Salt Pepper Turkey Recipes

SALT & PEPPER TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 190C/gas 5/ fan 170C.Wash the turkey inside and out and dry well with kitchen paper. Season inside the bird with salt and pepper.
• Coarsely crush the peppercorns with a pestle and mortar and add the sea salt. Finely grate the lemon rind on top and mix together. Quarter the lemon and put inside the body cavity along with a few bay leaves.
• If you are stuffing the turkey, stuff the neck end only, pushing it towards the breast. Don't overfill, as the stuffing will expand on cooking. Any leftover stuffing can be shaped into walnut-sized balls and cooked around the turkey for the last half-hour. Secure the neck end flap with a small metal or wooden skewer.
• Tie the turkey legs together with kitchen string to give it a good shape.Weigh the turkey and calculate the cooking time at 18 minutes per 450g/1lb.
• Set the turkey in a large roasting tin. Brush liberally all over with melted butter. Sprinkle the salt and pepper mix evenly over the breast and legs.
• Cover the turkey loosely with a large square of foil and roast for the calculated cooking time, basting with the pan juices every hour. Half an hour before the end of the cooking time, remove the foil and string.Re-tie the legs with a rasher of bacon and arrange the rest in a lattice over the breast. Place any stuffing balls around the turkey. Spoon or siphon off 6 tbsp of pan juices into a saucepan for the gravy, then return the turkey to the oven.
• At the end of the cooking time, transfer the turkey to a serving platter. Cover tightly with foil and leave to rest for 15-45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the gravy. Heat the 6 tbsp of pan juices in the saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for 3 minutes until golden. Gradually whisk in the turkey or chicken stock and port, cooking until the gravy is no longer lumpy. Stir in the lingonberry preserve (or cranberry sauce) and mustard and simmer for 5 minutes. Then taste the gravy and season if necessary. Skim off the fat from the juices in the roasting tin, then add about 150ml/1⁄4 pint of the pan juices to the gravy. Heat through then transfer to a warmed gravy boat.
• Carve the turkey and serve.

EASIEST SALT-AND-PEPPER TURKEY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place carrots, celery, onion, and 2 cups water in a roasting pan; top with a roasting rack.
• Loosen skin on turkey breasts, starting at the neck, and rub butter under skin. Season turkey (including the cavity) with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper; place on the roasting rack. Tie legs together with kitchen twine and tuck wings under.
• Roast, basting every 30 minutes and tenting with foil if skin becomes too dark, until the internal temperature (in the thickest par of the thigh) reaches 165 degrees F, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
• Gently tilt turkey to release juice from cavity into the pan. Transfer turkey to a cutting board; rest for at least 30 minutes before carving.
• Scrape up brown bits from bottom of the pan and transfer, along with vegetables and transfer, along with vegetables and pan juices, to a large, straight-sided skillet; reserve.

SALT AND PEPPER TURKEY

Steps:

• Make Giblet Stock. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, with rack in lowest position. Tuck wing tips underneath body of turkey. Season inside of turkey with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, mix together butter and 1 teaspoon salt. With your fingers, gently separate breast skin from flesh without tearing skin. Spread butter mixture evenly under breast skin.
• Loosely fill large cavity and neck cavity with stuffing; fold neck skin over opening. Tie legs together with kitchen twine. Season turkey generously with salt and pepper. Place turkey in an 11-by-14-inch roasting pan. Roast 1 hour. Reduce heat to 350 degrees; tent turkey with foil. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of thigh registers 165, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Transfer turkey to a cutting board, still tented with foil, and let rest 30 minutes. Reserve pan with drippings for Pan Gravy. To serve, carve turkey and scoop out stuffing.

SALT-AND-PEPPER ROAST TURKEY BREAST

Steps:

• Keep the butter nearby. Place about 1/4 cup kosher salt in a small bowl and keep nearby as well, along with a black-pepper grinder. Transfer the turkey breast to a large sheet pan and thoroughly dry all over with a paper towel; get it as bone-dry as you can.
• Using your hands, very liberally rub the butter all over the turkey breast. (If the butter is difficult to spread, soften it further in the microwave in 10-second intervals.) Make sure to slather the butter on the underside and bones in addition to the entire surface of the skin. Wipe your hands with a towel.
• Generously season the turkey all over with salt, especially inside the cavity. You don't have to be precise here, but do go heavy on the salt - the turkey can take it. (In general, you should account for about 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 3/4 teaspoon Morton coarse kosher salt per pound.) Next, generously grind black pepper all over the turkey; again, no need to measure this. Let the turkey breast sit so the seasoning can penetrate the meat and allow the bird to come to room temperature, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and heat oven to 350 degrees. Place the turkey breast in the oven, then with the oven door still open, carefully pour 1 cup water into the sheet pan with the turkey. Close the oven door and roast until the turkey's internal temperature reaches 150 degrees, 13 to 15 minutes per pound. (To read the temperature, insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of one of the breasts, making sure to avoid the bone, which will give you an inaccurate reading.) Very carefully rotate the pan halfway through roasting and add another cup of water if the pan looks dry. When done roasting (1 1/2 to 2 hours), the skin should be golden brown and crispy.
• Let the turkey breast rest in its pan, uncovered, until cool enough to handle, at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Transfer to a cutting board. Cut along one side of the breastbone with a sharp knife, then the other, cutting each breast off the bone, and keeping the skin intact. Thickly slice each breast crosswise and serve on a large platter scattered with the lemon quarters. Taste the pan juices and, if they're a little salty, stir in a little hot water. If they need more seasoning, stir in salt and pepper. Spoon the pan juices over and around the sliced turkey.