Plum-Glazed Roast Turkey with Spinach, Bacon, and Cashew Stuffing and Plum Gravy
- 1/2 cup plum jam (preferably damson plum) or red currant jelly (6 oz)
- 2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder
- 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 (12- to 14-lb) turkey (preferably kosher), any feathers and quills removed with tweezers or needlenose pliers, and neck and giblets (excluding liver) reserved for making stock
- 5 to 7 cups spinach, bacon, and cashew stuffing (see stuffed onions)
- 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted
- Pan juices from roast turkey
- About 3 1/2 cups turkey giblet stock
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 1/4 cup plum jam (preferably damson plum) or red currant jelly (3 oz)
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- Special equipment: 2 small metal skewers or wooden toothpicks; kitchen string; an instant-read thermometer
- Preheat oven to 425F.
- Simmer jam, five-spice powder, peppercorns, water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan, stirring, until jam is melted, about 3 minutes.
- Pour glaze through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl, pressing on and discarding solids, then cool.
- Rinse turkey inside and out and pat dry.
- Season inside and out with remaining teaspoon salt.
- Loosely fill large body cavity (and neck cavity if desired) with stuffing and tie drumsticks together with string.
- Fold neck skin under body and secure with skewers, then tuck wings under.
- Put turkey on a rack set in a large flameproof roasting pan and roast in middle of oven 30 minutes.
- Reduce oven temperature to 350F.
- Brush melted butter over turkey and roast, basting every 30 minutes (add a little water to pan if juices get too dark), 1 1/2 hours.
- Brush turkey with plum glaze and continue to roast until thermometer inserted in center of body cavity (stuffing) registers 165F (fleshy part of thigh will be about 180F; do not touch bone), 1 to 1 3/4 hours more.
- If glaze starts browning too much, tent turkey with foil.
- (Total roasting time: 3 to 3 3/4 hours.)
- Transfer turkey to a platter (do not clean roasting pan), then remove skewers and discard string.
- Transfer stuffing from cavity to a serving dish and keep warm, covered.
- Let turkey stand 30 minutes.
- Transfer pan juices to a 2-quart glass measure, then skim fat, reserving 3 tablespoons of it.
- Add enough turkey stock to pan juices to total 4 1/2 cups.
- Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners, then add wine and deglaze pan by boiling over moderately high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until wine is reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
- Add stock mixture and jam and boil, stirring, until jam is melted.
- Pour through fine-mesh sieve into glass measure.
- Whisk together reserved fat and flour in a large heavy saucepan (it will be about the thickness of peanut butter) and cook roux over moderately low heat, stirring, 3 minutes.
- Add hot stock mixture in a fast stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps, and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in turkey juices accumulated on platter and simmer 1 minute.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve turkey with gravy.
plum, whole black peppercorns, water, salt, turkey, bacon, unsalted butter, pan, turkey giblet stock, red wine, plum, flour, metal skewers
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/plum-glazed-roast-turkey-with-spinach-bacon-and-cashew-stuffing-and-plum-gravy-107358 (may not work)