Serves 8-10
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 2½ hours approx

Ingredients

1 x 5 kg just under 12lb, Bronze turkey, with giblets and the wish bone removed.
2 large carrots, peeled
2 large onion, peeled
6 sticks of celery
1 leek          
2 bay leaves
2 chicken stock cubes
½ bottle dry white wine
2 pints cold water
salt and freshly ground black pepper
55g melted butter
2 tbsp roughly cornflour
4-6 tbsp cold water

For the glaze

4 tbsp runny honey
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 pinchs salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Pre heat the oven to 200°C gas 6.

2. First job is to remove any giblets from the bird, and if you are using a frozen bird it's important to make sure that it is fully defrosted

3. Season the bird well inside and out well with salt and pepper and pack any stuffing into the body cavity.

4.Tie the legs and the Parsons nose together with a piece of string and secure well, so the stuffing is held inside the bird.

5. Chop all the vegetables into large chunks and place in the bottom of a large baking tray place the turkey on top, the tray should be large enough so the bird has at least 2 inches gap around

6. Pour in the white wine, cold water and chicken stock cube, and place the whole tray on to the stove.
Bring to the boil and then cover tightly with two layers of foil and pop into a preheated oven to cook for about 2 hours, approximately.

7. To check if the bird is cooked, remove from the oven carefully as there will be a lot of stock, wine and turkey juices. Remove the foil and insert a knife where the thigh attaches itself to the body of the bird, the juices should run clear. If not, then cover again with foil and cook for a further 20 minutes.

8. Mix all the glaze ingredients together well.

9. When the bird is cooked, remove from the oven, turn the oven up to 230 degrees C, Gas 8, brush with the glaze and cook until browned, about 15 minutes.

10. When nicely browned, remove from the oven and carefully, tip off all the stock and keep warm.
You can wrap the turkey in foil to keep warm, it will keep perfectly wrapped for 1 hour.

11. Reboil the stock and juices, you may need to add a little more water in a saucepan and skim the fat off well.

12. Mix the cornflour and water together, add to the bubbling stock to thicken.

To serve

Carve the bird, then serve the gravy and stuffing separately.