High Roasted Turkey Recipes

HIGH-HEAT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Move oven rack to lowest position; heat oven to 450°F. Fold wings across back of turkey so tips are touching. Rub both cavities lightly with salt and pepper. Tuck legs under band of skin at tail, or tie together with heavy string, then tie to tail.
• On rack in shallow roasting pan, place turkey breast side up. Insert ovenproof meat thermometer so tip is in thickest part of inside thigh and does not touch bone. (Do not add water or cover turkey.) If possible, place turkey in oven with legs to the back of the oven so they are in the hottest part of oven.
• Roast uncovered 2 hours 45 minutes to 3 hours 15 minutes, watching carefully. After roasting about 1 hour 30 minutes, wearing oven mitts that cover hands and wrists, place tent of foil loosely over turkey when it begins to turn golden.
• Turkey is done when thermometer reads 165°F and drumsticks move easily when lifted or twisted. If meat thermometer is not used, begin testing for doneness after about 2 hours 15 minutes. When turkey is done, place on warm platter and cover with foil to keep warm. Let stand about 15 minutes for easiest carving.

HERB-ROASTED TURKEY THIGHS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Combine room temperature butter with thyme, rosemary, parsley, garlic powder, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
• Pat turkey thighs dry with a paper towel; season with salt and pepper.
• Place potatoes, onions, and garlic on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Add turkey thighs and rub herb butter over the meat and under the skin. Top with lemon zest and juice.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Continue to bake, basting turkey with its own juices after 15 minutes, until no longer pink in the centers, about 30 minutes more. An instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

HIGH ROASTED TURKEY

Steps:

• To brine the turkey: Dissolve salt and sugar in 2 gallons cold water in large stockpot or clean bucket.
• Add turkey and refrigerate or set in very cool spot (not more than 40°F) for 8 hours.
• Set slotted broiler pan top on top of roasting pan with foil-covered dressing and spray with nonstick cooking spray; set roasting pan on baking sheet to support bottom.
• Remove turkey from brine and rinse well under cool running water.
• Position turkey on broiler pan top; thoroughly pat surface of turkey dry with paper towels.
• Refrigerate turkey and dressing, uncovered, 8 to 24 hours.
• To roast turkey with dressing: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 450°F.
• Remove broiler pan top with turkey and foil cover over roasting pan; replace broiler pan top with turkey.
• Brush turkey with melted butter.
• Place entire assembly with turkey in oven and roast until turkey skin is crisp and deep brown and instant-read thermometer reads 165 °F when inserted in thickest part of breast and 175°F in thickest part of thigh, 80 to 100 minutes, rotating pan from front to back after 40 minutes.
• Transfer broiler pan top with turkey to cutting board, tent loosely with foil, and let rest 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position, place roasting pan with dressing back in oven, and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
• Cool dressing 5 minutes, then spoon into bowl or onto turkey serving platter.
• Carve turkey.

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.

ROAST TURKEY WITH COUNTRY HAM STUFFING AND GIBLET GRAVY

Steps:

• Make the stuffing:
• In a shallow baking pan arrange the bread cubes in one layer, bake them in a preheated 325°F. oven, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until they are golden, and transfer them to a large bowl. In a large skillet sauté the ham in the butter over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 10 minutes, or until it is deep red and the edges are crisp, and transfer it with a slotted spoon to the bowl. To the fat remaining in the skillet add the onions, the celery, the sage, and the thyme, cook the mixture over moderate heat, stirring, until the onions are softened, and transfer it to a bowl. Toss the stuffing well, season it with salt and pepper and let it cool completely. The stuffing may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. (To prevent bacterial growth do not stuff the turkey cavities in advance.)
• Rinse the turkey, pat it dry, and season it inside and out with salt and pepper. Pack the neck cavity loosely with some of the stuffing, fold the neck skin under the body, and fasten it with a skewer. Pack the body cavity loosely with some of the remaining stuffing and truss the turkey. Transfer the remaining stuffing to a buttered 2-quart baking dish and reserve it, covered and chilled.
• Spread the turkey with 1/2 stick of the butter and roast it on a rack in a roasting pan in a preheated 425°F. oven for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F., baste the turkey with the pan juices, and drape it with a piece of cheesecloth, soaked in the remaining 1 stick butter, melted and cooled. Add the water to the pan and roast the turkey, basting it every 20 minutes, for 2 1/2 to 3 hours more, or until a meat thermometer inserted in the fleshy part of a thigh registers 180°F. and the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced with a skewer. During the last 1 1/2 hours of roasting, drizzle the reserved stuffing with the stock, bake it, covered, in the 325°F. oven for 1 hour, and bake it, uncovered, for 1/2 hour more. Discard the cheesecloth and string from the turkey, transfer the turkey to a heated platter, reserving the juices in the roasting pan, and keep it warm, covered loosely with foil.
• Make the gravy:
• Skim all of the fat from the roasting pan juices, reserving 1/3 cup of the fat, add the wine to the pan, and deglaze the pan over moderately high heat, scraping up brown bits. Boil the mixture until it is reduced by half. In a saucepan combine the reserved fat and the flour and cook the roux over moderately low heat, whisking, for 3 minutes. Add the stock and the wine mixture in a stream, whisking, and simmer the gravy, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add the reserved cooked giblets and neck meat, chopped, and salt and pepper to taste, simmer the gravy for 2 minutes, and transfer it to a heated sauceboat.
• Garnish the turkey with the sage leaves and serve it with the gravy and the stuffing.

THE SIMPLEST ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Remove any feathers and quills with pliers (kosher turkeys tend to require this more than others).
• Put oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 450°F.
• Rinse turkey inside and out and pat dry. Mix salt and pepper in a small bowl and sprinkle it evenly in turkey cavities and all over skin. Fold neck skin under body and, if desired, secure with metal skewer, then tuck wing tips under breast and tie drumsticks together with kitchen string.
• Put turkey on rack in a large flameproof roasting pan. Roast, rotating pan 180 degrees halfway through roasting, until thermometer inserted into fleshy part of each thigh (close to but not touching bone) registers 170°F, 1 3/4 to 2 1/2 hours.
• Carefully tilt turkey so juices from inside large cavity run into roasting pan. Transfer turkey to a platter (do not clean roasting pan) and let stand 30 minutes (temperature of thigh meat will rise to 180°F). Cut off and discard string from turkey.
• For a stuffed turkey:
• Twelve cups of stuffing will fill both cavities and leave you extra to bake separately. Just before roasting, spoon room-temperature stuffing loosely (stuffing expands as it cooks) into the neck (smaller) cavity. Fold the neck skin underneath the body and secure with a small metal skewer. Then loosely fill the body (larger) cavity, and tie drumsticks together. If you don't want any stuffing to spill out, cover the opening with a slice of fresh bread, tucking it inside the cavity before tying the drumsticks. Follow roasting directions above. (Timing for a stuffed bird may be slightly longer, but start checking the temperature at 1 3/4 hours.) Immediately transfer stuffing from body cavity to a shallow baking dish (separate from one for stuffing baked outside the turkey). Take temperature of stuffing in neck cavity and if less than 165°F, add it to the baking dish. Bake (covered for a moist stuffing or uncovered for a crisp top) until it reaches a minimum of 165°F. This can take 20 to 45 minutes, depending on the temperature of the oven, which you may have lowered to reheat side dishes.
• For a roast turkey breast:
• The same method used above can be applied to a whole turkey breast (instead of the entire bird). For a 6- to 8-pound breast (with skin and bone), reduce amount of salt to 1 1/2 teaspoons and pepper to 3/4 teaspoon. Use a V-rack instead of a flat rack. Roast, rotating pan 180 degrees halfway through roasting, until thermometer inserted in thickest part of each breast half (close to but not touching bone) registers 170°F, about 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. Let stand 30 minutes (temperature in breast will rise to between 175°F and 180°F). (For a grilled turkey option, see Grilled Whole Turkey.)