Turkey
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove giblets and neck from turkey cavity; set aside. Discard liver or save for another use. Cut neck into several large pieces. Rinse turkey inside and out with cold running water and drain well; pat dry with paper towels. Place turkey, breast side up, on small rack in large roasting pan (17" by 11 1/2"). Scatter giblets and neck in pan around turkey.
From lemon, grate 1 teaspoon peel and place in small bowl. Cut lemon in half and set aside. To bowl with lemon peel, add parsley, sage, thyme, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and stir until blended.
In medium bowl, place olive oil, carrot, and celery; stir in 2 tablespoons herb mixture to coat vegetables. Place vegetable mixture in pan around turkey. Sprinkle remaining herb mixture inside body and neck cavities, and rub all over outside of turkey. Squeeze juice from lemon halves into both cavities, and place lemon halves and 4 onion quarters in body cavity. Place remaining 4 onion quarters in pan around turkey. Fold wings under back of turkey so they stay in place. If drumsticks are not held by band of skin or stuffing clamp, tie legs together with string.
Cover turkey with a loose tent of foil; roast 2 1/2 hours. Remove foil and roast about 1 1/4 hours longer.
About 20 minutes before turkey finishes roasting, cook mushrooms for gravy: In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat margarine on medium until melted. Add all mushrooms and cook, covered, 6 minutes. Uncover and cook 11 to 12 minutes longer or until tender and golden, stirring occasionally. Remove skillet from heat; set aside until ready to complete gravy.
Turkey is done when temperature on meat thermometer, inserted into thickest part of thigh next to body (not touching bone), reaches 175 degrees to 180 degrees and breast temperature reaches 165 degrees. (Internal temperature of turkey will rise 5 degrees to 10 degrees upon standing.)
When turkey is done, carefully lift from roasting pan and tilt slightly to allow juices to run into pan. Place turkey on large platter; cover loosely with foil to keep warm.
Complete gravy: Remove rack from roasting pan. Strain pan drippings into 4-cup liquid measuring cup or medium bowl, leaving giblets and neck in pan. Let drippings stand 1 minute to allow fat to separate from meat juices. Spoon 1/4 cup fat from drippings into 2-quart saucepan. Discard any remaining fat.
Place roasting pan over 2 burners on top of range and cook 2 to 4 minutes on medium-high to brown giblets, neck, and bits on bottom of pan, stirring constantly. Carefully add wine to roasting pan and boil about 3 minutes or until wine is reduced by half, stirring until browned bits are loosened from bottom of pan. Strain wine mixture into meat juices in measuring cup; add any additional meat juices on platter. Discard giblets and neck. Add enough broth to meat-juice mixture in cup to equal 4 cups total. (You may have some broth left over; save for use another day.)
With wire whisk, mix flour into fat in saucepan; cook on medium 3 to 4 minutes or until mixture turns golden-brown, whisking constantly. While still whisking, gradually add meat-juice mixture to saucepan; cook on medium-high until mixture boils and thickens, stirring frequently; boil 1 minute. Stir in mushroom mixture; heat through. Pour gravy into gravy boat and serve with turkey. Garnish turkey platter with herbs and fruit. Makes about 6 cups gravy.
To make Roast Turkey with White Wine Gravy: Prepare turkey and gravy as above, but omit margarine and mushrooms and all of step 5 and increase white wine to 1 1/2 cups. Makes about 4 cups gravy.
Each serving: About 50 calories, 1 g protein, 3 g carbohydrate, 5 g total fat (1 g saturated), 1 g fiber, 4 mg cholesterol, 140 mg sodium.
To make Roast Turkey with Roasted-Garlic Gravy: Prepare turkey and gravy as above, but omit margarine and mushrooms and all of step 5. In step 3, separate 1 head garlic into cloves; do not peel. Add garlic to bowl with vegetable mixture. In step 8, before straining pan drippings, with spatula or back of spoon, press garlic cloves, still in roasting pan, to squeeze soft roasted garlic into pan drippings; discard peels. Complete recipe as in steps 9 and 10. Makes about 4 cups gravy.
Each serving: About 50 calories, 1 g protein, 4 g carbohydrate, 4 g total fat (1 g saturated), 0 g fiber, 4 mg cholesterol, 115 mg sodium.
Tips & Techniques
To keep the gravy lovers in the crowd happy, have enough chicken broth on hand (we suggest 2 cans) to add to gravies as needed in step 9. The amount of meat juice your particular turkey gives off during roasting will determine how much chicken broth you'll need to add.
