About the Recipe
Elevate your holiday feast with this delectable spatchcocked turkey gravy recipe. From preparing and roasting the spatchcocked turkey, making a homemade turkey stock from the drippings to creating a magnificent Thanksgiving or Christmas Gravy Recipe, I simplify the process step by step.
Discover the magic of spatchcocking, guaranteeing even fast cooking and those flavorful Turkey Drippings Gravy. Learn to create a delicious roux, expertly incorporating those essential turkey drippings.
Whether you're a novice or seasoned chef, this quick and delightful guide ensures an unforgettable meal. Create the Best Gravy for Spatchcocked Turkey that will leave your guests raving.
Ingredients
Herb Butter (shrubbery butter):
1/2 cup or 113g unsalted butter
Handful of fresh chopped thyme
Handful of fresh chopped sage
1 garlic clove minced
Dash of paprika
Dash of celery salt
Pinch of black pepper
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Homemade Turkey Stock:
8 cups of water
Turkey neck
Turkey spine
Handful of fresh sage
4 Fresh leek leaves (green part of the leave)
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
2 bay leaves
Handful of fresh chopped thyme
1 white onion
1 celery stalk with leaves
1 carrot
Dash Black pepper
Salt to your taste
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Turkey Gravy:
4 cups cooking liquid (I had 3 cups of poaching stock and 1 cup of turkey drippings)
6 tbsp or 84g fat (I used 4 tbsp or 56g turkey grease and 2 tbsp or 28g butter)
6 tbsp or 48g all-purpose flour
Salt and black pepper to your taste
Preparation
1. Spatchcock the turkey: remove the neck and giblets, rinse and dry the turkey. Use kitchen shears or knife to remove the backbone. Start by cutting off the tail and throw it away. At the bottom of the turkey cut along one side of the backbone all the way up to the top/neck cavity. Repeat, the same process on the other side to take away the backbone, put it to the side in a bowl and refrigerate with the neck and giblets.
2. Put the turkey breast side up on a cutting board. Place both hands on the breast area and push down until you hear the breastbone snap. The Turkey should be flattened out.Â
3. Dry brine the turkey: Put the turkey on a backing sheet with a rack. Pat both sides of the turkey down with paper towels to dry it off. Generously salt the bottom and then the top of the turkey. Place in the refrigerator uncovered overnight. Â
4. The next day take the turkey out of the refrigerator and let it sit for at least 30 minutes to become room temperature. While it rests make an herb butter: Soften one stick of butter in a mixing bowl (I like to take it out of the refrigerator and sit/soften overnight). Add any herbs and spices you like, use a spoon or spatula to smear/smash/mix it all together. For this recipe I used chopped fresh thyme, sage, one minced clove of garlic, paprika, celery salt and black pepper.
5. Perp the turkey for the herb butter by using your fingers or a spoon to make pockets between the turkey meat and skin.  Stuff the pockets with balls of the herb butter. Evenly distribute the butter in the pockets by messaging the skin and spreading it out. Coat the outside of the turkey with a small amount of the herb butter and add a dash of pepper.
6.Add 2 cups of liquid (water, beer, wine…) to the backing sheet. Place the turkey in a pre-heated oven at 400˚ F or 200˚ C and cook for 6 minutes per pound or until the turkey has an internal temperature of 165˚ F or 74˚ C is reached.
7. Homemade turkey stock: Chop the neck and backbone into smaller pieces. Pour 8 cups water into a sauce pan. Add the neck and backbone, turn the heat to medium high and bring to a simmer. Skim the top of the stock with a ladle or spoon once you see foam and impurities starting to form. Turn the down to a low simmer and add your aromatic vegetables and herbs- fresh sage, Leek leaves (green part of the leave), two garlic cloves (crushed), two bay leaves, fresh thyme, chopped white onion, chopped celery stem and leaves, one chopped carrot and a dash of black pepper. Slowly simmer for 1 hour or until reduced by half. Â
8. Strain the stock to remove the aromatics and turkey bones.
9. Remove the turkey from the oven once cooked and place it in a warm place or cover with foil to rest for 20 to 30 minutes.Â
10. Strain the turkey drippings from the baking sheet into a fat separator. If your baking sheet is dry and has browned drippings – deglaze the pan by pouring a cooking liquid (water, wine, turkey stock…) into the sheet and scrapping the sheet with a flat bottom spatula over a burner turned to low heat. Pour dripping juices/fat into a fat separator. Then add the turkey juice to the homemade turkey stock and the turkey grease/fat into a separate measuring cup – it’s a good idea use a measuring cup to see the total amount of stock and turkey juice and the total amount of fat/grease you have to make the gravy.
11. Make the homemade gravy: to a large sauce pan add your turkey grease (and butter if needed), then add the all-purpose flour, mix and heat over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. A good rule of thumb is 1.5 tbsp fat/grease and 1.5 tbsp all-purpose flour per 1 cup of cooking liquid (turkey stock and dripping juices) or 21g fat/grease and 12g all-purpose flour per 250ml cooking liquid.  The roux – fat and flour mixture – should look like wet sand. If it does not you can always add more turkey grease or butter.
12. Whisk the turkey stock into the roux, bring to a simmer over medium heat then turn the heat down and reduce the gravy, frequently stirring, until it is as thick as you like.
13. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.