Roast turkey with cranberry sauce

Serves: 8

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Total Time: 175

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 165

• 5 kilogram(s) fresh organic turkey
• 50 gram(s) butter, softened
• 2 tablespoon(s) chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon(s) chopped thyme
• 1 teaspoon(s) finely grated lemon zest
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• TO ROAST
• 1  square metre butter muslin
• 200 gram(s) butter, melted
• FOR CRANBERRY SAUCE
• 500 gram(s) fresh cranberries
• 200 gram(s) pale, unrefined sugar
• 1  orange

Method

1. Remove any giblets from your turkey to use for stock. Make sure the bird is dry inside and out. Loosen the skin from the underlying flesh over the breast and thighs, working your fingers in carefully from the neck end without breaking the skin.
2. Mix the butter with the herbs and lemon zest and season it quite highly. Use your fingers to spread the herby butter under the skin of the turkey over both the breast and thighs. Truss the bird neatly and set it on a rack in a roasting tin.
3. Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan oven) gas mark 5. Fold the muslin in four, dunk it in the melted butter and drape it over the turkey. Roast the bird, allowing 30 minutes per kilo (so 2 hours in the oven plus a 15 minute rest), basting it two or three times. About 30 minutes before it is ready, remove the muslin to let the skin crisp a little. Check that the turkey is cooked by inserting a skewer into the thickest part of the leg, close to the body. When the juices run clear, no longer pink, it is ready.
4. The cranberry sauce: Heat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan oven) gas mark 4. Put the cranberries in a small casserole with the sugar. Use a vegetable peeler to take several ribbons of zest from the orange, and squeeze the juice. Add the zest and juice to the dish, cover and bake for 10 minutes. Stir, re-cover and bake for another 20 minutes until the berries are tender. Recipe by Shona Crawford Poole

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