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compound butter & herb roast turkey

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Turkey

Compound Butter & Herb Roast Turkey

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I slow-bake an 18 to 20–pound turkey at 325°F in my huge graniteware pan.

Ingredients

  • 1 garlic clove
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed
  • 3 fresh sage leaves, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 1/2 pound (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
  • 1 18 to 20–pound turkey
  • Compound butter (recipe above)
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Olive oil

Directions

  • In a mortar and pestle, crush garlic with a pinch of salt. Add thyme, sage, and lemon zest and pound it all together.
  • Transfer garlic-herb mixture to a small mixing bowl and add the softened butter. Mix together. That's your compound butter!
  • If you're cooking the turkey right away, don't refrigerate this butter. If you're cooking the turkey later, roll this butter in plastic wrap into a log and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before you apply to the turkey.
  • Preheat oven to 325°F.
  • Put turkey on work surface and make sure it's clean and dry. Insert fingers under skin to loosen from the breast meat. Work slowly so you don't tear the skin.
  • Spread a generous amount of the compound butter under the skin on both sides of the breast. (Reserve a small amount of the compound butter to baste the turkey when you brown the skin.)
  • Using butcher's twine, bind the legs together and place the turkey on a rack in your roasting pan.
  • Rub the turkey with some olive oil and generously salt and pepper the entire surface. (I like to do this the night before; if you do this, let your bird sit at room temperature for an hour before placing in the oven.) Put lid on pan and place into the oven. No basting required! (If you don't have a roaster with a lid, just tent with aluminum foil, making sure its sealed well around the pan.)
  • After 3 hours, check the internal temperature of your turkey by inserting a thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh. When it has reached an internal temperature of 150°F, remove from the oven, and brush the turkey with the remaining compound butter. Crank up the oven to 450°F. Put back in the oven without the lid and let it roast until the skin is a nice golden brown. The internal temperature should be 160°F when you remove from the oven. Total cooking time for an 18 to 20–pound turkey is 4 to 4 1/2 hours approximately.
  • Let turkey rest for at least 30 minutes tented with foil. Final temperature should be 165°F to 170°F.

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