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Fennel-spiced roast turkey with mushroom gravy

6
Points®
Total Time
3 hr 40 min
Prep
20 min
Cook
3 hr
Serves
12
Difficulty
Easy
Make this your holiday turkey go-to. It's a relatively no-fuss roasted bird that gets its deeply flavorful meat from the spice blend that you tuck under its skin. Fennel seeds will be even more flavor packed if you lightly toast them in a dry skillet before adding them to the garlic and thyme mixture to grind. Paired with this sherry-spiked mushroom gravy, it's a satisfying whole bird that will be the star of your table - comforting and rich on its own, but even better with an herbed stuffing or roasted or mashed potatoes.

Ingredients

Whole turkey, light and dark meat, no skin, raw

7¼ pound(s), 1 (10-12 pound) whole turkey

Fennel seeds

1 Tbsp

Fresh thyme

1 Tbsp, chopped

Garlic

3 clove(s), minced

Olive oil

3 tsp

Table salt

¾ tsp

Chicken broth

2¼ cup(s)

Sherry wine (dry)

¼ cup(s)

Shiitake mushroom

½ pound(s), stems discarded, caps sliced

All-purpose flour

2 Tbsp

Instructions

  1. 1 Place oven rack in lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 450°F. Place rack in large roasting pan and spray with nonstick spray. Remove neck and giblets from cavity of turkey and discard (or save for another use).
  2. 2 Pulse fennel seeds, thyme, garlic, 1 teaspoon oil, and salt in mini– food processor or spice grinder until paste forms. With your fingers, loosen skin on turkey breast. Rub fennel mixture evenly on meat under skin; press skin back into place. Tuck wings under turkey and tie legs together with kitchen string. Place turkey, breast side up, on prepared rack in roasting pan. Pour 1 cup broth into bottom of pan; roast turkey 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Continue roasting until instant-read thermometer inserted into thigh registers 165°F, about 21/2 hours longer (cover turkey loosely with foil if it begins to get too brown). Transfer turkey to cutting board. Cover loosely with foil and let stand 20 minutes.
  3. 3 Meanwhile, to make gravy, pour drippings and juices from roasting pan into large measuring cup. Let stand 5 minutes; skim off fat and discard. Set aside.
  4. 4 Set roasting pan over 2 burners over medium-high heat. Add sherry to pan and bring to boil, stirring with wooden spoon to scrape up browned bits from bottom of pan. Add remaining 1 1/4 cups broth to pan and return to boil. Strain mixture through fine wire-mesh strainer into measuring cup with drippings. Discard solids.
  5. 5 Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in flour; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add sherry mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until gravy bubbles and thickens, about 2 minutes.
  6. 6 Remove skin and carve into 24 slices. Serve turkey with gravy.
  7. Serving size: 2 slices turkey and 3 tablespoons gravy

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