Roast Heritage Turkey With Bacon Herb And Cider Gravy Recipes

ROASTED HERITAGE TURKEY

Steps:

• Rinse turkey inside and out; pat dry with paper towels. Transfer to a large roasting pan fitted with a roasting rack, and place breast side up. Bring to room temperature, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 475 degrees, with rack in lowest position. Tuck wings under turkey. Gently separate skin from breast, and rub butter under the skin on each side. Season outside of turkey generously with salt and pepper. Fill cavity with herb sprigs, bay leaves, apple cores, and onion; tie legs together with kitchen twine. Scatter apples and celery around rack. Place neck and giblets in pan. Add water to pan.
• Roast turkey for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees. Baste with pan juices, and tent with foil. Roast, rotating pan, adding more water if pan is dry, and basting halfway through, until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reaches 160 degrees, about 2 1/2 hours more. Let turkey stand for 30 minutes before transferring to a platter and carving. Reserve pan with contents if making gravy.

ROAST TURKEY WITH CIDER GRAVY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425°F. Rinse the turkey, pat it dry, and season it inside and out with salt and pepper. Pack the neck cavity loosely with some of the stuffing, fold the neck skin under the body, and fasten it with a skewer. Pack the body cavity loosely with some of the remaining stuffing and truss the turkey. Transfer the remiaining stuffing to a buttered 3-quart baking dish and reserve it, covered and chilled.
• Spread the turkey with the butter and roast it on a rack in a roasting pan in the over for 30 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 325°F., baste the turkey with the pan juices, and add the water to the pan. Roast the turkey, basting it every 20 minutes, for 2 1/2 to 3 hours more, or until a meat thermometer inserted in the fleshy part of the thigh registers 180°F. and the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced. During the last 1 1/2 hours of roasting, drizzle the reserved stuffing with the stock or broth, bake it, covered, in the 325°F. over for 1 hour, and bake it, uncovered, for 30 minutes more. Transfer the turkey to a heated platter, reserving the juices in the roasting pan, discard the string, and keep the turkey warm, covered loosely with foil.
• Make the gravy:
• Skim all the fat from the roasting pan juices, reserving 1/3 cup of the fat, and add the cider and the vinegar to the pan. Deglaze the pan over moderately high heat, scraping up the brown bits, and boil the mixture until it is reduced by half. In a saucepan combine the reserved fat and the flour and cook the roux over moderately low heat, whisking, for 3 minutes. Add the cider mixture and the stock in a stream, whisking, bring the mixture to a boil, whisking, and simmer the gravy, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Season the gravy with salt and pepper and transfer it to a heated sauceboat.
• Garnish the turkey with the herb sprigs and serve it with the gravy and the stuffing.