How to Cook Thanksgiving Turkey

Makes: 1 turkey

Ingredients needed to cook Thanksgiving turkey:

• One 15 lb turkey, giblets and neck discarded
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 750 ml champagne
• 1 packaged (14.5 oz) chicken stock
• 2 tbsp dried thyme leaves, crushed
• 2 tbsp dried parsley leaves, crushed
• 2 tbsp dried sage, crushed
• 2 tbsp dried rosemary, ground
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp lemon pepper
• 1 orange, sliced into wedges

Cooking instructions for Thanksgiving turkey:

Warm up your oven to 350 degrees F and spread few sheets of aluminium foil across the base of a roasting pan.
Add the dried herbs, salt and lemon pepper in a small bowl and stir them well together.
Season the interiors of the turkey with this herb mixture and pack it up with chopped carrot, celery, onion, and orange wedges.
Sew the open ends of the cavity with a thread and tie the legs together with a plain dental floss.
Place the trussed turkey into the turkey roaster and bathe it with chicken broth, followed by a whole bottle of champagne. Some of the champagne should seep into the cavity.
Cover the surface of the turkey with aluminium foil in such a way that the latter doesn’t touch the bird’s skin around legs and breast.
Roast the stuffed bird in the oven for a couple of hours or until the meat is cooked through and juices run clear.
Remove the foil and continue to roast the turkey for another half an hour or until it turns golden brown.
Take it out from the oven and set it aside for about 10 minutes.
Cut it into thick slices and serve with your favourite creamy gravy and side dish.

Image source: Wikimedia commons

Last Updated on November 20, 2012 by