It’s come to my attention by one of my favourites, S, that I never actually put up my turkey recipe for you all to try. Wow. I’m behind. OR I’m early for Easter… let’s go with that. I’ve tried multiple recipes in the last 5 years (which is when I finally grew up enough to make one on my own) and this has become my favourite. My husband always wants Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter at our house because he won’t eat any other turkey. Neither will my kids. To be honest, even my dad, who hates turkey, will eat mine. It’s all very surprising but I’m still proud. It’s very manageable, especially because I use a counter top electric roaster so my stove is free for making sides and my oven is free for dessert. Give it a try, take your time and baste baste baste!!
This is for a 20ish pound turkey, gizzards and neck removed, no stuffing.
Turkey Brine ¼ cup sea salt 1/8 cup sugar ¼ cup white black and pink peppercorns 2 tbs ground sage 1 bunch fresh rosemary, thyme and bay leaves 1 orange peel 3 smashed garlic cloves (you can leave the peel on)
Turkey Rub 2 tbs salt 1 tbs ground sage 1 tbs ground pepper 1 tbs onion powder 1 tbs dried oregano 1 tbs dried chives, 1 tbs garlic powder 1 tbs paprika 4 tbs canola oil (optional)
Extras large bucket with cold water (amount varies, must cover turkey) 1/3 cup softened butter 1 cup red wine 1 cup chicken stock 5 stalks celery, 3 whole carrots (optional) 1 lemon 1 onion 4 cloves garlic Kitchen twine Tin foil (optional) Directions 48 hours before the day you cook your turkey, get the brine ready. Half-fill a large bucket with cold water. Stir in the salt, sugar, peppercorns, sage, rosemary, thyme, orange peel and garlic cloves. Submerge your turkey, making sure it's completely covered in water) and let defrost in the bucket in the fridge for 48 hours. Every 12-24 hours I like to give it a little stir. I don’t know if it actually does anything but I’m impatient so at least I feel like I’m doing something.
The morning of cooking day, take your turkey out and let air dry completely on the outside, this will give you the crispiest skin. Take the 1/3 cup butter and slather the turkey, getting under the skin. In a separate bowl, mix together all of the ingredients for your dry rub. You can make a paste with the canola oil but it’s not necessary. Rub this mixture all over the turkey, inside and outside, and under the skin. At the bottom of your roasting dish, pour in the wine and chicken stock. If you’re cooking the turkey on a roasting rack, leave that in your roasting pan. If not, create a roasting pan with the carrots and celery. Set oven to 350 degrees.
If your turkey is unstuffed, slice the lemon in half, putting one half in the turkey cavity. Slice an onion in quarters and peel 4 cloves of garlic, stuff those in the turkey. Stick the other half of the lemon in the turkey cavity to prevent any vegetables (or stuffing) from coming out. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine and put your turkey in the roasting pan with the wings tucked UNDER the body. The legs and wings cook fastest so this prevents them from burning. Tent turkey lightly with foil, this is unnecessary if you are using a counter top electric roaster.
I used the same method with a stuffed turkey (pictured above). The only thing that varies is the cooking time.
Place the whole turkey in the oven and cook 13 minutes per pound at 350°F. Baste every 20-30 minutes. If the dry rub slides down the turkey it’s okay, we seasoned this bad boy for days and all of those spices will end up in the gravy. For the last 30 minutes of cooking, I like to remove the tinfoil to get some extra browning on the skin. When it’s finished cooking, remove the turkey and let sit at least 15 minutes for the juices to redistribute. Then… Carve and serve!
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