Herb Roasted Turkey for Thanksgiving

I have been making this turkey since 1999. I was a relative newcomer to LA and still had a subscription to New York Magazine. The LA food scene was beginning its ascent, but I was of the belief that New York possessed the food edge, hence my reluctance to give up my life line to the city. The November 1, 1999 issue of New York is filled with wonderfully delicious recipes. In fact two have become standards this turkey from Waldy Malouf and the stuffed mini pumpkins that I will post later.

This is a very simple easy way to make a moist and tasty bird. I usually stuff it with Sharon’s Grandmother’s matza/mushroom stuffing. I’ll post that recipe as well. I don’t know why but my 25+ pound turkey is always done to perfection in 3 hours. It’s a mystery that I’ve yet to solve. But I have a feeling it has to do with the lightess of the stuffing.

•  1  Turkey 15-20 pounds
• 1 stick of butter
•  1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 chopped shallots
• 3 heads of garlic chopped
• 1/4 cup parsley chopped
• 1 tablespoon sage chopped
• 1 tablespoon chives chopped
• 1 tablespoon thyme chopped
• 1 tablespoon tarragon chopped
• 1 large onion coarsely chopped
• 2 celery stalks coarsely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves coarsely chopped

1. Place all ingredients except the last three in food processor and blend.
2. If you don’t like getting your hands dirty, transfer butter mixture to pastry bag.
3. Rinse and dry turkey.
4. Spread the coarsely chopped vegetables (last three ingredients) in the bottom of the roasting pan.  Place bird on top of them.
5. Salt and pepper the inside cavity of the turkey and fill with favorite stuffing.
6. Gently separate breast skin from meat.  Try to separate the skin all the way to the leg bones.  Rub with salt and pepper.
7. Pipe or spread with hands half the butter mixture underneath the skin of each turkey breast.  Mush some of the butter to the led portions.  Once the butter is under the skin you can work the butter with your fingertips to make sure it’s even.
8. Add a bit of water or chicken stock to the bottom of the pan.
9. Place in 350 oven for about 3-4 hours.  Time will depend on the size of your bird.  Stand time is 15 minutes per pound.  I baste the bird about once every half hour.
10. Use the veggies for your gravy.
11. When I make the gravy for the bird I skim the fat into the bowl to use as the fat for the roux to thicken it up.  This is always a moist bird with a ton of flavor.

Remember, don’t over cook the bird.