TREFETHEN’S TARRAGON TURKEY
Serves 8
ingredients
1 10-11 pound turkey. If frozen, thaw
herb mix
3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
Zest of 2 lemons
3 tablespoons tarragon
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
Pinch of sage
Salt & pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter, softened
for the gravy
Pan juices
Turkey neck
Butter
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/2 carrot, chopped
FEATURED WINE PAIRING
Trefethen Chardonnay
method
Sauté onions in butter until slightly golden. Add remaining ingredients, stir, remove from
heat and cool. Add approximately 2 more tablespoons softened butter to make a paste.
Loosen skin around breast and thighs. Stuff herb mixture under skin, reserving just
enough to rub on the outside of the turkey.
Put into turkey cavity: Turkey gizzards, salt & pepper, 1/4 onion, carrot, scraped
1/2 lemon, 1 leafy top of celery stalk, 3 tablespoons fresh tarragon (1-1/2 tablespoon
dried) Tie the turkey legs together and rub with remaining herb mixture. Put turkey on a
rack in a roasting pan. Position oven rack in lowest 1/3 of oven. Preheat to 425 degrees.
Roast turkey for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with foil. Reduce oven
temperature to 350 degrees. Return turkey to oven. Roast until meat thermometer
registers 170 degrees (approximately 1 hour 15 minutes more). Baste occasionally with
pan juice. Transfer turkey to a platter and let rest 15 – 20 minutes before serving.
Make turkey stock (It’s easiest to do this the day before) by sautéing the neck in butter
until nicely browned. Add the chopped onion and carrot to the pan and brown. Transfer
all ingredients to a small stockpot. Deglaze the hours adding more chicken stock as
necessary to keep level just above neck. Strain.
Remove and reserve the juice form turkey pan. Deglaze pan with chicken or turkey stock.
De-fat. Add 2 tablespoons fresh or 2 teaspoons dried tarragon to stock and bring to boil.
Serve over turkey.