11/27/2003 Archived Entry: "Thanksgiving Recipe #4 - The Turkey"
Okay... so I've been slacking a bit with this thanksgiving recipe thing. What can I say? Here's the most important recipe, just in time for American Thanksgiving. The turkey.
Ingredients
- 1 turkey - preferrably free range, 10 -25 lbs. You should allow at least 1 pound per person (I usually do 2 per person for leftovers)
- Fresh thyme, rosemary (Go easy. It's pretty strong tasting), marjoram or other fresh herbs - you can use any combo you think would be nice
- Carrots (peeled) and celery - chopped into largish pieces
- 3-4 lemons (4 for a larger bird)
- 5+ cloves of garlic - cut in half so they are as flat as possible
- 2 cloves of garlic - chop into bits or crush
- Salt, Pepper
- Olive oil and soft butter
Directions
Note: you should always be careful about
salmonella and other bacteria when handling raw poultry. Ensure that you employ proper
handling techniques and make sure the bird is
fully cooked before eating.- Make sure the cavity of the bird is empty. You can throw away the stuff inside for this recipe or keep it if you want to make something with it
- Wash out the bird with cold water in the sink
- Pre-heat the oven to 325° F or 162° C
- Put into a large roasting pan - don't worry if you don't have a pan with a lid, or if the lid won't fit on top, you can always put aluminum foil over the bird. There should be some room around the bird for roast potatoes.
- Take the zest off two of the lemons. Take half of your herbs and chop them up. Leave the other half "au naturel". Put the zest, chopped up herbs and garlic in a little bowl and set aside.
- Cut the other lemons into half then the halves into half (ie quarters :-).
- Put the lemons, celery and carrots into the bird cavity with the "au naturel" herbs
- Truss the bird
- Push the halved garlic cloves under the skin all around the bird. You may need to make little incisions in the skin in order to space them out well.
- Rub the soft butter all over the turkey
- Rub the herb/garlic/lemon zest mixture all over the turkey
- Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the bird - don't use too much salt it's really nasty if you put too much on - a pinch or two should be enough. Sea salt and freshly ground pepper are best, but use whatever you have on hand.
- Drizzle olive oil over the bird and put into the oven.
- Baste every 15-25 minutes
- It should take about 10-12 minutes per pound to cook
- If you've put stuffing into the bird instead of veggies the stuffing must be at least 160°F (71°C) before the bird is done
- Using an instant read thermometer, put the thermometer into the thigh (it's better if it's not touching bone) and it must read 175°F (80°C) to 180°F (82°C)
- Once it's cooked, take the bird out of the oven and let it sit for about 20-30 minutes
- If the bird isn't too big, pick it up and hold it so the juices drain out into the pan
- Carve and serve
