Honey-glazed turkey with whisky gravy

Spend as much as you can on your bird – not only will it have had a better standard of living, but the texture and flavour of the meat will be noticeably superior.

SERVES 6, with leftovers PREP 30min, plus bringing to room temperature and resting COOK about 2hr 50min

• 3.5kg free-range turkey

• 1 quantity mulled sausage and sage stuffing (see page 113; to end of step 2)

• 2 small lemons, skin on, sliced

• 2 medium onions, skin on, sliced

• 15g fresh sage, plus optional extra to garnish

• 11/2tbsp olive oil

FOR THE GLAZE

• 40g butter, melted

• 1/2tbsp runny honey

• 2tsp Dijon mustard

FOR THE GRAVY

• 25g plain flour

• 400ml chicken stock

• 2tbsp whisky

• 2tbsp runny honey

1 Remove turkey from fridge 1hr before cooking to bring it up to room temperature.

2 Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan) mark 5. Place turkey breast-up on a board and use tweezers to pluck out any stray feathers. Pat dry with kitchen paper. Lift up neck flap and use your fingers to ease skin gently away from some of the breast meat. Put the stuffing inside neck cavity. Turn turkey over on to its breast, pull the neck flap down and over stuffing and secure with a skewer or cocktail stick. Weigh turkey and calculate cooking time, allowing 30-35min per kg.

3 Put turkey on a layer of the lemon and onion slices in a sturdy roasting tin. Stuff remaining lemon and onion, along with the sage in the turkey’s central cavity. Tie turkey legs together, rub the oil over the bird; season. Cover tin loosely with foil.

4 Roast for calculated time, basting occasionally (add a little water to tin if base is catching), removing foil for last 45min of cooking. At same time as removing foil, mix together glaze ingredients and paint over bird. If the skin browns too quickly, cover again with foil.

5 To check turkey is cooked, insert a fork into the thickest part of the thigh and check the juices run golden and clear. If there’s any red tinge to the juice, return the bird to the oven and keep checking

every 10-15min. Alternatively, use a meat thermometer – the temperature needs to read 72°C when inserted into the thickest part of the breast.

6 Transfer turkey to a lipped board (set aside roasting tin for gravy) and cover with foil and tea towels to help keep the heat in. Leave to rest in a warm place for at least 30min or up to 1¼hr.

7 Make gravy. Spoon excess fat out of roasting tin, leaving behind roasting juices. Put tin over medium hob heat and whisk in flour. Cook, whisking, for 1min. Gradually whisk in stock (scraping up all the sticky bits from the base of the tin) and leave to bubble for a few min. Next, whisk in the whisky and honey and leave to simmer, whisking occasionally, for a couple of min.

Strain into a warmed gravy jug or a clean pan (to reheat when needed). Check seasoning.

8 To serve turkey, unwrap and transfer to a warmed serving plate. Remove skewer or cocktail sticks and garnish with sage and roast potatoes, if you like. Serve with the gravy (reheated if needed). GET AHEAD Prepare to end of step 3 up to a day ahead. Chill. To serve, allow the stuffed turkey to come up to room temperature before roasting. PER SERVING (125G MEAT WITH 50ML GRAVY, EXCLUDING STUFFING): CALS 276; FAT 9G; SAT FAT 3G; CARBS 5G