Yes, I know it’s not a holiday, and strangely enough, we probably eat more turkey any time but the holidays. On a recent trip to Sprouts in Round Rock, I bought about a 10 lb free range turkey. I thought about all my options for roasting it, and decided on high heat. It was delicious.
Roasted Turkey
Ingredients
- 1 (10 lb) turkey
- 1/4 cup kosher salt (about)
- 2 lemons
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 large onion, cut in chunks
- 6 large cloves garlic
- 6 sprigs thyme, or use dried thyme
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Pepper
- 3/4 butter (get Kerrygold if you want to splurge)
- 1 pkg cheesecloth
Instructions
- Dry turkey, salt generously all over including cavity. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Next day - let turkey sit at room temp for about an hour before roasting. If you can break the breastbone to flatten the turkey out a little, do it.
- Heat oven to 425°
- Make 4 to 6 slices of thinly sliced lemon, and cut the rest of the lemons up in wedges.
- Loosen the skin over the breast lay bay leaves and lemon slices between the skin and the breast meat.
- Stuff the rest of the lemons, onion, garlic, and thyme into the cavity of the turkey.
- Drizzle the whole turkey with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle generously with pepper.
- Heat butter in a small pan. Using tongs, soak cheesecloth with butter. Lay cheesecloth completely over the top of the bird.
- Bake for about 1 1/2 hours or until breast is 140° to 150 °
- Remove from oven, cool slightly. Cut the breast off the bird, and lay the rest of the bird flat in the pan, skin side up (on top of all the stuff that was in the cavity). It's messy, but so worth it and gives you a chance to bond with your food! (If you roast the whole bird until the thighs reach temp, the breast will be overcooked.) Roast the legs and thighs until they are at 140 - 150.
- The next turkey I roast I might try cutting the breast off first, then tying the turkey back together with butchers twine to roast it.