What
other time of the year than Thanksgiving do people bake a whole turkey? Well, I
think they are fabulous birds. Savory. Good for you. And a whole turkey
can provide a whole lot of meat...
Baked Whole Turkey
1 large 14 lbs turkey
Compound 'Butter'
1 onion (quartered)
1 apple (quartered)
3 bay leaves
1 cup organic apple cider
Method:
Preheat
oven to 325˚(we were at high altitude, 350° otherwise). Place
oven rack on lowest level in oven.
Remove
the giblets from the main cavity and neck cavity. Discard the liver (or save for feasting later if you so desire) and save the rest for
gravy. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels, place in roasting pan with the rack let sit at room temperature for 2 hours. Discard
any liquid at the bottom of the roasting pan. Wash and dry the roasting pan and rack.
Place the turkey back in the rack, breast side up.
Rub
1 tbls of the Compound 'Butter' in the main cavity. Then place the onion, apple and bay leaves
in the main cavity. Rub the remaining 'butter' on the inside and outside of the turkey skin. Secure the legs under the flap of the tail
skin or tie them together. Bend the
wingtips back behind the turkey, securing any loose neck skin underneath the
wingtips.
Pour
in the cider and cover with foil. Roast
for 1 hour. Then remove the foil and
roast another 2-3 hours. If the top is beginning to brown a bit then leave the foil on.
Baste every
30 minutes and rotate the turkey 90° each time to ensure even cooking time. When the thickest part of the thigh reaches
165˚F, remove and drain the main cavity into the pan.
Place on a cutting board and cover with foil
for about 20 minutes (if it's going to be longer for the other food to be ready then cover with the foil and then a towel).
Slice and serve!
Enjoy (with the rest of the Thanksgiving Feast;))
No comments:
Post a Comment