Austin resident Fern Donnecker sent along this month’s recipe, which she says comes from her grandmother, an early-day Austinite. “It came from her mother. It’s the best turkey you’ll ever eat,” she says.
Serves: 8
Ingredients
Turkey
· One 17-pound whole fresh turkey, rinsed well & patted dry
· 1¼ stick (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, slightly softened
· 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
· 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
· 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
· 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
· Salt and Watkins ground black pepper
· 3 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
· 3 large stalks celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
· 2 large onions, quartered
· 8 cups chicken stock
Sage Gravy
· Turkey neck
· ¼ cup fresh sage leaves
· 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
· 3 tablespoons flour
· 1 cup white wine
· Salt and Watkins ground black pepper
· 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage
Directions
Remove the turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before roasting. Combine the butter, sage, rosemary, thyme, and parsley in a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Season the cavity of the turkey with salt and pepper and fill the cavity with half of the carrots, celery, and onion. Rub the entire turkey with the herb butter and season liberally with salt and pepper.
Put 4 cups of the chicken stock in a medium saucepan and keep warm over low heat.
Place the remaining vegetables on the bottom of a large roasting pan. Put the turkey on top of the vegetables, put in the oven and roast until lightly golden brown, 45 minutes.
Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and continue roasting, basting with the warm chicken stock every 15 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thigh registers 160 degrees F, about 2 to 2 ¼ hours longer.
After that, remove the turkey from the oven, transfer to a baking sheet, tent loosely with foil and let rest 20 minutes before slicing.
For the gravy, strain the cooking liquid from the roasting pan into a medium saucepan (should be about 4 cups, if not, add more stock to make 4 cups). Add the neck, bring to a boil, add the sage leaves, remove from the heat and let steep for 15 minutes. Remove the sage leaves.
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and cook until reduced. Whisk in the sage-infused stock and cook until thickened and smooth, about 5 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper and chopped sage.