Hazelnut Roast Turkey with Harvest Gravy

Source: Bon Appetit, November 1995

• Hazelnut Butter
  • 2 cups hazelnuts
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• Squash Puree
  • 1 1.5 pound qcorn squash
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 6 large garlic cloves, peeled
• Turkey Stock
  • Turkey neck and giblets (heart, gizzard and liver) reserved from 20-lb turkey
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 1 medium leek (wihte and pale green parts only), chopped
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 4 fresh parsley sprigs
  • 4 fresh thyme sprigs
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 6 cups water
• Turkey
  • 1 20-pound Turkey
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 12 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 8 fresh thyme sprigs
  • 8 fresh parsley sprigs
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• Gravy
  • 1 large Golden Delicious apple, peeled, cored, cut into 1/4-inch dice
  • 1 medium rutabaga, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch dice
  • 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

• Hazelnut Butter
  1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spread nuts on heavy large baking sheet. Roast until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to large kitchen towel. Gather towel ends tightly to enclose nuts. Rub hazelnuts briskly to loosen and remove husks; cool.
  2. Transfer nuts to processor; discard husks. Chop nuts coarsely. Add butter; process until nuts are finely ground and blended with butter. Season generously with salt and pepper. Transfer hazelnut butter to small bowl. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before using.)
• Squash Puree
  1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line baking sheet with foil. Cut squash into 6 wedges; scrape out seeds and discard. Arrange squash wedges, skin side down, on prepared baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with honey. Place 1 garlic clove on each wedge. Roast until squash is tender and slightly charred, about 50 minutes.
  2. Cool squash 15 minutes. Using large spoon, scrape squash, garlic and honey into processor; discard skins. Puree squash mixture until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer puree to bowl. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
• Turkey Stock
  1. Cut neck into 4 pieces. Heat oil in heay large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add neck pieces, heart, gizzard and liver. Saute until brown, about 15 minutes. Remove liver and reserve.
  2. Add celery, leek, onion and carrot to Dutch oven; saute until brown, about 20 minutes. Add parsley, thyme, bay leaves, and wine. Boil until reduced by 2/3, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add 6 cups water to Dutch oven and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until reduced to 3 cups liquid; about 1.5 hours.
  4. Strain stock into small bowl. Remove heart and gizzard from strainer. Cut heart, gizzard and liver into 1/4-inch pieces; reserve. Discard solids in strainer. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover stock and chopped giblets separately, chill.)
• Turkey
  1. Rinse turkey; pat dry with paper towels. Loosen skin over breast, thighs and upper drumsticks by running hand gently between skin and meat. Rub vegetable oil over meat under loosened skin. Spread all of hazelnut butter over meat under loosened skin. Season turkey with salt and pepper. Place garlic, thyme and parsley into cavity. Tie legs together loosely to hold shape. Place turkey on rack set in large roasting pan. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before continuing.)
  2. Position rack at lowest level in oven; preheat to 350F. Roast turkey until thermometer inserted into thickest part of inner thigh registers 180F, basting with melted butter and pan juices every 20 minutes and covering loosely with foil if turkey is browning too quickly, about 3 hours 15 minutes (if not stuffed).
  3. Transfer turkey to platter and tent with foil to keep warm. Reserve juices in roasting pan for gravy.
• Gravy
  1. Remove rack from roasting. Pour pan juices into large glass measuring cup. Spoon off fat from top of juices. Combine turkey stock, degreased pan juices, apple, rutabaga and chopped giblets in geavy large saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until rutabaga is tender, about 5 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, stir butter and flour in small bowl until smooth paste (beurre manie) forms. Whisk beurre manie into gravy and simmer 2 minutes. Add thyme and acorn squash puree and whisk until smooth. Simmer until gravy thickens to desired consistency, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer gravy to sauceboat.

• Serves 12.