Lunch / Dinner
Roasted Turkey with rosemary-orange butter
Roasted turkey is required fare for Thanksgiving, and pretty much all the holidays. And this one with a festive rosemary-orange compound butter is just the ticket.
Ingredients
FOR THE BUTTER, MIX:
FOR THE TURKEY, REMOVE:
COMBINE:
Test Kitchen Tip
If you aren’t planning to roast a whole turkey, just use the rosemary-orange butter on a turkey breast.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350° with rack in lowest position. Place 2 cups water in the bottom of a roasting pan and set a roasting rack inside.
For the butter, mix softened butter, garlic, rosemary, zest, and salt in a bowl.
For the turkey, remove giblets and neck from cavity; reserve for gravy. Trim excess fat and skin from turkey, and rinse (inside and out) with cold water. Dry turkey with paper towels.
Tuck wing tips under turkey’s body to secure. Season cavity with salt, and stuff with quartered orange, rosemary sprigs, and sage sprigs.
Transfer turkey to roasting rack. Slide your hand between skin and breast meat at neck to loosen skin.
Insert rosemary-orange butter under the skin, and massage to distribute over entire breast.
Tie legs with kitchen string, then cover roasting pan with heavy-duty foil. Transfer turkey to oven with legs toward the back; roast 2 hours.
Combine orange juice, melted butter, and salt in a bowl. Remove turkey from oven, remove foil, and baste with orange juice mixture; return turkey to oven with breast toward the back. (If breast becomes too dark, cover it with foil.)
Roast turkey, basting every 30 minutes, until a thermometer inserted into the thigh but not touching bone registers 165°. Remove turkey from oven, tent with foil, and rest 30 minutes before carving.
Use a spoon to insert herb butter under skin, then “massage” the outside of the breast to spread butter.
After 2 hours, baste the turkey every 30 minutes to give it color, keeping an eye on the breast.
The turkey is fully cooked when the thickest part of the thigh and breast registers 165°.
Nutritional Facts
Nutritional Facts
Per 6 oz.
Calories: 268
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 9g 13%
Saturated Fat 3g 15%
Cholesterol 118mg 39%
Sodium 106mg 4%
Carbs 0g 0%
Fiber 0g 0%
Protein 44g
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.