Roast Turkey Complete Dinner Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Place rack in the lowest position of the oven.
• Remove the turkey neck and giblets, rinse the turkey, and pat dry with paper towels. Place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in the roasting pan. Loosely fill the body cavity with stuffing. Rub the skin with the softened butter, and season with salt and pepper. Position an aluminum foil tent over the turkey.
• Place turkey in the oven, and pour 2 cups turkey stock into the bottom of the roasting pan. Baste all over every 30 minutes with the juices on the bottom of the pan. Whenever the drippings evaporate, add stock to moisten them, about 1 to 2 cups at a time. Remove aluminum foil after 2 1/2 hours. Roast until a meat thermometer inserted in the meaty part of the thigh reads 165 degrees F (75 degrees C), about 4 hours.
• Transfer the turkey to a large serving platter, and let it stand for at least 20 to 30 minutes before carving.

Steps:

• DIRECTIONS FOR TURKEY:.
• NOTE: Even though you may have purchased a Butterball or a butter basted bird, you should still follow these directions, as they inject very little butter into the bird, just so that they can legally get away with saying that it is butter basted. Trust this recipe of mine, and I guarantee that you and your guests will have the best and juiciest turkey ever. The cook time and the amounts of ingredients will vary, depending on the size of the bird.
• Remove giblets from both cavities at both ends and set aside. Rinse the bird inside and out and pat dry with paper towel. Place a rack into a large roasting pan, and then place the turkey onto the rack with the breast and legs up.
• Place your hand between the skin and the flesh from the rear of the turkey and slide a palm full of the butter all the way up to the front of the bird, so that the entire bird has butter between the skin and the flesh.
• Then place a glob of butter into the palm of your hand and generously rub the entire outside of the turkey with the butter.
• Generously sprinkle the entire bird with salt, freshly ground black pepper, onion powder, granulated garlic powder, tarragon, parsley flakes, thyme, basil and paprika. Pour about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of chicken broth in the bottom of the roasting pan, being careful not to wash any of the seasonings off the turkey. Completely tent the turkey with aluminum foil and place into a preheated 325°F oven for about 1 1/2 hours.
• Remove the foil tent and wrap foil around the legs and wings. Baste the turkey and return it to the oven for the remainder of the cooking time, which will be when the interior temperature of the bird reaches 180 degrees, or until the juices run clear and not red when you puncture the bird between the thigh and the breast. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the turkey. NOTE: I always cook my turkey unstuffed. I place my stuffing into baking dishes to bake.
• DIRECTIONS FOR BREAD STUFFING:.
• Place 2 Tablespoons butter into a hot skillet. When the butter is melted, add the small dices of celery, lightly sprinkle with salt, and sauté until the celery pieces are tender.
• Transfer the celery with the pan juices to a large pot or a very large mixing bowl. Add the turkey or chicken stuffing. Tear the white bread into small, but not too small, pieces and add the bread to the mix. Add the 4 eggs. Season to taste with the herbs. Add a little water if necessary, but be careful not to make it too mushy, otherwise you will need to add more torn up white bread. Mix it well.
• Preheat oven to 325°F Spray baking dishes with Pam or a non-stick spray, and fill the baking dishes with the stuffing mixture. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 30 to 45 minutes.
• DIRECTIONS FOR CANDIED YAMS OR SWEET POTATOES:.
• The other way is to place all of the ingredients into a large pot and cook the potatoes on top of the stove over medium heat and stirring every so often until potatoes are soft. Also, do not be afraid of adding more brown sugar and/or orange juice if needed.
• DIRECTIONS FOR CRANBERRY SAUCE SUPREME:.
• In a large bowl, place the whole cranberry sauce and mix it well, so that there are no large jelled sections. Drain the blackberries and add them to the bowl. Add 1 cup of raisins. Mix well and it is ready to serve.
• DIRECTIONS FOR GIBLET GRAVY:.
• In a large skillet, pour in the chicken livers with their juice. Sauté the livers, turning them, until they are done. Allow to slightly cool, and cut the livers into small, but not too small, pieces.
• Place the gravy into a large pot. Add the cut up chicken livers. Heat, stirring every so often. Add about 1 cup of the turkey drippings.
• NOTE: You can also serve mashed potatoes and rolls if desired.

Steps:

• Let the turkey sit at room temperature, 30 minutes. Position an oven rack in the lowest position (remove the other racks); preheat to 350 degrees F.
• Remove the neck and giblets from the turkey and set aside for the gravy. Pat the turkey very dry with paper towels and rub inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with the onion, carrot, celery, and sage and thyme sprigs. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Put the turkey on a rack set in a large roasting pan and tuck the wings under the body.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat; whisk in the paprika and chopped sage and thyme. Let the paprika butter cool slightly, then brush all over the turkey. Transfer to the oven and roast 1 hour. Meanwhile, make Classic Gravy.
• After the turkey has roasted 1 hour, baste with the drippings. Continue roasting, basting every 30 minutes, until the skin is golden brown and a thermometer inserted into the thigh registers 165 degrees F, about 2 more hours.
• Transfer the turkey to a cutting board and let rest 30 minutes before carving; reserve the drippings for the gravy.
• Prepare the stock: Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the turkey neck and giblets; cook, turning, until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the onion, carrot, celery, thyme and bay leaves; stir to coat. Add the wine and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until reduced by half, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the broth, reduce the heat to low and simmer about 1 hour. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup; reserve the saucepan. You should have 7 cups stock-if you're short, add more broth.
• Melt the remaining 8 tablespoons butter in the reserved saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth and bubbling, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the 7 cups stock; bring to a simmer and cook, whisking occasionally, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Set aside until the turkey is done.
• Pour the turkey pan drippings into a fat separator and let stand until the fat rises to the top. Discard the fat (or drizzle on your stuffing). Whisk the defatted drippings into the gravy; season with salt and pepper. Reheat before serving.

Steps:

• In a medium pot with a candy thermometer or deep-fry thermometer attached, heat the broth. When the liquid reaches 165 degrees F, with barely any bubbles reaching the surface, add the turkey. Adjust the heat, if necessary, to keep the temperature at 165 degrees F. Using foil, cover the pot around the thermometer and poach the turkey until the internal temperature of the turkey reaches 150 degrees F, about 30 to 40 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the turkey rest in the poaching liquid for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat a large nonstick pan over medium heat. When hot, add the olive oil. Add the onions and celery and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the poultry seasoning and bread. Stir to combine. Lower the heat to low and add the poaching liquid, 1/2 cup at a time (about 1 cup total), to the pan to moisten the bread. Stir well, and then cover. Cook until the bread is moist and hot, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
• Remove the thermometer from the pot and bring the poaching liquid up to a simmer. In a small bowl, add the cornstarch. Whisk in about 1/2 cup of the poaching liquid, and then pour the mixture back in to the pot. Turn up the heat so that the liquid boils. Turn down the heat and simmer until the liquid thickens and reduces in volume by a third, about 10 minutes. If the liquid is too thin, mix more cornstarch with some liquid from the pot and stir it back into the simmering gravy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Slice the turkey breast as thinly as possible. Serve with the stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees (230 degrees C).
• Pat turkey breast with a paper towel to remove any excess liquid and place into a baking dish just big enough to fit it. Use the tip of a sharp small knife to poke the skin of the turkey breast all over. Drizzle over olive oil and use tongs to rub; flip turkey breast over a few times, or until all surfaces are coated with the oil. You can also use a brush. Set aside for 15 to 20 minutes.
• While turkey rests, mix salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, oregano, and paprika together in a small bowl until thoroughly combined.
• Use tongs to grab the turkey breast with one hand while using your other hand to sprinkle the spice rub evenly over the entire surface, including the sides. Finish with the skin side facing up.
• Add about 1/2 inch of water to the bottom of the baking dish.
• Place prepared turkey breast into the center of the oven. Immediately lower the heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Roast until a probe thermometer stuck into center of the thickest part of the breast reads 150 degrees F (65 degrees C), about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
• Let cool before wrapping. Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator, about 8 hours, or overnight. Once meat is cold, slice thinly and serve.

Steps:

• Remove any feathers and quills with pliers (kosher turkeys tend to require this more than others).
• Put oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 450°F.
• Rinse turkey inside and out and pat dry. Mix salt and pepper in a small bowl and sprinkle it evenly in turkey cavities and all over skin. Fold neck skin under body and, if desired, secure with metal skewer, then tuck wing tips under breast and tie drumsticks together with kitchen string.
• Put turkey on rack in a large flameproof roasting pan. Roast, rotating pan 180 degrees halfway through roasting, until thermometer inserted into fleshy part of each thigh (close to but not touching bone) registers 170°F, 1 3/4 to 2 1/2 hours.
• Carefully tilt turkey so juices from inside large cavity run into roasting pan. Transfer turkey to a platter (do not clean roasting pan) and let stand 30 minutes (temperature of thigh meat will rise to 180°F). Cut off and discard string from turkey.
• For a stuffed turkey:
• Twelve cups of stuffing will fill both cavities and leave you extra to bake separately. Just before roasting, spoon room-temperature stuffing loosely (stuffing expands as it cooks) into the neck (smaller) cavity. Fold the neck skin underneath the body and secure with a small metal skewer. Then loosely fill the body (larger) cavity, and tie drumsticks together. If you don't want any stuffing to spill out, cover the opening with a slice of fresh bread, tucking it inside the cavity before tying the drumsticks. Follow roasting directions above. (Timing for a stuffed bird may be slightly longer, but start checking the temperature at 1 3/4 hours.) Immediately transfer stuffing from body cavity to a shallow baking dish (separate from one for stuffing baked outside the turkey). Take temperature of stuffing in neck cavity and if less than 165°F, add it to the baking dish. Bake (covered for a moist stuffing or uncovered for a crisp top) until it reaches a minimum of 165°F. This can take 20 to 45 minutes, depending on the temperature of the oven, which you may have lowered to reheat side dishes.
• For a roast turkey breast:
• The same method used above can be applied to a whole turkey breast (instead of the entire bird). For a 6- to 8-pound breast (with skin and bone), reduce amount of salt to 1 1/2 teaspoons and pepper to 3/4 teaspoon. Use a V-rack instead of a flat rack. Roast, rotating pan 180 degrees halfway through roasting, until thermometer inserted in thickest part of each breast half (close to but not touching bone) registers 170°F, about 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. Let stand 30 minutes (temperature in breast will rise to between 175°F and 180°F). (For a grilled turkey option, see Grilled Whole Turkey.)

Steps:

• Rinse the turkey and dry it well. Sprinkle the cavity well with salt. Stuff as desired.
• Rub the softened butter all over the outside of the bird, and sprinkled it lightly with salt.
• Place the turkey on the rack of a large roaster, which has a heavy bottom, pouring about 2 inches of water in the bottom of the pan.
• Lay the neck and giblets alongside, cover the pan tightly and put it on the large burner on top of the stove. Allow it to boil and then steam gently for 4 1/2 to 5 hours, approximately the same length of time that it would take to roast the same bird. Take care to see the pan does not cook dry.
• When the drumsticks are loosened and the meat thermometer indicates the bird is about done, dribble a bot of soft butter over the skin, sprinkled it with a bit of white sugar and flour and bang it into a 350*F oven to brown while theaccompanying vegetables are cooking on top of the stove.
• The drippings in the bottom of the roasting pan will be a rich dark brown. Skim off any fat and then use them to make a rich gravy.