LurfysMa wrote:
>
> First of all, thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions for
> making turley gravy.
>
> The turkey gravy was good, but not great. I'd give it a B or B+. My
> main complaint was that it had a slightly bitter or harsh taste.

Sorry it didn't turn out. Mine was great. My turkey was perfectly
cooked about 45 minutes before we had planned to eat. I poured
the drippings into a big measuring cup and let the liquid cool so
the fat would rise to the top. When it was time to make the
gravy, I poured some of the fat into the roasting pan on top of
the stove and an equal amount of flour, stirred it around and
cooked it a bit to make a roux. Meanwhile I had poured off most
of the fat in the measuring cup and added the good drippings to
the hot pan, and added to of the potato water. I also added a
bit of water from the carrots and the beans. I stirred it around
a bit while it thickened, tested it.... perfect. No salt or
pepper required, good turkey taste so no broth required.

The turkey was great. The thigh meat was nicely done without
overcooking the breast meat. After sitting, tented, for 45
minutes the meat was still nice and warm and sliced beautifully.

For stuffing (AKA dressing) I sautéed some onion and celery in
butter and olive oil, then added some thyme parsley and rosemary
from the garden along with some savory and sage, seasoned with
salt and pepper, added bunch of stale break crumbs, added just
enough water to dampen it. It was great.


The best side dish was the squash. I had halved and seeded a
butternut squash, seasoned it with salt and pepper and sprinkled
it with ground ginger and curry powder then a glug of olive oil
on top and into the oven for an hour. When It was cooked I just
scraped it out with a spoon and stirred it around to mix the
seasoning and spices thoroughly. It was delicious. My brother
really enjoyed it. He had only had it mashed before and thought
that mashing destroyed the texture.