Roast Turkey

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Seeing as there is certainly no shortage of recipes for Thanksgiving and Christmas turkey on the internet and in cookbooks, I wondered about even posting this. The way I do mine is really easy and basic, but it turns out each year so I stick with it. I also can’t be bothered to get too fancy with the turkey. There’s a lot of flavour from the other dishes it gets served with. I also don’t stuff the turkey. It just adds to the cooking time and hassle for me.

For a number of reasons, I roast my turkey the day before it will be served. It just takes so much stress off me when I do. There’s no time crunch or worry that it won’t be done in time for dinner and there’s no slicing and clean up to do the day of the big dinner. As long as there’s enough liquid that covers the meat when it’s in the fridge over night, I find it’s still very moist and juicy when it’s re-heated. Guests have no idea I did it the day before…or maybe they are just too polite to say anything!

Roast Turkey (AIP, Paleo)

Ingredients:

• 1 fresh turkey (aim for around 1.5 lbs per adult serving)
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 3 large carrots, grated and sliced
• 3 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, whole
• 1 large lemon, sliced
• 1/4 cup or more olive oil
• sea salt
• pepper (Omit for AIP)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350. Prep carrots, celery, onions, garlic and lemon slices. Set aside. Remove turkey from packaging and take out any pieces that may be in the cavity (neck, kidneys, etc). Soak up excess liquid in cavity with paper towel and discard. Place turkey in roasting pan. Coat turkey in olive oil, rubbing into all areas with your hands. Place carrots, celery, onions, garlic and lemon slices around and in the turkey. Sprinkle rosemary, sea salt and pepper (omit for AIP) over turkey. Cover the turkey with tin foil. Place in preheated. Half way through cooking time, remove the tinfoil cover. Continue cooking until meat thermometer reads around 175 when inserted in breast. Aim for around 15 minutes of cooking time per pound. Allow turkey to sit for 20 minutes after removing from oven, then slice. Serve immediately or store slices in air tight container (I would use the turkey within 24 hours of cooking). Reheat turkey in 350 oven and serve.