Cranberry-Orange Glazed Turkey
A family favorite recipe should always make the rounds every year. Everyone tinkers with it but the end result is (usually) still delicious.
Cranberry-Orange Glazed Turkey
This is a Giada De Laurentiis recipe that our Aut found a while ago, and we've use it not only for turkey, but on chicken and duck as well. We boil the unused bones/meat with celery and carrot tops and onion cores (the stuff you usually throw away), and freeze the broth (in ice cube form) for soups or anywhere that asks for a small amount of chicken stock. Because the turkey is cut up beforehand, you don't have to worry about a large roaster or roasting pan taking up valuable space.
Total Time: 3 hr 35 min
Prep: 1 hr
Inactive: 35 min
Cook: 2 hr
Yield: 6 servings
Level: Intermediate
Ingredients
- One 11-pound turkey, cut into 6 pieces
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Cranberry Orange Glaze, recipe follows
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- Assorted fresh herb sprigs, orange wedges and whole cranberries, for garnish
Special equipment: instant-read thermometer
Cranberry Orange Glaze:
- 1/2 cup frozen cranberry juice cocktail concentrate, thawed
- 1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
- 1/4 cup orange marmalade
- 1 1/4 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Position an oven rack in the bottom third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Rinse the turkey pieces and pat very dry with paper towels. Brush the turkey all over with oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange the turkey, skin-side up, on a baking sheet with the thick end of the breasts and thighs at the corners, the drumsticks in the center. Roast for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
- Remove the turkey from the oven and brush with the Cranberry Orange Glaze. Pour the broth onto the baking sheet to prevent drippings from burning.
- Roast the turkey, covering loosely with foil if browning too quickly, until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees F to 170 degrees F in thickest part of the thigh (do not let the thermometer touch bone), 20 minutes.Transfer the turkey to a platter. Brush generously with more glaze and let rest 25 to 30 minutes.
- Scrape all the pan juices and browned bits from the baking sheet into a large measuring cup. Spoon off and discard the fat that rises to the surface. Heat the pan juices in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk 2 to 3 tablespoons of the glaze into the pan juices (or more if desired) to make the gravy and bring to a simmer for the flavors to blend.
- Slice the turkey and arrange on the platter. Garnish with herb sprigs, oranges wedges and cranberries, and serve with gravy.
Cranberry Orange Glaze:
- In a small saucepan, bring the cranberry juice, orange juice, marmalade and rosemary to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil until the glaze thickens enough to coat a spoon, whisking often, 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat. Whisk in the butter, then season the glaze with salt and pepper.
Recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis. Its at Food Network, of course.