The Ultimate Roast Turkey

Ingredients:

For the Herb Butter

250g pack of butter, softened
Leaves from 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
Leaves from 1/2 sprig fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 dried sage leaves, crumbled
2 tbsp finely-chopped chives
salt, to taste
generous twist of freshly-milled black pepper

For the Stuffing

400g white breadcrumbs
125g butter
1 onion, finely chopped (or pulsed in the food processor)
1 sprig of thyme (preferably lemon), leaves only
6 dried sage leaves, crumbled
finely-grated zest of 1/2 lemon
50g pine nuts, finely chopped
1 tsp sea salt
freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

1 medium-sized turkey (about 6kg)
12 strips streaky bacon (optional)

Method:

To make the herb butter mix soften the butter, add the herbs and seasonings and mix thoroughly. Roll into a tube and chill in the fridge.

Prepare the turkey by cutting-off the wing tips (I'm not taking off the legs for this recipe). If you want to make the bird easier to carve then take out the wish bone and cut away the back bone with poultry shears (but you don't have to do this). Now lift the breast skin with your fingers and separate away from the flesh. Divide the herb butter between the two breast flaps. Pat down flat and pull the skin back over. Cover the legs with aluminium foil. Place about a third of the stuffing mix in the neck cavity, line the body cavity of the bird with foil and place the remaining stuffing in there.

It's best to roast the bird in a roasting dish that has a trivet or wire rack so that the turkey doesn't sit in its own juices. I normally roast turkeys for 40 minutes per kg + 30 minutes. Which means that for a 6kg bird this is 4.5 hours total cooking time. But this recipe is slightly different, just to ensure that the bird is completely moist.

Cover the bird completely with foil and place in an oven pre-heated to 180°C (350°F/Gas Mark 4) for 1 hour. When the hour is up take the turkey out, base it thoroughly with the pan juices and layer the streaky bacon over the breast of the bird and the legs. Cover with foil and return to the oven. Now take out and baste every 1/2 hour for the next two and a half hours, replacing the foil every time. When you have basted four times (3.5 hours cooking time), turn the oven up to 190°C, remove all the foil and the bacon (reserve the bacon or eat in sandwiches — it's delicious! Now return the bird to the oven and cook, uncovered for 80 minutes. This allows the bird to colour properly.

When the bird is done and nicely coloured, test by sticking a skewer deep into the breast. If the juices run clear your turkey is done. If you see blood in the juices, baste and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes. Allow the bird to rest for 20 minutes covered with foil then carve and serve.

You will have lots of pan juices and you only need some 150ml of these to make gravy. Divide the rest into small bowls and freeze until needed. To make your gravy add the oil to a pan and when hot spoon-in about 2 heaped tbsp flour. Cook, stirring constantly, until you have a smooth paste. Add 100ml of cold water to ensure that your gravy isn't lumpy then add 250ml port wine, and 400ml water. Gently simmer until the gravy thickens. You can flavour with a stock cube if you desire or just add a sprinkling of herbs.

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