Published November 1, 2002.
For our big turkey recipe, we wanted a Norman Rockwell picture of perfection: crisp, mahogany skin wrapped around tender, moist meat. It was difficult to find a container large enough for brining such a big bird. So we chose either a Butterball or a kosher turkey. Both have been, in essence, brined—the Butterball injected with a saltwater solution and the kosher bird packed in salt during koshering. Initial high heat gave our turkey a crisp skin, while lowering the heat for the remaining cooking time finished it off without drying it out. For such a showpiece, we wouldn’t think of serving store-bought gravy. We had plenty of time while the turkey cooked to prepare our tried-and-true giblet gravy recipe.
To eliminate the rush to make gravy once the turkey emerges from the oven, this gravy is brought close to completion while the turkey roasts. (If you prefer, prepare the gravy through step 2 one day in advance, refrigerate the gravy, and then bring it back to a simmer as the turkey nears completion.) Once the bird is out of the oven, the gravy is enriched with defatted turkey drippings and heated through.
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