Maple Butter Turkey Recipes

MAPLE BUTTER TURKEY

Steps:

• The night before: Take butter and place in bowl to soften. Once the butter has softened to roughly room temperature, put in the bowl the maple syrup, herbs, the zest of the lemon, and juice from 1/2 of same lemon. Stir well until it has an almost whipped consistency. Cover and refrigerate.
• When ready to make the turkey the next day, preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Take butter mixture out of fridge and set on counter. Take giblets and etc. out of turkey. Put the gibblets in a saucepan on the stove, adding water to cover. Clean the turkey. After cleaning, take a sharp knife (fillet knife recommended) and carefully slice the membrane right under the skin at the hind end of the bird to separate the skin and the meat. After separating an inch or so if skin from meat, use hand(s) to very carefully continue the process for the rest of the breast sections. If a rip happens, take a metal pin or some other such implement and patch it back together. Be careful not to leave any broken skin patches, no matter how small.
• By this time the butter mixture should be about room temperature. Using about 1/2 to 3/4 of the mixture, mash the butter mixture under the skin (still being careful not to break the skin) covering as much of the meat as possible. Once the meat under the skin has been covered, use the remaining about on hands to smear the rest of the bird with the mixture. Put rest of butter mixture in with the giblet stock on the stove. Place turkey on a rack in your roasting pan.
• Taking a piece (or pieces) of cheesecloth that has had warm water run through it to get it moist, cover every inch of the exposed turkey. If your roasting pan has a cover, use it, otherwise take a couple sections of aluminum foil and use it to cover the turkey. Take turkey and place in hot oven and allow to cook uninterrupted for an hour and a half.
• While the turkey is cooking, prepare the basting sauce/stock by first bringing the giblet/butter mixture to a boil and then lower the temperature to a simmer. Leave mixture simmering throughout the process.
• After the first hour and a half is up, take turkey out of the oven, carefully remove aluminum cover (leave cheesecloth on) and baste liberally with giblet/butter mixture. Repeat this process every half hour. If the mixture on the stove runs out, use the drippings that are in the bottom of the pan. Once the turkey is nearing it's last 10-20 minutes of cooking, baste a final time and place back in oven completely uncovered. Take out roughly 3 minutes before done, re-cover with aluminum foil, and place back in oven. This is to have the inner sanctum reheated to keep the bird nice and warm during the resting period.
• After the bird has finished cooking (see Cooking Times below), let the bird rest in pan, covered, for at least a half hour (an hour would be better) before carving.
• Cooking Times: The bird will require approximately 13-15 minutes per pound total cooking time (this includes the first hour and half in oven). These times are approximate, though, and there are only two real methods of telling when the bird needs to come out of the oven: probe thermometer and the little turkey done indicator. The probe thermometer is more reliable but can be more of a hassle. Basically you will want to place the probe into the turkey no less than an hour before your expected done time. The magic temperature that you are looking for is 160 degrees. Once the bird hits that, remove it from the oven. Carryover heat will take it the rest of the way. If using a turkey done indicator, pull out of the oven when you see it start moving or looking like it's going to pop soon.

MAPLE ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Combine apple cider and maple syrup in a saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue cooking until reduced to 1/2 cup, then remove pan from heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon thyme, 1 tablespoon marjoram, and lemon zest. Stir in butter until melted, and season with salt and pepper. Cover, and refrigerate until cold.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place rack in lower third of oven.
• Place turkey on a rack set in a roasting pan. Reserve 1/4 cup maple butter for gravy, and rub the remaining maple butter under the skin of the breast and over the outside of turkey. Arrange onion, celery, carrots turkey neck and giblets around the turkey. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon thyme and 1 tablespoon marjoram over vegetables. Pour 2 cups broth into pan.
• Roast turkey for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Cover entire turkey loosely with foil. Continue roasting for about 2 1/2 hours, or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Transfer turkey to platter, and let stand 30 minutes.
• Strain the pan juices into a large measuring cup, and then remove any excess fat. Add enough chicken broth to pan juices to measure 3 cups. Transfer liquid to a saucepan, and bring to boil. In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup maple butter and 1/3 cup flour until smooth. Whisk flour and butter mixture into broth mixture. Stir in remaining thyme and the bay leaf. Boil until reduced to sauce consistency, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Mix in apple brandy, if desired. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

MAPLE ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Combine apple cider and maple syrup in a saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue cooking until reduced to 1/2 cup, then remove pan from heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon thyme, 1 tablespoon marjoram, 1 tablespoon sage, and lemon zest. Stir in butter until melted, and season with salt and pepper. Cover, and refrigerate until cold.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place rack in lower third of oven.
• Place turkey on a rack set in a roasting pan. Reserve 1/4 cup maple butter for gravy, and rub the remaining maple butter under the skin of the breast and over the outside of turkey. Arrange onion, celery, carrots, reserved left over lemon, turkey neck and giblets around the turkey. Sprinkle 2 1/2 tablespoon thyme, 2 1/2 tablespoons sage, 2 1/2 tablespoon marjoram, and lemon juice over vegetables. Pour 2 cups broth into pan.
• Roast turkey for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Cover entire turkey loosely with foil. Continue roasting for about 2 1/2 hours, or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Transfer turkey to platter, and let stand 30 minutes.
• Strain the pan juices into a large measuring cup, and then remove any excess fat. Add enough chicken broth to pan juices to measure 3 cups. Transfer liquid to a saucepan, and bring to boil. In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup maple butter and 1/3 cup flour until smooth. Whisk flour and butter mixture into broth mixture. Stir in remaining thyme. marjoram, and sage. Boil until reduced to sauce consistency, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Note: I use a turkey baking bag and make this in my counter top roaster oven so that I have my oven free for all the other items.