Tennessee whiskey glazed turkey - country living

12 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 12-lb fresh or thawed frozen turkey
Quick Onion-and-Herb Stuffing (recipe follows)
3 tablespoons Butter or margarine, melted
Giblet Gravy (recipe follows)
½ cup Apple jelly
2 tablespoons Tennessee whiskey
2 teaspoons Angostura bitters
Fresh sage sprigs (opt.)
Red grapes (opt.)
Stuffed Baked Sweet Potatoes
(opt., see separate recipe)

Directions

1. Rinse turkey with cold water; drain well. Refrigerate neck and giblets until ready to make broth for gravy. Prepare Quick Onion-and-Herb Stuffing. Stuff neck cavity; skewer skin to back. Tuck wing tips under shoulder joints.

2. Spoon remaining stuffing lightly into body cavity. If opening has a band of skin across it, push drumsticks under it. Otherwise, tie drumsticks securely together with string.

3. Heat oven to 325'F. In shallow, open roasting pan, or dark enamel roaster with lid, place turkey, breast side up, on rack. Brush skin with 1 T butter. Insert meat thermometer into center of inside thigh muscle; do not allow thermometer to touch the bone.

4. If using roasting pan, tear off piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil 2 to 3 inches longer than the turkey. Place, tent style, over turkey.

Pinch foil lightly at legs to anchor. If using roaster, place lid on top.

5. Roast turkey 4½ to 5 hours (or 22 to 26 minutes per lb), basting occasionally with pan drippings, until thermometcr registers 185'F or drumstick moves easily. About 45 minutes before turkey is finished, prepare Giblet Gravy.

6. To make Tennessee whiskey glaze, in small saucepan, melt apple jelly over medium heat; stir in whiskey, bitters, and remaining 2 T butter. Remove aluminum foil tent or roaster lid from turkey; brush turkey with glaze. Continue roasting, uncovered, 15 to 20 minutes longer or until skin is browned and shiny. Transfer turkey to large plat- ter-let rest 15 minutes before carving. Garnish turkey platter with sage sprigs, grapes, and Stuffed Baked Sweet Potatoes, if desired. Serve with gravy.

Quick Onion-and-Herb Stuffing: In 6-quart saucepot, combine 1 10 ½-oz can condensed French Onion soup, 1 C water, ¼ C (½ stick) butter, and 1 C chopped celery; heat to boiling. Remove from heat and stir in 1 15- oz package seasoned stuffing cubes, 1 large egg, ½ t dried marjoram leaves, ½ t dried thyme leaves, and ½ t dried sage. Use to stuff turkey or transfer to covered 1 ½-quart casserole dish and bake at 350'F for 45 minutes.

Giblet Gravy: About 45 minutes before turkey is finished roasting, in heavy 2-quart saucepan, saute reserved giblets and neck, ¼ C chopped onion, and ¼ C chopped celery in 1 T butter until onion is golden. Add 2 C water, ½ t salt, and ⅛ t ground black pepper to the mixture in the saucepan. Cover pan and heat to boiling; cook over low heat until turkey is cooked. When turkey has been removed from roasting pan, pour drippings from pan into 4-cup measuring cup.

Remove and discard fat from drippings. If necessary, add water to juice from drippings to make 2 C; return to roasting pan. Remove neck and giblets from broth in saucepan; measure broth and add cool water to make 2 cups. Add 1 C broth to roasting pan; heat mixture in roasting pan to boiling, stirring to loosen browned-on bits. With wire whisk, stir ½ C unsifted all purpose flour into remaining broth until smooth; stir into mixture in roasting pan and cook, stirring until thickened and smooth. Remove meat from neck; chop neck meat and giblets and stir into gravy in roasting pan. Spoon into gravy boat and serve with turkey.

Country Living/Dec/91 Scanned & fixed by DP and GG

Related recipes