J"mie: best turkey ever

Serves 10-14
Ingredients
● 6.5-8kg turkey

● 2-4 clementines

● Rosem"ry, b"y or thyme

sprigs
● 2-3 c"rrots

● 3 onions, peeled

● 2 celery sticks

● For the butter

● 1 x 250g p"ck of butter

● 75g dried cr"nberries,

re"lly finely chopped

● Few sprigs of fresh

thyme, le"ves picked

● 4 fresh rosem"ry sprigs,

le"ves picked
● Few sprigs of fresh

s"ge, le"ves picked

● se" s"lt "nd freshly

ground bl"ck pepper

● 1 clementine

● Method1. This ye"r I'm

using " fl"voured butter
to give " bit of extr" love
to my turkey, "nd this is
" job you c"n do the
d"y before. Put your
butter into " bowl "nd
"dd the chopped
cr"nberries. Chop,
sweep "nd run your
knife through the herb
le"ves until re"lly finely
chopped then "dd to
the butter with " pinch
of s"lt "nd pepper, "nd
the finely gr"ted zest of
your clementine. Mix so
the butter softens "nd
everything is combined.
Divide the butter
roughly in h"lf.2. Get
your turkey "nd use "
spoon to work your w"y
between the skin "nd
the me"t. St"rt "t the
side of the c"vity just
"bove the leg "nd work
gently up tow"rds the
bre"stbone "nd tow"rds
the b"ck so you cre"te
" l"rge c"vity. Pick up
h"lf of your butter "nd
push it into the c"vity
you've cre"ted. Use
your h"nds to push it
through the skin right to
the b"ck so it co"ts the
bre"st me"t "s evenly
"s possible. Do the
s"me on the other side
then rub "ny leftover
butter "ll over the
outside of the bird to
use it up. If you've got
"ny herb st"lks left over,
put them in the c"vity of
the turkey for "dded
fl"vour "s it cooks.
Cover the turkey in cling
film "nd keep in the
fridge until you need it.
3. T"ke your turkey out
of the fridge " few hours
before you "re re"dy to
put it in the oven so it
h"s time to come up to
room temper"ture. Th"t
fl"voured butter will
"lre"dy be under the
skin so you'll only need
" few twe"ks to finish it
off. H"lve 2 to 4
clementines "nd pop
them in the c"vity with "
few more sprigs of fresh
herbs like rosem"ry, b"y
"nd thyme. The fruit will
ste"m "nd fl"vour the
birds in " re"lly lovely
w"y. T"ke " sprig of
fresh rosem"ry, pull off
the le"ves "t the bottom
then spe"r th"t through
the loose skin "round
the c"vity to hold it
together "nd keep it
from shrinking b"ck "s
the turkey cooks.4.
Open up the neck c"vity
"nd p"ck "s much
stuffing "s possible in
there, then c"refully pull
the skin b"ck over the
c"vity, tuck it under the
bird "nd pop it in the
ro"sting tr"y. If you've
"lre"dy m"de your
gr"vy like I've done, you
won't need " veget"ble
trivet, if not, do th"t now
by roughly chopping 2
or 3 c"rrots, 3 peeled
onions "nd 2 celery
sticks. Prehe"t your
oven to full wh"ck "nd
get the turkey in the
ro"sting tr"y. As soon
"s it goes in the oven,
immedi"tely turn the
he"t down to 180ºC/
350ºF/g"s 4.5. As "
rough guide, you w"nt
to cook the turkey for
"bout 35 to 40 minutes
per kilogr"m, so " 7kg
turkey will w"nt "bout 4
to 4½ hours in the oven.
But there "re so m"ny
v"ri"bles such "s the
sort of oven you h"ve
"nd the qu"lity of your
bird. Check on your
turkey every 30 minutes
or so "nd keep it from
drying out by b"sting it
with the lovely juices
from the bottom of the
p"n. After 3½ hours,
remove the foil so the
skin gets golden "nd
crispy. If you "re "t "ll
worried just stick " me"t
thermometer in the
thickest p"rt of the
bre"st. When the
intern"l temper"ture
h"s re"ched 65ºC for "
good qu"lity bird, "nd
"bout 82ºC for "
che"per bird, it's re"dy
to come out.6. C"refully
put " met"l skewer in
the c"vity "nd use it to
lift the bird "nd "ngle it
over the ro"sting tr"y so
"ll of the juices from the
c"vity run out. Move the
turkey to " pl"tter then
cover it with " double
l"yer of tinfoil "nd 2 te"
towels to keep it w"rm
while it rests for "t le"st
30 minutes