Crispy Skinned Herb Roasted Turkey Food

THANKSGIVING PIONEER-STYLE HERB ROASTED TURKEY

Steps:

• For the turkey: Remove the turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before roasting.
• Combine the butter, sage, rosemary, thyme, and parsley in a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Season the cavity of the turkey with salt and pepper and fill the cavity with half of the carrots, celery, and onion. Rub the entire turkey with herb butter and season liberally with salt and pepper.
• Put 4 cups of the chicken stock in a medium saucepan and keep warm over low heat.
• Place the remaining vegetables on the bottom of a large roasting pan. Put the turkey on top of the vegetables, put in the oven, and roast in the oven until lightly golden brown, 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and continue roasting, basting with the warm chicken stock every 15 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thigh registers 160 degrees F, about 2 to 2 1/4 hours longer. Remove the turkey from the oven, transfer to baking sheet and tent loosely with foil, and let rest 20 minutes before slicing.
• For the sage gravy:
• Strain the cooking liquid from the roasting pan into a medium saucepan (should be about 4 cups, if not, add more stock to make 4 cups). Add the neck, bring to a boil, add the sage leaves, remove from the heat, and let steep for 15 minutes. Remove the sage leaves.
• Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and cook until reduced. Whisk in the stock and cook until thickened and smooth, about 5 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper and chopped sage.

CRISPY-SKINNED HERB-ROASTED TURKEY

Steps:

• Two days before roasting, rinse, clean and dry the turkey thoroughly. In a food processor, pulse 2 tablespoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, the granulated garlic, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary and orange zest until uniform but still coarse, about 10 times. Rub the inside of the turkey with the salt mix, then carefully slip your fingers under the breast skin and rub a liberal amount under the skin. Flip the turkey on its side and sprinkle more of the salt mixture on the thigh, wing and leg. Repeat on the other side.
• Place the bird in a large zip-top bag or brining bag. (If neither is available, cover with plastic wrap.) Place the bird breast-side up on a wire rack on a sheet pan and then place in the fridge away from any raw food (on a lower shelf). Leave in the fridge for 2 days.
• The night before cooking, remove the turkey from the fridge and take it out of the plastic. The skin should be mostly dry and the salt should be dissolved; if any large patches of moisture are present, wipe with paper towels. Place back in the fridge, uncovered, for another 8 hours to dry out completely.
• On the day of, take the turkey out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Fit a roasting pan with a wire V-rack. Put the turkey on the rack and brush with one-quarter of the melted butter. Roast 30 minutes. Turn the heat down to 325° and continue roasting, basting occasionally with the remaining melted butter, until a thermometer inserted into the thigh registers 165 degrees F, about another 2 hours. Let the turkey rest 30 to 45 minutes before carving.
• 5. "This turkey is the perfect blend of moist, seasoned meat and crisp skin. It's the best darned thing I've ever made."
• Special equipment:
• ACTIVE: 30 min TOTAL: 3 hr (plus 2- to 3-day brining and refrigerating) SERVES: 10 to 12

BRINED, HERB ROASTED TURKEY

Steps:

• For the Brine:
• To make the brining solution, dissolve the salt and sugar in 2 gallons of cold water in a nonreactive container (such as a clean bucket or large stockpot, or a clean, heavy-duty, food grade plastic storage bag). Add the oranges, lemons, thyme, and rosemary. Note: if you have a big turkey and need more brine than this, use 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 cup brown sugar for every gallon of water.
• Remove the neck, giblets, and liver from the cavity of the turkey and reserve for the gravy. Rinse the turkey inside and out under cold running water.
• Soak the turkey in the brine, covered and refrigerated, for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels both inside and out. Place turkey, breast side up, in a large, heavy roasting pan. Rub breast side with orange segments and rub on all sides with the butter, stuffing some underneath the skin. Season lightly inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff the turkey with the onion, remaining orange, celery, carrot, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, sage and parsley. Loosely tie the drumsticks together with kitchen string. Roast the turkey, uncovered, breast side down for 1 hour.
• Remove from the oven, turn, and baste with 1/2 cup stock. Continue roasting with the breast side up until an instant-read meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F when inserted into the largest section of thigh (avoiding the bone), about 2 3/4 to 3 hours total cooking time. Baste the turkey once every hour with 1/2 to 3/4 cup chicken or turkey stock.
• Remove from the oven and place on a platter. Tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.
• For the turkey broth:
• Heat the oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the turkey neck, heart, and gizzard to the pan and saute until just beginning to brown, about 1 minute. Add the chopped vegetables and bay leaf to the pan and saute until soft, about 2 minutes. Pour the stock and 3 cups of water into the pan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the stock is reduced to 4 cups, about 1 hour, adding the chopped liver to the pan during the last 15 minutes of cooking. Strain the stock into a clean pot or large measuring cup. Pull the meat off the neck, chop the neck meat and giblets, and set aside.
• For the pan gravy:
• Pour the reserved turkey pan juices into a glass-measuring cup and skim off the fat.
• Place the roasting pan on 2 stovetop burners over medium heat add the pan juice and 1 cup turkey broth and the white wine to the pan, and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining 3 cup of broth and bring to a simmer, then transfer to a measuring cup. In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium high heat. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, to make a light roux. Add the hot stock, whisking constantly, then simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.
• Add the reserved neck meat and giblets to the pan and adjust seasoning, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Pour into a gravy boat and serve.
• Slice and serve guests with desired sides.

JUICY HERB-ROASTED TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Chop 8 sage leaves and leaves from 2 thyme sprigs. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup oil, garlic, salt and pepper with chopped herbs. With fingers, carefully loosen skin from turkey breast; rub mixture under skin. Secure skin to underside of breast with toothpicks., Cut onions into wedges and the celery, carrots and parsnips into 2-in. pieces. Place about a fifth of the onions, celery and carrots in the turkey cavity; add 4 sage sprigs and remaining 4 thyme sprigs to cavity. Arrange remaining vegetables evenly in a roasting pan. Place turkey, breast side up, over vegetables. Brush with remaining 1/4 cup oil., Bake, uncovered, until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reads 170°-175°, 3 to 3-1/2 hours. Cover loosely with foil if turkey browns too quickly. Cover and let stand 20 minutes before carving. Discard vegetables. If desired, use drippings to make gravy.

SPATCHCOCKED HERB-ROASTED TURKEY

Steps:

• Place turkey with its breast side down and tail end facing you on a work surface. Using kitchen shears, cut along each side of backbone; remove and save for making gravy. Turn turkey over so breast side is up; flatten by pressing down firmly on breastbone until it cracks. Twist and tuck wings under to secure in place., Mix remaining ingredients; rub onto all sides of turkey. Transfer turkey to a rack in a foil-lined rimmed baking pan. Refrigerate, uncovered, overnight., Preheat oven to 450°. Remove turkey from refrigerator while oven heats. Roast until a thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh reads 170°-175°, 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours. Remove turkey from oven; let stand 15 minutes before carving.

EASY HERB-ROASTED TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Clean turkey (discard giblets and organs), and place in a roasting pan with a lid.
• In a small bowl, combine olive oil, garlic powder, dried basil, ground sage, salt, and black pepper. Using a basting brush, apply the mixture to the outside of the uncooked turkey. Pour water into the bottom of the roasting pan, and cover.
• Bake for 3 to 3 1/2 hours, or until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh measures 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove bird from oven, and allow to stand for about 30 minutes before carving.