Cranberry & Maple Glazed Served with Butternut Squash & Pecan Stuffing
Ingredients – Serves 8-10
The Turkey
1 x 5kg oven-ready Golden Turkey
Sea salt flakes & freshly ground black pepper 2 onions, peeled & quartered
1 bay leaf
2 carrots, peeled & cut into large chunks
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
300ml water
The Cranberry Sauce
200g dried cranberries
400g frozen cranberries
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves 200g caster sugar
4 tbsp maple syrup
Zest & juice of 1 large orange
3 x star anise
The Stuffing
150g butter, melted
1 onion, coarsely grated
200g smoked bacon lardons
200g butternut squash, roughly cubed & cooked 200g breadcrumbs
150g pecans, finely chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
Zest of 1 lemon
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
The Gravy
500ml chicken stock
150ml sherry
3 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp Marmite
30g butter
Preheat the oven to 180°C/360°F/Gas mark 4
The Method
A couple of hours before cooking, take the turkey out of the fridge, remove any trussing string along with the giblets. Season the turkey with a little sea salt and black pepper and place a couple of the onion quarters inside the cavity. Place the turkey in a large roasting tin, breast side down, along with the giblets, bay leaf, remaining onions, carrots, rosemary and water. Roast in the preheated oven for about 11⁄2 hours.
Whilst the turkey is in the oven, make the cranberry sauce and stuffing.
To make the cranberry sauce, place all the ingredients into a saucepan with a dash of water and bring to the boil. Allow to simmer until the fruit has softened then remove from the heat and leave to one side.
To make the stuffing, put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and gently fork the mixture together until combined. Season to taste. Divide the mixture into 12 equal sized balls, weighing for accuracy, if you like. Place the stuffing balls on a flat baking sheet lined with parchment and set aside until required.
After 11⁄2 hours, turn the turkey over and roast for a further hour basting the turkey at least twice duringthecookingtime. Taketheturkeyoutoftheoven,spread2/3ofthecranberrysauceover the top of the turkey and put the turkey back into the oven for a further 15 minutes, basting twice. To check the turkey is cooked, using either a meat thermometer or a probe, push it into the thickest part of the thigh: the temperature needs to read around 68-70°C and the juices should runclear. Whentheturkeyiscooked,takeitoutoftheroastingtinandallowtorestforatleastan hour, uncovered, in a warm place. In the meantime, put the stuffing balls into the oven to cook for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and keep warm.
Whilst the turkey is resting, strain the juices from the roasting tray through a sieve into a saucepan. Skim off most of the fat from the top of the roasting juices and add enough chicken stock to make 1 litre of liquid. Deglaze the roasting tray with the sherry and strain this into the saucepan too. Mix the flour into a paste with a little cold water and whisk into the liquid in the saucepan. Season with a little salt and pepper and bring to the boil, whisking all the time. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Whisk in the Marmite and butter and check the seasoning. If the gravy is a little too thick, add a little more chicken stock.
Carve the turkey and serve with the stuffing balls, gravy and remaining cranberry sauce.
