Making the perfect Accidental Make-Ahead Turkey should only take approximately 2 hr 45 min . It’s considered an Easy level recipe. Below are the ingredients and directions for you to easily follow. The Accidental Make-Ahead Turkey recipe can feed your family for 10 servings.
There are many different ways to make this Accidental Make-Ahead Turkey recipe. Once you’re familiar with our recommended ingredients and directions, you can add your own twist to this recipe to make it your own! We’ve also listed potential Cookware items below that might be necessary for this Accidental Make-Ahead Turkey recipe.
Accidental Make-Ahead Turkey Popular Ingredients
- Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 (12- to 14-pound) fresh turkey
- 1 large yellow onion, unpeeled and cut in eighths
- 1 lemon, quartered
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy (see recipe)
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 large red onion, halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 4 large garlic cloves, peeled and halved
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 cups good chicken stock, preferably homemade
- 2 tablespoons Cognac or brandy
- 10 large fresh sage leaves
- 2 bay leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
Steps for making Accidental Make-Ahead Turkey
- Two or three days before you plan to roast the turkey, combine 3 tablespoons salt, the rosemary, and lemon zest. Wash the turkey inside and out, drain it well, and pat it dry with paper towels. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the salt mixture in the cavity of the turkey and rub the rest on the skin, including under the wings and legs. Place the turkey in a shallow dish to catch any drips and wrap the whole dish tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for one or two days. The day before you plan to roast the turkey, remove the plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge. The skin will dry out and turn a little translucent.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Be sure your oven is very clean!
- Place the onion, lemon, and thyme in the cavity. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tie the wings close to the body. Brush the turkey with the butter and sprinkle it with salt and pepper.
- Roast the turkey for 45 minutes, placing it in the oven legs first. Lower the temperature to 325 degrees F and roast it for about another hour, until 165 degrees F for the breast and 180 degrees in the thigh on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from the oven, cover the turkey tightly with aluminum foil, and allow it to rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Carve the turkey and arrange it on a platter. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and allow the turkey to sit at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
- To reheat, pour a 1/4-inch layer of the gravy into a large (12 × 16-inch) ovenproof serving platter (make sure it’s ovenproof!). Arrange the turkey artfully on top of the gravy. Place the platter uncovered into the oven for 15 to 30 minutes, until the turkey is very hot. Serve hot with extra gravy on the side.
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute, stirring often, for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onion becomes browned and starts to caramelize. Sprinkle on the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir in the chicken stock, Cognac, sage leaves, bay leaves, 2 teaspoons salt (depending on the saltiness of the chicken stock), and 1 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour and strain, pressing the solids lightly and then discarding them. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- After the turkey is cooked, remove it to a carving board to rest while you finish the gravy. Place the roasting pan on the stovetop over medium heat and add the wine. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring and scraping up all the bits clinging to the bottom of the pan. Slowly whisk the gravy base into the pan. Simmer for about 5 minutes, until the gravy is smooth and slightly thickened. Taste for seasonings and serve hot.
- “Make it Ahead” by Ina Garten © Clarkson Potter 2014. Provided courtesy of Ina Garten. All rights reserved.
Popular Categories for this Recipe
- Make Ahead
- Thanksgiving – Sub-national entitiesNovember 4, 2021 (Liberia);November 24, 2021 (Norfolk Island);November 3, 2022 (Liberia);November 30, 2022 (Norfolk Island);Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Liberia. It began as a day of giving thanks and sacrifice for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. Similarly named festival holidays occur in Germany and Japan. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and around the same part of the year in other places. Although Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, it has long been celebrated as a secular holiday as well.
- Poultry – Poultry (/ˈpoʊltri/) are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, and turkeys). The term also includes birds that are killed for their meat, such as the young of pigeons (known as squabs) but does not include similar wild birds hunted for sport or food and known as game. The word “poultry” comes from the French/Norman word poule, itself derived from the Latin word pullus, which means small animal.The domestication of poultry took place around 5,400 years ago in Southeast Asia. This may have originally been as a result of people hatching and rearing young birds from eggs collected from the wild, but later involved keeping the birds permanently in captivity. Domesticated chickens may have been used for cockfighting at first and quail kept for their songs, but soon it was realised how useful it was having a captive-bred source of food. Selective breeding for fast growth, egg-laying ability, conformation, plumage and docility took place over the centuries, and modern breeds often look very different from their wild ancestors. Although some birds are still kept in small flocks in extensive systems, most birds available in the market today are reared in intensive commercial enterprises.Together with pig meat, poultry is one of the two most widely eaten types of meat globally, with over 70% of the meat supply in 2012 between them; poultry provides nutritionally beneficial food containing high-quality protein accompanied by a low proportion of fat. All poultry meat should be properly handled and sufficiently cooked in order to reduce the risk of food poisoning. Semi-vegetarians who consume poultry as the only source of meat are said to adhere to pollotarianism.The word “poultry” comes from the West & English “pultrie”, from Old French pouletrie, from pouletier, poultry dealer, from poulet, pullet. The word “pullet” itself comes from Middle English pulet, from Old French polet, both from Latin pullus, a young fowl, young animal or chicken. The word “fowl” is of Germanic origin (cf. Old English Fugol, German Vogel, Danish Fugl).
- Turkey Recipes
You might need the following Cookware
In this section we’ve listed Cookware items that might be helpful to make this Accidental Make-Ahead Turkey recipe (or similar recipes). If certain tools or utensils are not applicable, then ignore and choose relevant items.
- Cooking pots
- Frying pan
- Steamers
- Colander
- Skillet
- Knives
- Cutting board
- Grater
- Saucepan
- Stockpot
- Spatula
- Tongs
- Measuring cups
- Wooden Spoon
