Thanksgiving Turkey

Serves: 8

Ingredients

1 12-lb organic or local pasture-raised turkey
olive oil for basting
sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
1 sprig fresh sage
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 medium onion, peeled and halved
1 lemon, halved
2 carrots, scrubbed free of dirt
2 celery stalks, scrubbed free of dirt
2 T chopped fresh herbs, such as sage and rosemary

Directions

Buy the best quality turkey you can afford - the flavor and juiciness will have your family and guests talking about it for years to come. With a properly raised bird, there is no need for brining or flavor-injecting acrobatics. By roasting the bird upside down in high heat, it allows the juices to run through to the driest part, the breast. If the skin starts to brown before the meat is done, just under 165 degrees, then place foil on top of the breast to help deflect heat. Since stuffing in the cavity can take longer to cook than the meat, this recipe uses aromatics instead.  

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

1. The night before, rinse bird inside-out and pat dry. Add generous pinches of sea salt all over skin and throughout the cavity. Rest uncovered, breast side up, on a plate in the fridge overnight. This helps make the skin crispy as well as flavor the meat.
2. The next morning, take turkey out for about an hour before roasting to bring close to room temperature. This helps the bird cook more evenly in the oven.  Salt cavity again and stuff with onion, lemon, 1 sprig each of rosemary and sage and some grinds of freshly cracked pepper. Tie legs together tightly with kitchen twine and fold wings back behind neck area securely, like arms sitting back in a lawn chair. By keeping the arms and legs close to the body, it will cook more uniformly and you will likely have a juicier bird.
3. Coat outside of turkey completely with olive oil. Set down on carrots and celery, cut in 4" pieces to uniform width. Carrots and celery should be about even in height so that the bird can rest flat on top of them. Put about 1/4 C water into the bottom of the roasting pan so the vegetables don't burn before drippings have time to fall onto them.

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