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Apricot & Bread Stuffed Roast Turkey

Source of Recipe

Roasting cookbook


List of Ingredients

STUFFING:
2 large loaves bread, broken small pieces (12 c.)
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 large onions, peel and chop
1/2 head garlic, peel and chop
12 large ribs celery, trim and chop
1 bunch scallion, trim and chop
1/4 cup chopped fresh thyme or 2 tbl. dry
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup walnut halves, chopped
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup milk

TURKEY, GARLIC and POTATOES:
1 tablespoon oil
16 pounds turkey (totally thawed)
12 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
5 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped fresh chives (optional)
2 whole heads garlic, unpeeled
30 small new potatoes, scrubbed

STOCK and GRAVY:
1 turkey neck, gizzard and heart
8 cups cold water
2 small onions, peel and quarter
2 large ribs celery, trim and chop
1 bay leaf
5 black peppercorns
4 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1 tsp dried
2 tablespoons flour


Recipe

Preheat oven to 450ºF. Prepare stuffing: Place bread (use small pieces of dried out bread) in large bowl. In large skillet, melt butter and oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook till soft, 5 minutes. Add garlic, celery, scallion, thyme and half of parsley, cooking till soft, 5 minutes more. Add nuts, apricot and hefty sprinkle salt and pepper. Should be cooked through but not soft and limp.

Add this mix to bowl with bread, mixing well. Add remaining parsley and additional salt and pepper. Pour 1/2 c. milk into empty skillet and heat 1 minutes, scraping surface well. Pour milk over stuffing and mix well. Add more milk or water if needed. Do not make stuffing more than 1 hour ahead of time and never stuff turkey more than 30 minutes before roasting.

Grease bottom of roasting pan with oil. Using hands, generously stuff cavity of turkey, pressing down firmly to get as much stuffing in as can, without overflowing. Stuff neck cavity, careful not to overstuff. Close with wooden skewers or truss bird. Place turkey in roasting pan, breast side up. Pack any remaining stuffing into small lightly greased casserole and set aside. In same skillet used to cook stuffing, melt butter over medium heat. Add cloves of garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minutes. Pour melted butter and garlic over turkey, then sprinkle with salt, pepper and generous pinch of paprika. Sprinkle chives over turkey.

Roast turkey for 15 minutes at 450ºF. Reduce temperature to 325ºF and baste turkey. Cover turkey loosely with foil, creating tent. Continue roasting turkey, basting every 20 minutes, for 15/20 minutes per pound. Turkey is done when juices run clear and not pink when inner thigh is pierced. About 1 hr and 15 minutes before turkey is done, add the 2 heads of garlic and potatoes to roaster and baste well.

During last 20 minutes of roasting, add casserole of extra stuffing to oven and bake until heated through. While turkey is roasting, prepare stock. Place all ingredients for gravy except for flour and pepper in medium saucepan, bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer about 2 hours. Season to taste. Remove roasting pan from oven and place turkey on carving board, letting sit loosely covered with foil for 15-20 minutes. Place whole garlic, potatoes and loose garlic in bowl.

Meanwhile, finish the gravy: Using large spoon, discard all but few tablespoons of fat. Place roasting pan over two burners. Bring to simmer over medium heat, deglazing the pan. Whisk in 2 tbl. flour. Cook for 2 minutes and then slowly strain in about 4 c. of the turkey stock you've been cooking. Whisk to prevent lumps. Bring to simmer and add salt and pepper to season. Scoop stuffing out of turkey and place in warm bowl. Carve turkey and serve with hot gravy, roasted garlic and potatoes. Makes 10 servings.