BRINED TURKEY WITH GIBLET & ROOT VEGETABLE GRAVY

I’m a recent convert to brining my turkey before roasting. It seems to be the perfect way to counteract the dryness of turkey breast, giving it a succulence that you’ve perhaps never tasted before. The stuffing (below right) is made separately to allow for more accurate cooking times.

Serves 8-10

Turkey (approx 5kg/11lb) with giblets

Sunflower or vegetable oil Freshly ground black pepper 3 carrots, scrubbed and sliced 1 onion, sliced

2 stalks celery, sliced

Approx 150ml (5fl oz) water 2tbsp plain flour

For the brine

Use 50g (1¾oz) salt and 15g (½oz) sugar per litre of water. Depending on the container you brine in, you may need anything between 5-10ltr

On Christmas Eve prepare your brine. Put the turkey into a receptacle big enough to contain it and the brine (I used a large, deep stock pot but a bucket would work). Measure enough cold water to cover the bird, then remove 1ltr of the water and boil with the required quantity of salt and sugar, to dissolve it, then pour back into the rest of the water and stir a little. Allow the turkey to brine for at least 8 hours or overnight in the fridge or a cool place or even outside but cover well (if outside

you need to weigh it down well in case of foxes!). Next morning remove the turkey and discard the brine.

Allow the turkey to come up to room temperature for about 2 hours before roasting. Preheat the oven to 220°C/ fan 200°C/gas 7. Arrange the vegetables and the giblets (excluding the liver, which you will use in the stuffing) in a deep roasting tin, and drizzle with 1tbsp oil. Brush the turkey all over with oil, add to the roasting tin and season with freshly ground black pepper (it will be salty enough after brining). Add 150ml of water, transfer the turkey to the oven for 20 minutes to brown, then turn the heat down to 170°C/fan 150°C/gas 3.

Cook for between 1½-2½ hours – the timing is not fixed as everyone’s oven is different. The most important thing for roasts as big as this is a temperature probe. Start using this an hour into the cooking time, putting it into the thickest part of the body and the thigh. When the probe reads 70°C everywhere, transfer the turkey to a serving platter and cover with foil and allow to rest for 30 minutes to an hour.

Provided your turkey has fitted snugly into the roasting tin there should be plenty of stock, however if you’ve had to use a shallow tin or one that’s a lot larger than the turkey you may need to add extra water during the roasting, so it doesn’t dry out.

Put the roasting tin on a hob and stir in the flour. Add extra water if the gravy looks too thick. Pour everything through a sieve into a saucepan. Extract as much flavour as possible from the veg by pressing them against the mesh with a ladle. Set aside and bring the gravy back to the boil just before serving. This produces a very light-coloured gravy which is beautifully flavoured. Add some gravy browning if you like, to give it a bit more colour.

Rick gets ready to carve the turkey