Lemon Rosemary Sous-Vide Turkey with White Wine Gravy

Sous-vide is a cooking method where food is sealed in an airtight container and precision cooked in a water bath at a constant temperature.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword gravy, lemon, rosemary, Sous vide, Thanksgiving, turkey

Prep Time 12 20

Cook Time 12

Servings

Calories 213kcal

Ingredients

For the Sous-Vide Turkey:

1 whole (12 to 16) pound turkey, defrosted if needed
Kosher salt, as needed
Freshly ground black pepper, as needed
16 sprigs rosemary
8 cloves garlic, smashed
2 lemons, thinly sliced
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

For the gravy:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium shallot, minced
1 rosemary sprig
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup dry white wine
2 cups Turkey stock, made from reserved neck, giblets etc. or store bought turkey stock
¼ cup heavy cream
Kosher salt, as needed
Freshly ground black pepper, as needed

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Sous-Vide Turkey:

Start by butchering the turkey. Remove the giblets, and reserve if desired for stock or another use.
Use paper towels to dry out the turkey then lay the turkey on it’s back on a clean workspace. Pull each leg away from the body and use a large chef’s knife to slice between the leg and breast, then bend the leg away from the body to locate the joint. Cut through the joint and skin and remove the leg. Remove the wings by pulling each outward from the body and locate the joint, cutting where the wing meets the body and setting aside.
Using kitchen shears, cut down both sides of the backbone where it meets the rib cage and remove it, reserving for stock or another use. Place the bird breast-side up and press down to flatten it.Flip the carcass over, breast-side down, and cut through the cartilage that runs between the two breasts. Use a press down to snap the breast in two through the wishbone.
Season the turkey breasts with salt and pepper then place the breast halves into 2 large gallon size bag with a few sprigs of the rosemary, cloves of garlic and slices of lemon. Vacuum seal and refrigerate until ready to cook. Repeat with the legs, thighs and wings, seasoning and adding to separate bags with the aromatics and vacuum sealing. Separate into more bags if the vacuum sealer is smaller.
Prepare immersion circulator in large water bath according to manufacturer's instructions. Preheat water bath to 149ºF (65ºC). Add the bags of dark meat to the water bath and cook for 6 to 12 hours (the longer it cooks, the more tender it will be). 4 hours before the dark meat is done cooking, lower the temperature to 140ºF (60ºC) and add the white meat to the water bath and continue to cook for an additional 4 hours.
Remove the bags from the water and either refrigerate until ready to serve, or if ready to serve, remove the meat from the bags and discard the aromatics. Pat the turkey pieces completely dry with paper towels.
Heat oven to broil on high. Add the turkey pieces to a baking sheet and broil until the skin is crispy and golden brown, about 4 to 6 minutes, checking the skin occasionally. Arrange on a large serving platter and cover with aluminum foil until ready to serve.

For the gravy:

Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the olive oil and heat through. Add the butter and allow to melt then add the shallots and rosemary and sauté until soft and opaque, about 5 minutes. Discard the rosemary sprig then whisk in the flour, continuing to whisk constantly until the roux turns a golden brown, about 3 minutes.
Pour in the white wine and turkey stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until the gravy coats the back of a spoon. Whisk in cream and season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Notes

*Note: If you do not have a vacuum sealer you can use the water displacement method to remove as much air from the bags as possible. While this is not the same as using a vacuum seal machine it is the best alternative. Add the food to the re-sealable plastic bags according to the recipe then seal the bag almost completely, leaving about an inch or so open. Slowly lower the bag into a pot of water, and as the bag is lowered into the water the air will be pushed out of the bag. Just before the bag is completely submerged, seal off the bag completely and remove from the water.

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