Real African Dishes: [MC-AllEthnic-Recipes] Simply Roasted Turkey

Sunday, July 1, 2012

[MC-AllEthnic-Recipes] Simply Roasted Turkey

I buy an extra turkey (or 2) in the fall when they are cheap, and pulled the
last one out to defrost yesterday. This will be on the menu later this week
after it has defrosted.

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Simply Roasted Turkey

1 turkey, 12 lbs, defrosted
1 yellow onion, quartered
1 lemon, quartered
1 stalk celery with leaves
4 bay leaves
1 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp rubbed sage
1/2 tsp thyme leaves
2 TBSP Kitchen BouquetT
3/4 C chicken broth
1/4 C butter, melted
Special equipment: basting brush, instant-read thermometer

This will take about 3-1/2 hours to cook.

Heat the oven to 325F.
Measure the bay leaf, sage, thyme, and peppercorns into a small dish; set
aside.
Measure the Kitchen Bouquet into another small dish; set aside.
Measure and melt the butter.
Cut up the celery, onion, and lemon; set aside.
Clean the turkey, remove giblets, and pat dry. Tuck wings back.
Put a piece of lemon, a piece of onion, and some of the peppercorns, thyme,
sage, and bay leaf in the neck cavity; put the remaining veg, lemon, onion,
celery, and herbs in the body cavity; include the heart, liver, and gizzard.
Place in a roasting pan; rub all over with Kitchen BouquetT.
Put in the oven uncovered for 30 minutes; after that time, baste with
butter, make a loose tent of aluminum foil and cover the bird. Use a basting
brush to baste with melted butter every 20 minutes for 1 hour, rotating the
pan 180 degrees with every basting.
At the end of this time, begin basting with chicken broth and continue until
done, 165-170F on an instant read thermometer.
Allow to stand for about 20 minutes before carving.

Note: A brush works much better for basting this than a bulb-type baster.
The instant-read thermometer is not really necessary, but nice to have.