TRADITIONAL & STRAIGHTFORWARD
Roast turkey with citrus butter
■ Serves 8 ■ Prep 15 mins plus resting ■ Cook 4 hrs
1 turkey, about 6kg, giblets removed
140g butter, at room temperature
1 lemon, zested
1 orange, zested
2 thyme sprigs, leaves finely chopped
1 rosemary sprig, leaves finely chopped
4 large onions, halved
3 bay leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
1 Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Pat the turkey dry all over with kitchen paper. Now weigh the bird and calculate the cooking time at 40 mins per kg. Mix the butter with the citrus zests and herbs, and season well. Gently push your fingers under the turkey's skin, starting from the neck end of the bird, easing the skin away from the flesh over both the breasts and the tops of the drumsticks. Spread the butter under the skin, pushing it in as far as you can, then smooth the skin back into place. Halve the lemon and orange and put in the turkey cavity along with 2 onion halves and the bay leaves.
2 Rub the turkey all over with oil and sprinkle with salt. Arrange the remaining onions in the bottom of a large roasting tin to act as a trivet for the bird. Sit the turkey on top and completely cover both bird and tin with foil to make a tent. Roast in the oven according to your calculated cooking times.
3 Thirty mins before the end of the cooking time, take out the turkey and turn up the oven to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6. Remove the foil and return the turkey to the oven for a further 30 mins until golden. Now test to see if it's ready (see box, below).
4 Rest the turkey, covered loosely with foil, for at least 30 mins and up to 1 hr before serving. Strain and reserve the cooking juices and keep the onions in the tin for making the gravy, recipe on p25.
PER SERVING 686 kcals, fat 32g, saturates 13g, carbs none, sugars none, fibre none, protein 100g, salt 0.9g
Fail-safe recipe to impress your guests
THE PERFECT MARRIAGE
Traditional bread sauce
■ Serves 8 ■ Prep 10 mins plus infusing ■ Cook 10 mins VEGETARIAN FREEZABLE
1 onion
6 cloves
300ml milk, plus extra if required
75ml double cream
6 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves, plus extra
