Brined and Herb Roasted Turkey Part II + Herbed Butter

I know you have been waiting on pins and needles for the conclusion of my turkey recipe that you won’t use for another year.

My sincerest apologies for keeping you waiting.

So, I’ve never made a turkey before. Which means I have nothing to compare it to.

But I have to tell you, I really enjoyed the adventure that was my turkey, Jasper.

It was awesome to give her a full body butter rub down and then baste her every thirty minutes.

In some way, it felt very nurturing. Checking every half hour to see how she was coming along. Making sure she had plenty of liquid and wasn’t getting to much color.

And then, even though the full process took a couple days, the juice was totally worth the squeeze.

I don’t expect you to take my word for it. But I do expect you to try it yourself.

You will need…

For the Herb Butter:

1 bunch fresh rosemary, leaves finely chopped

1 bunch fresh sage, leaves finely chopped

3 sticks butter, room temperature

Combine the herbs and butter in a food processor, blender or in a bowl and blend till completely combined.

Remove the herbed butter and rub down your bird till it's completely butter covered. 

For Roasting the Turkey:

2 cups chicken stock + some on hand incase

1 cup apple cider

Start by preheating the oven to 450 degrees F.

Put 2 cups chicken stock and 1 cup apple cider in the bottom of the roasting pan.

Roast the turkey in the preheated oven until the skin gets really nice and brown, about 40 minutes.

Lower the oven heat to 350 degrees F for the remainder of the cooking time.

Baste the turkey every 30 minutes or so and add more stock to the roasting pan, if needed.

Cook about 17 minutes per pound (mine did not take this long to be done).

Once it gets to the proper color, tent the turkey with aluminum foil to prevent it from getting too dark.

Remove the turkey from the oven when an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the turkey registers 160 degrees F.

Make sure that the thermometer is not touching a bone when doing the reading. When the turkey has reached the proper temperature, remove it from the roasting pan to a cutting board and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. 

Cover loosely with aluminum foil.

Now, I would give you a play by play of how to carve the turkey, but that would require me to actually carve the turkey.

And in my house, that job falls to my dad. So instead, I have posted a video of Bobby Flay carving a turkey.

In fact, after twenty plus years of carving turkey, my dad saw Bobby carve it this way on the Today Show on Thanksgiving morning and decided to change his ways.

He claimed it was the best and easiest way he’s ever carved a turkey.

Go Bobby Go!

Love and Beer Floats

Angela