinder or using a pestle and mortar. Sit the turkey in a roasting tin and gently push your fingers under the skin, starting from the neck, until you can push your whole hand in down the length of the breast. Take care not to tear the skin.
• Season the bird all over with the salt mix, inside and out and under the skin. Leave the turkey in the tin, breast-side up, and put in the fridge for up to two days - the longer you salt it, the more succulent the turkey will be. For the crispest skin, leave the turkey uncovered so it dries out, but loosely cover it if you prefer.
• Tip the butter, vegetable stock powder and lemon zest into a small bowl and mix until completely combined. Cover and chill. Can be made a few days ahead or frozen, wrapped in cling film, for one month.
• Remove the turkey from the fridge an hour or so before you want to cook it. Remove the butter from the fridge to soften. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Work out your cooking time based on 40 mins per kg for the first 4kg, plus 45 mins for every kg after that.
• Use your hands to spread the butter under the skin so that it covers the entire breast area and work it into the crevice between the thigh and the main body, then smooth the skin over with your hands. Put the onion, lemon halves, and garlic in the cavity.
• Cover the tin loosely with foil and roast for the calculated cooking time. Around 30 mins before the end of cooking, increase the oven temperature to 200C/180C fan/gas 6, remove the foil, baste the turkey and return to the oven. When the turkey is beautifully brown and cooked through, remove from the oven and leave to rest on a warm platter covered with foil for up to 1 hr. Save the juices from the tin to make gravy.

Steps:

• Let turkey sit at room temperature 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, with rack in lower third. In a small saucepan, heat oil, rosemary, garlic, and lemon zest. Bring to a simmer over medium-high and cook until garlic is soft and lemon is slightly shriveled, 1 minute. Remove rosemary-lemon oil from heat and let cool.
• Tuck wing tips underneath body of turkey. Season inside of turkey with salt and pepper. Loosely fill large cavity and neck cavity with stuffing; fold neck skin over opening. Tie legs together with kitchen twine. Brush turkey all over with 1/2 cup rosemary-lemon oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Place onion in a heavy-bottomed roasting pan. Set a roasting rack over onion and place turkey on top. Roast until turkey is golden brown, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Reduce heat to 375 degrees, add 1 cup water to pan, and roast, brushing turkey with remaining rosemary oil every 30 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of a thigh reads 165 degrees, 1 1/2 to 2 hours (add some water, if pan becomes dry).
• Transfer turkey to a platter or cutting board and loosely tent with foil; let rest 30 minutes. Reserve pan with drippings for White Wine Gravy. To serve, scoop out stuffing and carve turkey.

Steps:

• If you have the time, do this step the day before you want to roast the turkey crown. Strip the leaves off most of the thyme, reserving a few sprigs, and mash with the garlic, lemon zest and a small pinch of salt using a pestle and mortar. Put half the mixture in a bowl, then add more salt and continue mashing. Sit the crown in a roasting tin and season with the mix, rubbing it all over the skin and under the crown. You can cover and chill the crown for up to 24 hrs at this stage. Work the butter into the remaining mix and chill this, too. If you don't have enough time, you can do this prep on the day.
• Remove the turkey crown and the flavoured butter from the fridge an hour or two before roasting. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Smear the butter all over the turkey skin and roast the turkey for about 1 ½ hrs, basting every 30 mins or so until golden and cooked through - a digital cooking thermometer should read 70C when inserted in the thickest part of the breast. Leave to rest for at least 20 mins before carving.
• Save the juices from the tin to add to the gravy, which can be made ahead (alternatively, make the gravy in the tin). As an optional flourish, halve more lemons and sear the cut sides in a hot pan until lightly charred. Serve the turkey crown surrounded by fresh thyme sprigs, the charred lemon halves, if you want, and stuffing balls.

Steps:

• Remove any giblets from the turkey and save for stock, if you are making your own (see 'Tip'). Remove the bird from the fridge 1 hr before cooking to allow it to come to room temperature. Wipe the turkey inside and out with kitchen paper.
• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Starting at the neck-end of the bird, carefully push your fingers between the skin and flesh on the breast, loosening the skin. Mix the butter, lemon zest, herbs and garlic together and season. Push the flavoured butter under the skin and spread over the flesh. Smooth the skin back over the breast.
• You can now stuff the neck-end of the bird with the stuffing, if you like, and secure the skin underneath with a skewer. Weigh the turkey and calculate the cooking time - it will need 40 mins for every 1kg.
• Transfer the bird to a roasting tin, cover loosely with foil and place in the middle of the oven. Cook for 20 mins, then reduce the temperature to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 for the rest of the cooking time. Remove the foil for the last 30 mins. Check if the turkey is cooked by piercing the thickest part of the thigh with a skewer. If the juices run clear, it's cooked. If they are pink, return it to the oven for another 15 mins, then test again. If using a meat thermometer, it should read 80C for the thighs, and the breast should be 75C.
• Remove the cooked turkey from the tin, and place on a serving platter (use the tin to make the gravy - see 'Goes well with'). Cover with foil and leave to rest for 30-45 mins before carving.

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix the butter, thyme, salt and pepper. Place turkey on a rack in a shallow roasting pan, breast side up. With fingers, carefully loosen skin from turkey breast; rub half of the butter mixture under the skin. Secure skin to underside of breast with toothpicks. Rub outside of turkey with remaining butter mixture. Tuck wings under turkey; tie drumsticks together., Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 3 to 3-3/4 hours or until a thermometer inserted in thigh reads 180°, basting occasionally with pan drippings. Cover loosely with foil if turkey browns too quickly., Discard toothpicks. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes before carving.

Steps:

• Chop the leafy tops of the thyme but not the hard, woody branch ends (save these for the cavity). Finely grate the orange and lemon zest into a small bowl and mix with the chopped thyme, olive oil and seasoning. Mash the mix into the oil with the back of a metal spoon (or use a pestle and mortar) to release its flavour. Set aside to infuse.
• Preheat the oven to fan 170C/conventional 190C/gas 5. Wash the turkey inside and out and dry well with kitchen paper. To make carving easier, you can now cut out the wishbone, but it's not essential.
• Put the reserved third of the stuffing in the neck end of the turkey and push it towards the breast. Don't overfill, as the stuffing will expand during cooking. Secure the neck end flap with a small metal skewer. Weigh the stuffed turkey and calculate the cooking time - allow 18 minutes per 450g/1lb.
• Season the turkey generously with salt and pepper inside and out. Halve the orange and lemon and put in the cavity (squeezing the fruit as it goes in) with the thyme branches and two of the bay leaves. Tie the turkey legs together to give the bird a good shape.
• Throw the chopped carrots and onion and remaining bay leaves into a large roasting tin. Sit the turkey on top of the vegetables, smear the butter over the skin and cover with a loose tent of foil. Roast the turkey for the calculated time, basting with the pan juices every hour.
• Meanwhile, tip the red onions and squash into a shallow roasting tray and toss in half of the thyme oil, making sure you get it right into the cuts in the onions. Set the tray aside.
• Half an hour before the end of the turkey's cooking time, whip off the foil and leave the bird to brown. After 15 minutes, drizzle the turkey with the remaining thyme oil.
• To test if the turkey is cooked, insert a skewer into the thickest part of a thigh - the juices should run clear. If they are still pink, cook for a further 20-30 minutes and test again. Remove the turkey from the oven and turn the oven up to fan 180C/conventional 200C/gas 6. Transfer theturkey to a serving platter, cover tightly with foil and leave to rest while you finish off the vegetables and trimmings.
• Put the red onions and squash in the oven and roast for 30-40 minutes. At the same time, roast the bacon-wrapped sausages (see Lightly spiced Christmas stuffing, right) for 30 minutes. Now make the gravy. Discard any fat from the roasting tin. Stir the wine and redcurrant jelly into the carrots and onion in the tin. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly for 8-10 minutes to reduce by half. Scrape the sticky bits off the bottom of the tin with a wooden spoon as the gravy boils. Pour in the stock and simmer for 10 minutes until you have a dark, tasty gravy, adding salt and pepper to taste. Strain the gravy into a pan (discard the vegetables), bring back to the boil and serve in a warm jug.