Recipe - Roast Turkey With Cider Gravy

A; (12 to 14pound)
; turkey, the neck
; and giblets
; (excluding the
; liver) reserved for
; making turkey
; giblet stock
1 Recipe chestnut stuffing
1 Stick unsalted butter;
softened (One half cup)
1 cup Water
1 cup Turkey giblet stock or
chicken broth

FOR THE GRAVY
1 cup Apple cider
2 tablespoon Cider vinegar
6 tablespoon Allpurpose flour
4 cup Turkey giblet stock
Sage; rosemary, and thyme
; sprigs for garnish

Preheat the oven to 425F. 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
3quart 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 325F., baste the
turkey with the pan juices, and add the water to the pan. Roast the turkey,
basting it every 20 minutes, for 2 One half to 3 hours more, or until a meat
thermometer inserted in the fleshy part of the thigh registers 180F. and
the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced. During the last 1 One half hours
of roasting, drizzle the reserved stuffing with the stock or broth, bake
it, covered, in the 325F. 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.

Serves 8.

Gourmet November 1993

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