Sage Butter Turkey with Bacon Lattice and Best Turkey Gravy

A foolproof Christmas turkey recipe……

Ingredients:

• 1 Turkey (timings below for different sized turkeys)
• About 100g butter
• 2 sprigs of sage, leaves finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 12 slices of streaky bacon
• 2 red onions, halved
• 2 carrots, halved
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 bulb of garlic
• turkey giblets and neck

For the gravy:

• 25g butter
• 25g plain flour
• 100ml maderia
• 500ml chicken stock

METHOD

1. Firstly, remove turkey from the fridge one hour before cooking and preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Make a lattice from the bacon (you might need more bacon depending on the size of your turkey- I used  a 3.6kg turkey which serves around 7 people
3. Mix the butter with thesage and garlic and push the butter underthe turkey skin. top the breasts with the bacon lattice. 
4. Put the carrot, celery, onions, garlic, giblets and neck in a large roasting dish. Place theturkey on top of the vegetables. Use this handy timer guide for exact roasting timings.
5. Make sure to rest the turkey for at least an hour. It will stay hot for at least 2 hours.
6. Whilst the turkey is resting, make the gravy. Melt the butter in a pan and add the flour, stirring for a couple of minutes. Add the madeira and allow to bubble for a few minutes. Add the chicken stock gradually. Remove the turkey from the cooking dish and put the vegetables, juices, neck and giblets into a sieve over the gravy pan. Push down on the sieve to get all the juices into the pan.
7. Simmer for around 15 minutes until thickened. If it does not thicken to your liking, add to the pana tablespoon of cornflou
   r mixed with a teaspoon of water.