Traditional Roasted Turkey & Gravy

This is a great turkey recipe! It is the moistest (I don't think that's a word, but I'm sticking with it!) and tastiest turkey I've ever had.

If you feel overwhelmed with the thought of making a whole turkey, you're not alone! I know that I've mentioned before that I don't like raw meat very much...let's just say...a raw entire turkey is so gross to me! I decided to share a couple of pictures with you from the first time I made my own turkey a few years ago...

Ummm...super grossed out...

Seriously, ready to lose it! I'd like to tell you that I'm better now, but I'm not much better! I was still gagging during most of the raw turkey prep this time around as well! This is meant to comfort you, I swear! Despite my disgust, I can still turn out a super tasty turkey, just push through the discomfort!

Here's what you will need!

We are going to do a salt brine, so start the turkey the day before you need to cook and eat it! First step is to combine the coarse kosher salt, thyme, majoram, rosemary, celery seeds, sage, orange peel and lemon peel.

First step, wash the turkey and remove all the innards of the turkey (this is where I run into problems!). You'll notice here, I have washed under his arms very well!

Pat the turkey dry and place in a turkey oven bag on a baking sheet to brine the turkey in.

Rub the salt brine all over the outside and inside the cavity of the turkey. Cake it on there, the more the merrier! The great thing about a salt brine is that it makes the turkey so moist after you cook it.

Cut up the orange and lemon that you grated and save them to stuff the turkey with before you cook it.

Wrap up the turkey in the oven bag and place it in the refrigerator. You want to leave the salt brine on the turkey for 12-24 hours.

When you're ready to get the turkey ready to cook, rinse all of the salt brine off of the outside and inside of the turkey. Place the turkey on the rack of a roasting pan.

Chop one onion into large pieces, a celery stalk into large pieces and add dried herbs and previously chopped orange and lemon. Mix. Stuff the main cavity and the neck cavity with this mixture. It will make the turkey very flavorful!

Tie the legs loosely using cooking twine to try to keep the stuffing in the turkey.

Rub butter all over the turkey. It will depend on the size of your turkey on how much you need to use. Use a lot, you want to butter that sucker up! It will make it so lovely and golden brown. Yum!

Pour 2 cups of chicken stock in the roasting pan. Make sure the bottom of the pan never gets dry.

Place in the oven on the lowest rack at 325 degrees.

Instead of basting with the pan juices, I like to make a mixture of chicken stock and butter. It's really good! Leave it on the stove on low during the whole time the turkey is baking.

Every 45 minutes, baste very generously with the chicken stock/butter mixture.

Bake until the turkey temperature at the thickest part of the thigh is 165-170 degrees. Isn't it lovely! Tent loosely with foil and let it sit for a good 30 minutes.

Skim the fat off of the pan drippings. Place the roasting pan on medium-high heat on 2 burners of the stove.

Mix 3 tablespoons of tapioca starch and 6 tablespoons of water. Slowly stir into the gravy.

Bring the gravy to a boil and cook to thicken. Taste the gravy and use salt and pepper to taste.

Serve gravy super hot!

Enjoy your turkey, gravy and whatever other wonderful Thanksgiving treats you've made!!

Traditional Roasted Turkey & Gravy

Prep Time: 1 Hour

Total Time: 5 Hours

Yield: 8-12 Servings

Salt Brine:

1/2 cup Coarse Kosher Salt

1 tsp. Dried Majoram

1 tsp. Dried Rosemary

1 tsp. Dried Sage

1 tsp. Dried Thyme

1 tsp. Dried Celery Seed

1 tsp. Grated Orange Peel

1 tsp. Grated Lemon Peel

Turkey:

1, 13-15 lb. Fresh Turkey

1 Onion, Chopped in Large Pieces

1 Celery Stalk, Chopped in Large Pieces

1 Whole Orange, Chopped with Peel

1 Whole Lemon, Chopped with Peel

1 tsp. Dried Majoram

1 tsp. Dried Rosemary

1 tsp. Dried Sage

1 tsp. Dried Thyme

1 tsp. Dried Celery Seed

4 cups Chicken Stock, Divided

3/4 cup Butter, Divided

Gravy:

Pan Drippings

3 Tbsp. Tapioca Starch

Salt & Pepper to Taste

Mix all ingredients in salt brine. Rinse the turkey inside and out. Remove the innards. Pat dry. Place the turkey in an oven bag on a baking sheet. Rub the salt brine all over the outside and inside of the turkey. Seal the oven bag and place the turkey in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours before cooking.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Chop onion, celery, lemon and orange. Mix with the majoram, sage, rosemary, thyme and celery seeds. Rinse the salt brine off of the turkey, inside and out. Pat dry. Place the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan. Stuff the neck cavity and main cavity with the onion mixture. Tie the legs loosely with cooking twine. Use about 1/4 cup of butter and rub all over the outside of the turkey, use more as needed. Place 2 cups of chicken stock in the roasting pan (make sure there is always liquid in the bottom of the roasting pan throughout cooking). Place turkey in oven on lowest rack at 325 degrees.

Make liquid to baste the turkey with by placing 2 cups of chicken stock and 1/2 cup of butter in a small saucepan. Place saucepan on low heat and make sure the butter has melted by the time you need to baste the turkey. Leave on low heat throughout the turkey's baking time.

Baste the turkey generously with the chicken stock mixture every 45 minutes. Bake the turkey for a total of about 3.5-4.5 hours. This will depend on the size of your turkey. It will be done when a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers between 165-170 degrees. Remove from oven and tent loosely with foil. Let the turkey sit for about 30 minutes.

To prepare gravy, skim the fat from the top of the pan drippings. Place the roasting pan with pan drippings on medium-high heat on 2 burners of the stove. Thanks to the basting, there should be plenty of pan drippings. If there are not, add more chicken stock to your desired level. Mix 3 tablespoons of tapioca starch with 6 tablespoons of cold water. Slowly stir the tapioca starch liquid into the pan drippings. Bring the gravy to a boil and allow it to cook to thicken. Taste the gravy, use salt and pepper to taste. If it is not thick enough, continue to thicken with tapioca starch in a 2:1 ratio of water to tapioca starch. Lower the temperature and just let it gently boil until it is time to serve. Serve very hot.

Carve the turkey, serve with gravy and enjoy!

*Dairy Free Version: Use Butter Substitute.

Printable Recipe:

Traditional Roasted Turkey & Gravy

Review: Skinny Crisps Crackers

Do you need a great GF cracker? Check out these Skinny Crisps:

These are really tasty and low in carbohydrates. I get them at Whole Foods but you can order them at the Skinny Crisps website!

They are very crunchy but packed full of flavor. The brownie crisps are amazingly chocolaty and taste fantastic:

Do you see those chocolate sprinkles!!!!

The Plain Jane flavor reminds me of what I remember a Wheat Thin tasting like (not that I'm an expert on what a Wheat Thin tastes like at this point!!).

The ingredients can be found here for all of the different flavors to see if they work for you.

Every flavor I've tried is terrific!!! I highly recommend them. They are also made with nuts and beans so they have protein making them a very terrific and satisfying snack!

The only downside is that they are a bit expensive. Great for a special treat though when you really need a tasty cracker!

*Please Note: The manufacturers of Skinny Crisps do not know me and do not pay me to say these nice things about them!!!

Beef & Broccolini

Beef with Broccolini. So great, fast, low fat and very allergen free!

The Ingredients.

Slice up the flank steak and broccolini.

Add the flank steak to a large frying pan. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

Brown the beef. I like to cook the beef until it really browns and starts to caramelize.

Once browned and cooked through, add the broccolini and beef broth. Place a lid on the pan to steam the broccolini. Steam until the broccolini is tender, approximately 4-7 minutes.

Remove the lid and fry for about two minutes longer.

Serve with rice, quinoa or noodles!

Beef & Broccolini

Prep Time: 25 Minutes

Total Time: 25 Minutes

1 lb. Flank Steak

2 Stalks of Broccolini

2 cups Gluten-Free Beef Broth

3 tsp. Coarse Kosher Salt

1 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper

1/2 tsp. Black Pepper

Slice flank steak into strips and the broccolini into 1-2 inch long pieces.

Cook flank steak in large frying pan over high heat. Add the salt, red pepper and black pepper. Once browned and cooked through, add the beef broth and broccolini. Cover with a lid to steam the broccolini, approximately 4-7 minutes. Once steamed, remove the lid, and fry for two more minutes. Serve with rice, noodles or quinoa.

Printable Recipe:

Beef & Broccolini

Cranberry Granola

Breakfast! It's always a struggle for me to deal with allergen free breakfast. I love this recipe for granola. I try to make it once a week and eat it all the time! It's really good and very fast. It requires very little effort but tastes fantastic. Plus it's rich in Omega-3's!

Serving Ideas: Great with vanilla almond milk as cereal, serve on top of Coconut Milk Yogurt, or eat as a snack! I usually break my big batch of granola up into individual serving sizes, put them in sandwich size ziplock bags and they make a great snack or meal on the go!

The players.

First, pour 2 tablespoons of safflower oil on a large rimmed baking sheet. Spread evenly on the pan. Put another large rimmed cookie sheet, with nothing on it, in the refrigerator.

In a large bowl, whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, sugar, egg whites and salt.

If you had whole pecans as I did, beat them down to pieces! I love doing this, it gets out all of your aggression. If you don't have any aggression, buy the pecans already chopped!

Add oats, pecans and flaxseed meal.

Mix well until the dry ingredients are evenly coated with the wet mixture.

Spread evenly on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes at 325 degrees.

After 15 minutes, stir the granola! Bake another 15 minutes.

After the 2nd round of 15 minutes, remove from oven and stir again. Sprinkle the cranberries over and drizzle the honey over the top. Try to evenly distribute the honey and make sure you cover all of it. If you have to use some extra honey...it won't be the end of the world. In fact, you'll probably be glad you did!!

Return to the oven for 10 more minutes. Remove from oven and stir again.

Transfer the granola from the hot cookie sheet to the cold one you put in the refrigerator. This will help it cool faster and stop cooking. Trust me, you don't want this overcooked - I've done it. It's not nearly as yummy!

By now, your house should be smelling AMAZING and you will really want to eat this. Be careful, it's hot. You may burn your tongue...as I did this afternoon while making it. So I advise at least some cooling!

For the Sugar Free Version:

This is how the final product turned out (the one on the left)! It tastes just as great. Everything is the same in the steps of the recipe, just swap out the brown sugar for 1/2 cup of Agave Nectar. It's a great sugar substitute that's natural and has a low glycemic index!

Cranberry Granola

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Total Time: 55 Minutes

4 Tbs. Safflower Oil, Divided

3/4 cups golden brown sugar (packed)*

4 Egg Whites

1/2 tsp. Coarse Kosher Salt

3 cups Certified Gluten-Free Oats

1/2 cup Chopped Pecans

1/2 cup Flaxseed Meal

1 cup Dried Cranberries

1/4 cup Honey

*Sugar Free Version: Substitute 1/2 cup Agave Nectar for Brown Sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Put a large rimmed baking sheet in the refrigerator with nothing on it.

Pour 2 tablespoons of safflower oil on a large rimmed baking sheet. Spread evenly on pan.

In a large bowl, whisk oil, sugar, egg whites and salt. Add oats, pecans and flaxseed meal. Spread evenly on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes and stir the granola. Bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and stir the granola again. Sprinkle the cranberries over the top. Drizzle the honey across the top. Bake for another 10 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven. Remove cookie sheet from refrigerator and pour hot granola onto cold baking sheet to cool completely.

Transfer to a storage container or zipper bag for storage. Will last about 1-2 weeks.

Printable Recipe:

Cranberry Granola