Bacon-Wrapped Turkey with Pear Cider Gravy Recipe
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Turkey is the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving table, but it can be tricky to get the bird both moist and fully cooked. Garnishing the breast with bacon bastes the white meat with fat while infusing it with porky flavor. Pears add a note of fall and match up with pear cider for a sweet, full-flavored gravy.
What to buy: A fresh turkey will end up crispier and tastier. If you go with a frozen turkey, make sure it’s completely thawed before roasting (this will take several days in the refrigerator).
Game plan: To get an accurate reading, measure the temperature of the turkey on the inside of the thigh, and make sure the thermometer is not touching the bone. You can watch the turkey evolve from bagged bird to glistening roast in our Start-to-Finish video.
This recipe was featured as part of our Neoslacker Interactive Thanksgiving menu.
For the turkey:
- 1 (18- to 20-pound) fresh turkey
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 medium white onions, peeled and halved
- 3 medium celery stalks, halved crosswise
- 10 medium garlic cloves, peeled
- 6 medium ripe pears, such as Anjou or Bosc
- 1 pound thinly sliced smoked bacon
For the gravy:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick)
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth, at room temperature
- 8 medium fresh sage leaves
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 medium dried bay leaf
- 1 1/2 cups hard pear cider such as Ace Perry Cider or Wyder’s
- Heat the oven to 400°F. Remove the turkey from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Remove the giblets and neck; reserve the neck. Rinse out the turkey’s cavity and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels. Trim most of the excess fat and skin from the neck and cavity, and make 3-inch slits through the skin where the legs meet the breast.
- Rub the turkey all over with 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, then season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Season the cavity with salt and pepper, and place 1 onion half, 1 celery piece, and 2 garlic cloves inside.
- Place the turkey in a large roasting pan. Arrange the neck and remaining onions, celery pieces, and garlic cloves in the pan, and place in the oven. Roast for 30 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350°F. Every 45 minutes, baste the bird with the pan drippings.
- About 45 minutes before the turkey is finished or when the internal temperature of the inner thigh reaches 145°F, cut the pears in half and remove the cores and stems. Brush each half with the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove the turkey from the oven and overlap bacon strips across the breast and around the legs. If desired, secure the bacon strips about 1 inch from the edges with toothpicks. Arrange the pear halves in the roasting pan and return the turkey to the oven.
- Roast until the internal temperature of the inner thigh reaches 155°F. Remove the turkey from the oven and let it rest uncovered while you prepare the gravy, or for at least 30 minutes before carving. Remove the pears to a serving platter, reserve the onions, and discard any remaining solids in the roasting pan.
For the gravy:
- Place 4 reserved pear halves and 1 reserved onion half in a food processor and purée until smooth, about 2 minutes. Reserve.
- Make a roux by melting the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. When it foams, add the flour and whisk continuously until well combined. Cook until the flour loses its raw flavor and starts to emit a toasty aroma, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the chicken broth until smooth, add the herbs and reserved pear purée, and bring to a simmer.
- Pour off as much grease as you can from the roasting pan without removing any of the pan juices and set the pan over two burners over medium heat. When the pan juices begin to sizzle, slowly pour in the pear cider and cook, scraping up any browned bits with a flat spatula. Add the cider mixture to the gravy and stir to combine. Simmer until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then strain through a fine mesh strainer. Carve the turkey and serve with the gravy.
Beverage pairing: D’Arenberg d’Arry’s Original Shiraz Grenache, South Australia. This Australian Shiraz-Grenache puts dark-berry fruit first and foremost; it has the gutsiness and smoke for the bacon, while the rosy Grenache will be a nice match for the turkey.
Have major success with bacon-wrapped chicken. I think the turkey will be killer. Remember that the bacon will come off after it is out of the oven so it won't look terrifying.
OMG it's back. I thought we voted it off the island.
I must admit, it looked like a giant roly poly in a roasting pan when I saw it flash past me on the slideshow. I had to look it up just to see what that thing really was! I haven't made a turkey in 26 years, but if I was going to break that streak, I'd do it using THIS recipe! It should have been titled "Getting past Turkey's low-fat, healthful reputation". LOL!
yuk. it has been said plenty of times in previous comments but i just have to chime in. i cannot get past the presentation. looks like a huge rolly polly (aka pill bug, sow bug). so thanks.
It is disgusting-looking and completely unnecessary, unless you're a cook at a frat house. This recipe will produce crisp bacon and greasy, not crisp, turkey skin -- and the bird and gravy will reek of (usually artificial-tasting, whether it is or not) bacon smoke. At the very least, parboil the bacon in a big pot of water for ten minutes to remove some of that smoky flavor. Much better: use any of the well-regarded classic recipes for roast turkey (James Beard, e.g.), and you'll find that it's easy to produce a juicy bird as long as you forget about old practices and yank it from the oven when the temperature is under about 162 degrees. Unless the turkey is tiny, you can also get a nice, crisp skin, although you may need to turn the oven up after the bird reaches, say, 145-degrees. I love bacon, but that disgusting picture of turkey wrapped in the stuff may well give me a nightmare!
It appears that there are like-minded CHders that thought it looked like a armadillo roast. I know for a fact that they are considered a delicacy somewhere.
I'm glad that someone else mentioned the photo... For some reason it grosses me out. When I enlarged it and could see that it was bacon, it didn't bother me so much. But I find something about it creepy.
I agree with mayebybaby, akq and nathanthefoodsnob way back in 2007 - this is one of the THE most hideous pictures I've ever seen. This turkey is just not appetizing at all! And I doubt I'd ever try this recipe - it completely precludes the opportunity for crispy turkey skin - one of the greatest joys of Thanksgiving. Yeah, perhaps it gives you crispy bacon; but that's not what I'm looking for on Thanksgiving - crispy turkey skin is.
Agree with other posters - every time I see that picture it turns my stomach - looks like roast armadillo!
Reminds me of a striper I once dated. Ohiee! (sorry)
Roast... Armadillo? Oh, ok, Turkey! Up close I can see the bacon, but from the thumbnail this looks a little roadkill-equse. Sounds good, though!
I've got to agree with some of the others: sounds delicious, looks terrifying. The turkey-mummy has returned to wreak its vengeance!
Now this looks delicious. And something that my family would love to try. Why not add some bacon, crumbled, to the gravy once you have it pured into its serving dishes. The bacon adds a flavor that will certainly compliment this great recipe. Sandy www.ultimategullah.com
Looks Awesome, I don't know if it is better then the Turducken? http://bestbyfarr.wordpress.com/2008/10/27/vive-la-turducken/
Yes! We made this. I brined the bird, though (for 4 hours), because I figured the bacon wouldn't be enough to keep it moist. The bacon flavor is subtle, and with gravy, you really can't taste it. Solo, naked turkey has a lovely bacon flavor, though. The novelty of it was a big hit, and nobody thought it was unattractive (http://flickr.com/photos/whitnuld/3073758062/). The gravy is a bit unusual. We used a dry Basque cider (which we found out later was apple, not pear), and it wasn't too sweet (I do NOT recommend the Basque cider, though--tasted like sweat socks). It was an oddly light gravy, which suited us fine.
I made it last night and the bacon made a delicious ordorve when I made people wait for the whole bird to sit and cool. I changed the rub too, to a margin and dijon paste it came out okay. :)
First, I would make an adjustment to the bacon, presentation in the picture is scary. I recently did a turkey with Benton's bacon, and i only used 6 slices, the thickness of his bacon kept the slices from drying out and adding that bitter burntness. Then, the drippings were the best part. I really like the pear accent. I also roasted a couple butternut squash in the pan, and then pureed them into a sauce all by themselves, instant bacon butternut gravy - insert a little butter, good old sea salt, cream, it was heavenly. The Bentons bacon is key. Who ever invented "turkey bacon" is proud to know now, we HAVE created BACON TURKEY!!! Wash it down with Alsatian whites and some chinon. Happy Holidays.
Has anyone tried this with a chicken (down-sized)? I'll put this on my "Wanna Do" list and see what happens. If anyone beats me to it, let me know how the experiment turns out. Might even skin the chicken and use the bacon as a replacement....hummmm. Kinda like long underwear!
wow...this sounds soooo good!!!! Do you by chance, know of any quality online food services? I am starting to order all my food online because of various reasons. (Health being one of them) So far I have found 2 services, Fresh Dining (an LA company) and <a href="http://www.celebrityfoods.com">Celebrity Foods</a>, but you have to call them so they can talk to you about your need. I would really like any suggestions that you may have, so I can widen my list of quality places online where I can order healthy food from. Thank you and have a great night or day…depending on when you read this. LOL!!!!
I made this for thanksgiving as a step out of the box for my family...got a couple raised eyebrows...but before any complaints could be uttered I made them try a bite. The complaints did a 180 real quick-two thumbs up...and the presentation was great
We made this recipe today--very delicious and shockingly easy. My husband and I usually forgo turkey altogether during the holidays because we've never been able to cook it without drying it out. However, the bacon in this recipe made the turkey nice and tender and moist. Delicious! The pear cider gravy was awesome as well.
Pear wine may be a little sweet. If you can find unfiltered, non-alcoholic apple cider that would be a better substitute. Or skip the pear thing all together and use a dry white wine.
Because I live in PA with it's horrendous liquor laws, I can't really buy a whole case of hard pear cider just to make gravy. Does anyone think pear wine will make a good replacement? Help!! This is for tomorrow!
And that's how Thanksgiving should be done.
The combination of flavor sounds like a win, but that picture looks like something out of hellraiser! Presentation is key...