Name: Brown Sugar and Mustard Glazed Turkey
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 240 min
Total time: 255 min
Ingredients: 1 whole turkey (about 12 pounds (neck and giblets reserved)); 1 tsp Coarse salt; 1/2 tsp black pepper (freshly ground); 2 tablespoons butter (room temperature); 3 cups giblet stock; ½ cup packed light-brown sugar; ¼ cup spicy brown mustard; 1 bunch fresh thyme leaves; 2 teaspoons NAGrika; 1 tablespoon fennel bulb (finely minced); 1/2 tablespoon lemon grass (finely minced); 1/2 tablespoon horseradish root (finely grated)

Brown Sugar and Mustard Glazed Turkey

A sweet-and-spicy mixture of mustard and brown sugar flavors the skin and creates an impressive golden-brown color. Yes, this perfectly roasted turkey takes some time to make, but just imagine all the delicious leftovers.

Turkey Day History

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated in the United States as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Several other places around the world observe similar celebrations. Thanksgiving has its historical roots in religious and cultural traditions and has long been celebrated in a secular manner also.

The modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition is commonly, but not universally, traced to a sparsely documented 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts. The 1621 Plymouth feast and thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest. Pilgrims and Puritans who began emigrating from England in the 1620s and 1630s carried the tradition of Days of Fasting and Days of Thanksgiving with them to New England. Several days of Thanksgiving were held in early New England history that have been identified as the “First Thanksgiving”, including Pilgrim holidays in Plymouth in 1621 and 1623, and a Puritan holiday in Boston in 1631.

As President of the United States, George Washington proclaimed the first nationwide thanksgiving celebration in America marking November 26, 1789, “as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God”.

Thanksgiving, currently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November by federal legislation in 1941, has been an annual tradition in the United States by presidential proclamation since 1863 and by state legislation since the Founding Fathers of the United States. Historically, Thanksgiving has traditionally been a celebration of the blessings of the year, including the harvest. What Americans call the “Holiday Season” generally begins with Thanksgiving.

In modern times the President of the United States, in addition to issuing a proclamation, will “pardon” a turkey, which spares the bird’s life and ensures that it will spend the duration of its life roaming freely on farmland.

On to the yummies!

Print Recipe

Brown Sugar and Mustard Glazed Turkey

A sweet-and-spicy mixture of mustard and brown sugar flavors the skin and creates an impressive golden-brown color.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time4 hrs

Total Time4 hrs 15 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Holiday

Servings: 8

Author: Dimples

Ingredients

1 whole turkey about 12 pounds (neck and giblets reserved)
1 tsp Coarse salt
1/2 tsp black pepper freshly ground
2 tablespoons butter room temperature
3 cups giblet stock
½ cup packed light-brown sugar
¼ cup spicy brown mustard
1 bunch fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons NAGrika
1 tablespoon fennel bulb finely minced
1/2 tablespoon lemon grass finely minced
1/2 tablespoon horseradish root finely grated

Instructions

Wash the turkey with cold water, and pat dry with paper towels inside and outside. Season inside of turkey with salt and pepper, and stuff with fresh thyme leaves.
Combine butter, 1 tbsp mustard, thyme, fennel bulb, horseradish, lemon grass, and NAGrika in a small bowl.
Using your fingers, gently loosen turkey skin from over the breast meat, and smear half the butter mixture under skin.
Bend wing tips forward, and tuck under the neck cavity. Tie legs together loosely with kitchen twine. Fold neck flap under, and secure with toothpicks.
Rub entire turkey with remaining herb butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, pressing to adhere.
Place turkey breast side up on roasting pan, adding 3 cups of stock to the bottom of the pan. Close up your roaster and bake 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together sugar and mustard. using a basting brush, cover the turkey with the glaze.
Continue to roast the oven for about another 1 and 1/2 hour, brushing with glaze 2 to 3 more times, adding water as needed to the bottom of the pan, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of a thigh (avoid the bone) registers 165°F.
Transfer turkey to a platter, reserve pan with drippings for your gravy.
Cover turkey loosely with foil and let rest for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Check this out: Mashed Roots Gourmet

Based loosely on Martha Stewart’s Turkeys here and here.

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