Skip to main content

Roast Turkey with Mushroom Sauce Recipe

This classic Thanksgiving bird comes from Charlie Palmer, one of America's leading chefs.What to buy: Look for a bird that hasn't been frozen. You might have...

By chow · From Open Recipes · 13 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Turkey and mushroom match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 205 recipes mention both. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓

The recipe

8 servings
Prep1 hr
Cook16 hr 45 min

Ingredients

Contains: wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Simmer the reserved giblets and neck with half the chicken broth, one onion, the bay leaves and a few thyme sprigs in a covered pot over low heat for 180 minutes (3 hours). Strain and keep the liquid and meat for the sauce.

  2. Pat the turkey dry and rub it all over with some of the olive oil. Place the sage, rosemary, marjoram, remaining thyme and remaining onion in the cavity.

  3. Set the turkey breast-side up on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast at 250°F (121°C) for 720 minutes, basting with the remaining broth and pan juices every hour, until the thickest part of the thigh and breast reads 165°F (74°C).

  4. Raise the oven to 425°F (218°C) and roast for 30 minutes to brown the skin. Confirm the thickest part of the thigh still reads 165°F (74°C) or higher.

  5. Transfer the turkey to a board, tent loosely with foil and rest for 30 minutes before carving.

  6. While the turkey rests, heat the remaining olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the chopped white and torn oyster mushrooms until golden, about 5 minutes.

  7. Stir the flour into the fat in the roasting pan, then whisk in the strained stock and pan juices. Add the mushrooms and simmer gently for 40 minutes, stirring often.

  8. Stir the chopped tarragon into the mushroom sauce just before serving and season to taste. Serve the sauce alongside the carved turkey.

By chow. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Turkey + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together205 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  2. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  3. Sage + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together507 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  4. Sage + rosemarytop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together465 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1,8-cineol (eucalyptus, camphor).

  5. Thyme + rosemarytop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,340 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turkey, olive, sage, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, chicken):

  1. Tomatobetter flavor fit
  2. Carrotbetter flavor fit
  3. Potatobetter flavor fit
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against turkey, olive, sage, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, chicken. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).