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Recipe

Herb-Stuffed Roast Turkey

ain't nobody got time for that

That caption is the honest one. Nobody has time for a brine, a bag, a bucket of ice and a day of ceremony. This is the version that is just a turkey.

What goes in the cavity is aromatics, not stuffing. Thyme and onion and nothing dense, because anything packed solid in there slows the whole bird down by an hour and comes out underdone anyway. Stuffing belongs in its own dish.

And it starts hot. Twenty minutes at 450°F sets the skin and gets the colour, then it comes down and takes its time. Start low and the skin never catches up.

Feeds
10 to 12
Hands-on
30 minutes
In the oven
About 3 hours
Basted
Every 45 minutes

Three hours for a fourteen-pound bird, plus forty minutes of resting that you must not skip.

Raw turkey seasoned and stuffed with herbs
Shot the night it was made. Open the picture for the full photograph.

What you need

The bird

  • 1 turkey, 14–16 lb, fully thawed and dried
  • 1/4 cup neutral oil or melted butter
  • 2 tbsp coarse cracked black pepper
  • 2 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp granulated garlic

The cavity

  • 1 large bunch fresh thyme (from my garden)
  • 2 onions, quartered
  • 1 head garlic, halved
  • 2 lemons, halved

The basting jug

  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 stick butter, melted
  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tbsp black pepper

How it goes

  1. 1 — Dry it properly, inside and out

    Paper towels through the cavity and over every surface. A wet bird steams, and a steamed turkey has grey skin no matter what you do to it afterwards.

  2. 2 — Oil, then salt and pepper, including under the skin

    Work your fingers under the breast skin from the neck end and season in there as well as on top. That is where the meat is driest and where seasoning never otherwise reaches.

  3. 3 — Cavity loosely packed, nothing dense

    Thyme, onion, garlic and lemon pushed in but not crammed. Air has to move through or the inside of the bird takes an extra hour.

  4. 4 — Truss it lightly and tuck the wings

    Legs tied together, wing tips folded back under the shoulders so they do not burn. Light trussing — tied tight, the thighs shield themselves and cook slower than the breast.

  5. 5 — 450°F for twenty minutes, then 325°F

    The hot start sets and colours the skin. Then down to 325°F for the rest, about twelve minutes a pound in total.

  6. 6 — Baste every 45 minutes, and not more often

    From the jug, quickly, door shut again. Basting every fifteen minutes is a tradition that mostly just empties the oven of heat.

    pro tip — If the breast is getting dark before the thighs are done, lay a loose sheet of foil over it. That is not cheating, it is the normal way through.

  7. 7 — 165°F in the breast, 175°F in the thigh

    Probe both, away from bone. The thigh is always the laggard; when it reads 175°F the bird is done regardless of the clock.

  8. 8 — Rest 40 minutes before carving

    Tented loosely on a board. A turkey carved at fifteen minutes empties itself and the slices are dry; at forty it is still hot and it holds together.

Ain't nobody got time for that. Three hours, and most of them you are doing something else. LFG.

More of what comes out of this kitchen on the food wall.

Every picture on this page is one of mine. I paint for a living the rest of the time — that is the gallery, and the originals are for sale.