Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and I can’t wait! Last year I wanted to try something different and made a Cranberry Hazelnut Turkey Wellington. It wasn’t the most beautiful turkey dish, but it sure tasted good. This year, I went for something more traditional with this Herb Roasted Turkey with Gravy recipe. I’m the type of person who either skips the gravy or buys it, so making my own will be a bit of an adventure. Let’s see if I’m up to the task!
Gourmet doesn’t necessarily mean complicated. And in this case, it really couldn’t be simpler. This turkey only takes a few minutes to prepare.
The Ingredients
The list of ingredients for this recipe wasn’t too long, and I loved the fact that it called for plenty of fresh herbs. I went with the author’s suggestions and used parsley, rosemary, thyme, and sage. After the turkey (about $15 for 9.5 pounds), the fresh herbs were the most expensive item at just over $8 for all four.
The only item I couldn’t find was the turkey stock, so I went with the closest thing I could find: chicken stock. I sure hope there isn’t a huge difference in the taste.
The Process
I have to say this roasted turkey and gravy recipe was pretty easy to make. The instructions were clear and I didn’t have any trouble following along. Here’s how it went:
- 17 minutes to prep
- 2 hours 45 minutes to cook the turkey
- 12 minutes to make the gravy
- 3 hours 14 minutes total
I went by the directions for the turkey until the part where the temperature was raised to 425 degrees. My oven’s heating elements are on the bottom, and the drippings started burning away and smoking a lot. I raised the rack a couple of notches to fix that issue. I also re-tented the turkey with foil to keep it from browning too fast.
Once the turkey was done, I had 1/2 cup of dippings for the gravy. I added 1 1/2 cups of the chicken stock to that because I like my gravy on the thick side. The gravy was still on the thin side after simmering for 10 minutes, but it did thicken up some as it cooled.
