Turkey and Gravy: Straightforward, Simple and Delicious

1 turkey, any size 1 large onion, cut into quarters 2 carrots, cut into quarters 2 stalks celery, cut into quarters 1 bouquet garni (any mix of fresh herbs, including thyme, sage, marjoram, oregano, rosemary and/or parsley, tied together in a bundle with kitchen string will work) 3 cloves garlic, whole, peeled 10 ounces (2 sticks) butter Coarse salt and ground black pepper, to taste Turkey giblets, including the neck, gizzard (make sure it has been cleaned), heart and liver 3 cups meat broth, such as Shannons Meat Broth, Chapter 3 cup flour

Cooking a Thanksgiving turkey need not be as intimidating as the mystique surrounding it makes it out to be. If you are working with a good, pastureraised turkey, your work is significantly easier than the travails one faces with a factory-farmed bird.Youve got flavor, juiciness, and texture all working in your favor.To learn more about what to expect from your pasture-raised turkey, refer to the sidebar, everything you need to know about a pasture-raised Thanksgiving turkey. When trying to decide what size turkey to order, allow for a minimum of 1 pound for each person around your Thanksgiving table. Lower this figure to pound if you will have a lot of side dishes. If you are hoping for some leftovers, estimate 1 pounds per person.Thus, for a Thanksgiving dinner for 12, I usually figure on an 18-pound turkey. Preheat the oven to 325F. Set the turkey in a large roasting pan, breastside-up. Insert the onion, carrots, celery, bouquet garni and garlic into the cavity. Melt 6 ounces (1 sticks) of the butter and pour it over the surface of the skin, then sprinkle all over generously with salt and pepper. Put the bird in the oven and roast for 810 minutes per pound, until the internal temperature of the breast is 165 degrees. If the leg meat is not 165 degrees when the breast meat is done, dont panic. Simply carve off the legs and put them back into the oven to cook a little longer while you carve the breast meat. While the turkey roasts, prepare the giblets for the gravy. Place a saucepan over a medium-high flame. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and swirl to coat. Blot the neck and giblets dry, then set them in the pan, taking care to leave one inch of space around each piece of meat to enable them to brown well. Sear for 23 minutes per side. If the bottom of the saucepan is too small, brown the meat in batches. Place all the giblets back in the saucepan, pour in the broth, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes. Remove the giblets from the broth and allow them to cool. Reserve the broth. once the giblets are cool enough to handle, remove any gristle, then finely dice the gizzard, heart and liver. Pull off the neck meat and dice that as well, if necessary. When the turkey is fully cooked, remove it to a carving board and pour off any juices. Set the empty pan over the burners on your stove

156 Long Way on a Little Shannon Hayes

EStimAtEd CArboHydrAtES: Butter: 0.12 g Meat broth: 4.2 g* Flour: 30.76 g Total carbohydrates per recipe: 35.08 g Total carbohydrates per recipe: 2.92 g * Number of carbohydrates in homemade broth will vary. This figure is calculated using the recipe for Shannons Meat Broth (Chapter 3).

and turn the heat onto medium (if the pan will cover two burners, turn both burners on). Add the remaining butter to the roasting pan. once it melts and bubbles, whisk in the flour to make a roux. Continue to whisk 12 minutes longer, until the paste has browned. Slowly whisk in the pan juices and allow the mixture to come to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow the gravy to simmer for 5 minutes, until it thickens, stirring often to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. At this point, begin stirring in the reserved meat broth that you used to cook the giblets. Add one cup and simmer until it is reduced by one-third. Stir in the giblets, along with enough of the remaining broth until the gravy is at your preferred consistency. If you accidentally make the gravy too thin, simply let it cook down a little longer until it is thick again. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Flour-free alternative: If you need to avoid grains, combine the pan

juices and giblet broth in the roasting pan and simmer until it is reduce by two-thirds. Whisk in the minced giblets, 1 tablespoon brown mustard and 2 tablespoon butter to create a delicious pan sauce for pouring over your turkey.
Leftovers: First of all, make sure you save those bones and boil them

for meat broth! Here are some recipes from Chapter 8 that will all work with your turkey leftovers: Croquettes with Black Pepper and onion Sauce, Mexican-Style Chicken and Cheese Casserole, Asian-Style Cold Meat Salad, Chicken (or Turkey) with Rice and a Sherry Cream Sauce, Poultry or Pork Canaps with a Peanut Lime Sauce, Chicken (or Turkey) Divan, Tomato Garlic Chicken (or Turkey) Salad, Lemon Chicken (or Turkey) Salad with Braised Sweet Peppers, Curried Cashew Chicken (or Turkey) Salad with Raisins and Cranberries, or Apple Walnut Chicken (or Turkey) Salad.

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