The star of the show

Always buy the best quality turkey you can afford – the flavour and texture of the meat, and the juiciness, will be your reward.

Thyme and Sherry-glazed Turkey

If you prefer to stuff your bird under the skin, use our Pork, Apricot and Hazelnut Stuffing mixture, remembering to weigh your turkey once stuffed to calculate cooking time. Hands-on time 20min, plus coming up to room temperature and resting. Cooking time about 3¼hr. Serves 8, with leftovers 5.4kg free-range turkey, giblets removed

2 carrots, halved lengthways 2 large onions, cut into thick slices 2 clementines or satsumas, plus extra to garnish, optional Small handful thyme sprigs 50g butter, softened

FOR THE GLAZE 75ml dry sherry 3tbsp marmalade 1tbsp Dijon mustard

1 Remove turkey from fridge 1hr before cooking; remove any wrapping, giblets or trussing. Pat dry with kitchen paper; use tweezers to pull out any stray feathers. Allow turkey to come up to room temperature. Weigh turkey and calculate cooking time, allowing 30-35min per kg.

2 Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan) mark 5. Put carrots and onions into base of a large sturdy roasting tin; sit turkey on top (breast up). Halve 1 clementine and pop both pieces into the turkey cavity with ½ the thyme sprigs. Loosely tie the legs together with kitchen string.

3 Finely zest and juice remaining clementine and mix with the softened butter, some seasoning and leaves picked from remaining thyme sprigs (don’t worry, it won’t come together well). Rub all over turkey and loosely cover turkey and tin with foil. Roast for calculated time.

4 Meanwhile, make the glaze. In a small pan, heat the sherry and bubble for 3-5min to intensify. Add the marmalade and mustard, stirring to dissolve. Bubble for 2min; set aside.

5 When the turkey has 45min remaining cooking time, remove foil and brush glaze all over bird (there should be some glaze left). Return bird to the oven (without foil), and repeat glazing after 20min.

6 To make sure the turkey is cooked, insert a fork into the thickest part of the breast and check that the juices run golden and clear. If not, return the bird to the oven and keep checking every 10min. Alternatively, use a meat thermometer – the temperature needs to be at least 72°C when inserted into the thickest part of the breast.

7 Transfer the turkey to a board, cover well with foil and lay over a couple of clean tea towels to help keep the heat in. Leave to rest in a warm place for at least 30min or up to 1¼hr. If you like, you can add any resting juices to the Onion and Porcini Gravy.

8 To serve, unwrap turkey; transfer to a warm serving plate. Garnish with fried clementine halves. Serve with gravy (see page 179) and sides. PER 125G MEAT WITH 50ML GRAVY 303cals, 40g protein, 13g fat (5g saturates), 5g carbs (3g total sugars), 1g fibre