Roast turkey with bread sauce and gravy

Name: Roast turkey with bread sauce and gravy
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 3 h 40 min
Total time: 4 h 15 min
Yield: Serves 8
Ingredients: 2½ tablespoons cream or 45 g (1½ oz) unsalted butter, optional; ½ onion, studded with 3-4 cloves; 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped; 105 g (3½ oz) fresh white breadcrumbs; grated fresh nutmeg; 2 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly bruised; 105 ml (3½ fl oz) vegetable oil; 1 small onion, roughly chopped; watercress, to garnish; 1 small carrot, roughly chopped; 600 ml (20 fl oz) milk; 1 x 6 kg (12 lb) turkey, plus the neck from the giblets if available; 30 g (1 oz) plain flour; 1 bouquet garni (see Chef’s tip); 500 ml (16 fl oz) chicken stock

Preparation info

Serves
8

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
4 hr 30

Appears in

Christmas

By Le Cordon Bleu

Published 1999

About

The classic Christmas dinner: a golden turkey with bread sauce and gravy. The turkey needs about 2 hours cooking time and can then sit for up to 45 minutes while the juices seep back into the meat to keep it moist.

Ingredients

1 x 6 kg (12 lb) turkey, plus the neck from the giblets if available
105 ml (

Main course
Dinner
Christmas
December
Winter

Method

Clean the turkey inside and out, removing any feathers. With a sharp knife, cut off and reserve the end wing joints. Lift up the flap of skin at the neck and, using a small sharp knife, scrape the meat away from the wishbone and remove the wishbone. Tie the legs together with string. Preheat the oven to moderate