Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Roast Turkey

1, 10-12 lb Turkey (thawed)
1 stick room temp (softened) butter
1 bag poultry fresh herb mix (there will be rosemary, sage and thyme in it)
1 lemon
1 onion
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 325

Wash and PAT DRY the whole turkey, cavity, under the skin and on the skin. (if you take your hand and run it between the muscle and skin it should separate easily.) (as DRY as you can get with paper towels).Season the whole bird, inside and out with salt and pepper. Take a few stems of each fresh herb. take the leaves of the herbs and chop up really fine. Mix the chopped herbs with the butter. Rub the butter all over the cavity, under the skin (hence drying under the skin, it still can be hard so I just put chunks under the skin if I can't get it to rub) and all over the outside of the bird.
Quarter the lemon, and onion. Tie the rest of the herbs stems together with string. Stuff the Lemon, onion and herb bundle in the cavity of the turkey.
I roast my turkey in a roasting pan on a rack so the heat can move all around the turkey.

Tent the turkey with foil. Roast for 2 hours (add 15 min extra for every lb more than 12 lbs) Remove the foil, crank the heat to 425 and roast for another hour or until the thermometer reads 165 at thigh meat. Foil again if it's browning to fast.

Let rest for 10 or so min to let juices redistribute.

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