Roasted Turkey with Maple Cranberry Glaze

This recipe I found on the Food Network website turned out to be a hit (between Shaun and I) this year for Thanksgiving! I felt the cranberry glaze was enough to cover the 'cranberry sauce' component of our traditional dinner. It was a bit overwhelming along with the Orange-Cranberry Sauce side dish I made; next year I would do one or the other (the turkey is quite good even without the glaze, which could be replaced with gravy). I did puree the glaze to make it nice and smooth. I cooked the turkey in an oven bag (which caught on fire near the end of cooking, while I was on the phone with Dad...but that's another story). I was also quite proud of myself for getting the butter rub well up under the skin this year!


Roasted Turkey with Maple Cranberry Glaze, by Paula Deen

Turkey:
8 T butter, softened
1 T house seasoning (below)
2 T chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 T minced shallots
2 T minced garlic cloves
1 (15 lb) turkey
stuffing (if desired)

Glaze:
3 T butter
1 (12 oz) bag cranberries
1/2 c maple syup
3/4 c cranberry juice
2 t apple cider vinegar
3/4 c apple cider
1/4 c brown sugar
1 t salt
1 t fresh ground black pepper

House Seasoning (stores up to 6 months)
1 c salt
1/4 c pepper
1/4 c garlic

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine butter, seasoning, parsley, shallots, and garlic. Rinse and dry turkey, tuck wings under body, and place in pan. Rub with butter mixture, stuff. Roast 18 min/lb (including stuffing). Thermometer reading 165 degrees in thickest part of thigh and juices clear indicates done. Remove from oven and tent with foil (loosely). Let rest 20 min.

Glaze
Combine ingredients in saucepan over med-hi heat. Bring to boil and reduce heat to med-lo. Simmer until cranberries burst (8-10 min). Strain, cool, reserve for turkey.