Easy Peasy Oven Roasted Turkey Food

HOW TO COOK A PERFECT TURKEY

Steps:

• Thaw Your Turkey: To thaw, place your turkey in the fridge, let it defrost for approximately 24 hours for every five pounds of turkey.
• Brine Your Turkey: This produces a bird that is perfectly moist, beautifully seasoned, and has equally tender and flavorful dark and white meat. It is a thing of beauty. You should plan on 24 hours for brining. However, it can be done faster. Give yourself at least 8 hours for best results.
• Rub herb butter between the meat and the skin: Place your bird on the rack of your roasting pan. Now, go to the back of the bird, and lift the skin. There you will find a place where you can gently lift the skin from the meat. You will need to gently pry the skin from the meat, starting at the back, and working your way up to the neck. Apply the herb butter into the area you just created, and gently rub it all over the bird. When you have finished, rub your buttery hands on the outside as well. If you don't have enough butter to rub the outside, feel free to rub with canola oil as well. This will help it crisp up! You can make your own herb butter, or get the recipe for the one we use at FlirtingwithFlavor.com
• Fill the Bird Cavity: Fill that bird cavity with steeped herby aromatics. It will flavor the bird from the inside, and slightly sweeten the savory meat.
• Roast for 30 minutes at 500 degrees Fahrenheit
• Create A Foil Hat for the breast and Turn the Oven Down to 350 degrees.
• Let it Cook to 161 degree Fahrenheit. Approximately 13 minutes per pound. Typically a 14-16 pound turkey cooked with this method will take about 2.5 hours to cook fully.
• Rest your Turkey: Pull that beautifully golden brown turkey out of the oven, and cover it with foil. Then let it rest for 30 minutes.
• Enjoy!

PERFECT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the zest and juice of the lemon and 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves to the butter mixture. Set aside.
• Take the giblets out of the turkey and wash the turkey inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the turkey in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the turkey cavity. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, halved lemon, quartered onion, and the garlic. Brush the outside of the turkey with the butter mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey.
• Roast the turkey about 2 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh. Remove the turkey to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil; let rest for 20 minutes.
• Slice the turkey and serve.

OVEN-ROASTED TURKEY BREAST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix 1/4 cup butter, garlic, paprika, Italian seasoning, garlic and herb seasoning, salt, and black pepper in a bowl. Place turkey breast with skin side up into a roasting pan. Loosen skin with your fingers; brush half the butter mixture over the turkey breast and underneath the skin. Reserve remaining butter mixture. Tent turkey breast loosely with aluminum foil.
• Roast in the preheated oven for 1 hour; baste turkey breast with remaining butter mixture. Return to oven and roast until the juices run clear and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast, not touching bone, reads 165 degrees F (65 degrees C), about 30 more minutes. Let turkey breast rest 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
• While turkey is resting, transfer pan drippings to a skillet. Skim off excess grease, leaving about 1 tablespoon in skillet. Place skillet over low heat; cook and stir shallot in turkey grease until opaque, about 5 minutes. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in skillet with shallot and whisk in white wine, scraping any browned bits of food from skillet. Whisk in chicken stock and flour until smooth. Bring to a simmer, whisking constantly, until thickened. For a creamier, lighter gravy, whisk in half-and-half.

A SIMPLY PERFECT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Place rack in the lowest position of the oven.
• Remove the turkey neck and giblets, rinse the turkey, and pat dry with paper towels. Place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in the roasting pan. Loosely fill the body cavity with stuffing. Rub the skin with the softened butter, and season with salt and pepper. Position an aluminum foil tent over the turkey.
• Place turkey in the oven, and pour 2 cups turkey stock into the bottom of the roasting pan. Baste all over every 30 minutes with the juices on the bottom of the pan. Whenever the drippings evaporate, add stock to moisten them, about 1 to 2 cups at a time. Remove aluminum foil after 2 1/2 hours. Roast until a meat thermometer inserted in the meaty part of the thigh reads 165 degrees F (75 degrees C), about 4 hours.
• Transfer the turkey to a large serving platter, and let it stand for at least 20 to 30 minutes before carving.

MOIST OVEN-ROASTED TURKEY

Steps:

• Wash the turkey and pat it dry.
• Place all of the herbs, all the butter, half the lemon and half the apple into the body cavity.
• Place the other half of lemon and apple into the neck cavity.
• Truss the turkey with kitchen string or dental floss.
• Rub canola oil all over the turkey and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
• If you're using an oven bag, place the turkey in the bag at this point, following the directions on the box. I put about 1 tablespoon of water into the bag.
• Roast in a 350 degree oven until themometer inserted in the thigh reads 180 degrees.
• My 15-pound turkey took about 2 hours and 40 minutes.
• You may want to adjust the oven temperature to 325 if you're not using an oven bag.

EASY OVEN ROASTED BARBECUE TURKEY LEGS

Steps:

• Mix the flour with salt, pepper and chili powder.
• Dredge/coat the turkey legs with the flour mixture.
• In a large skillet, brown the turkey legs on all sides.
• Transfer the browned legs to a greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
• In a medium bowl, combine the BBQ sauce, fresh garlic (if using), water, onion, green pepper and the bouillon cube; spoon over the turkey.
• Cover the pan with heavy foil.
• Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 1 hour.
• Uncover; and bake for 1 hour, basting occasionally or until the turkey legs are tender.
• ***NOTE*** the ingredients for the sauce may be doubled if desired.