Glazed Turkey with Sweet Gravy

• 5 tablespoons butter, approximately (or cooking spray)
• 1 turkey, any size
• 1 cup honey
• sweet spices
• optional: a handful of berries, fresh or frozen (thawed)

Melt the butter and brush the bottom of the roasting pan (or the rack, if you have one) with a little of the butter. Brush the rest of it over the turkey and put the turkey on the rack (or spray with cooking spray). Cook at the temperature recommended by the wrapping on the turkey, for the time recommended. (Or follow Alton Brown’s directions from his show “Good Eats.”)

About a half-hour before the turkey is done cooking, pour the honey into a small saucepan. Dust with any spices you might want (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, cardamom are some possibilities). Add any berries.

Note that I’m not being very specific here because you don’t have to be precise with measurements for this glaze. It’ll yield a cup or a cup and a half of glaze for an entire turkey, so a little more or less cinnamon isn’t going to make the difference between “yummy” and “ick!” If you really can’t operate without instructions, try 1/2 teaspoon of milder spices like cinnamon or allspice, and 1/8 teaspoon of stronger ones like cardamom or cloves, not to exceed about 2 teaspoons total. (Violate this as much as you want if you feel comfortable doing so.)

Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. If you used previously frozen berries, continue to boil for a few minutes–you need to boil off a little of the excess liquid. Otherwise take it off of the heat soon after it reaches the boil. If you used berries, then strain the berries out. (Especially if you used raspberries; you don’t want seeds all over your turkey.)

Pull the turkey out about 15-30 minutes before the end of the cooking time. Pour the glaze overtop, brush it on, or use a baster to distribute it.

Sweet Gravy

• 2 Tablespoons flour
• 1/4 cup fat, from drippings
• 1/4 cup heavy or light cream
• 1 cup drippings (if you don’t have enough, make up the difference with good-quality stock)

Mix the flour with the fat over very low heat. Cook for at least one minute, whisking constantly. Whisk in the drippings. Whisk in the cream last, and salt to taste. It’s the drips of glaze into the bottom of the pan that make this gravy sweet.