Lemon Herb Roasted Turkey Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Chop 8 sage leaves and leaves from 2 thyme sprigs. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup oil, garlic, salt and pepper with chopped herbs. With fingers, carefully loosen skin from turkey breast; rub mixture under skin. Secure skin to underside of breast with toothpicks., Cut onions into wedges and the celery, carrots and parsnips into 2-in. pieces. Place about a fifth of the onions, celery and carrots in the turkey cavity; add 4 sage sprigs and remaining 4 thyme sprigs to cavity. Arrange remaining vegetables evenly in a roasting pan. Place turkey, breast side up, over vegetables. Brush with remaining 1/4 cup oil., Bake, uncovered, until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reads 170°-175°, 3 to 3-1/2 hours. Cover loosely with foil if turkey browns too quickly. Cover and let stand 20 minutes before carving. Discard vegetables. If desired, use drippings to make gravy.

Steps:

• For the turkey: Twenty-four hours before cooking your turkey, liberally season the inside and outside of the bird with salt and pepper. Using a mini chopper or mortar and pestle, grind the oregano, parsley, tarragon, sumac, thyme, shallots and lemon zest together with some salt and pepper; the salt will help draw the moisture and flavor from the mixture. Add the olive oil to form a paste. Spread the herb mixture all around the inside and outside of the turkey. Refrigerate the turkey, uncovered to dry the skin, for 24 hours.
• For the roasting: Remove the turkey from the fridge 90 minutes before roasting and allow it to come to room temperature.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Season the turkey again with salt and pepper. Put the parsley and thyme sprigs in the cavity with the lemon and shallot halves.
• Put the carrots, celery and onions in the bottom of a roasting pan fitted with a roasting rack. Add a cup of water or stock to the bottom of the pan. Add the turkey to the rack and roast, adding a little more water or stock to the pan if necessary to prevent the drippings from burning, for 30 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to roast, basting the turkey with the pan drippings every 30 minutes, until the thickest part of the leg registers an internal temperature of 155 degrees F, another 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Allow the bird to rest, tented with foil, for at least 1 hour before carving. The temperature will rise to about 165 degrees F during resting.
• Pour the pan drippings into a saucepan, set the pan over medium-high heat and cook until reduced by one-half, about 10 minutes. Stir in the butter until melted. Pour the reduced turkey drippings over the carved turkey just before serving.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F
• In a small bowl combine, green onion, lemon peel, sage, 1/4 t lemon pepper, the marjoram, and garlic. Set saide.
• Rinse turkey breast and pat dry. Gently loosen skin from turkey but od not remove. Spread seasoning mixture evenly under the skin and replace skin neatly over meat. Sprinkle remaining seasonings over the top of the skin.
• Place turkey breast on rack in a roasting pan and add 1/2 inch of water to the bottom of the pan.
• Roast 2 hours and 30 minutes or until thermometer registers 170°F Remove from oven, cover losely with foil and allow to rest 5-10 minutes before slicing.

Steps:

• Remove any giblets from the turkey and save for stock, if you are making your own (see 'Tip'). Remove the bird from the fridge 1 hr before cooking to allow it to come to room temperature. Wipe the turkey inside and out with kitchen paper.
• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Starting at the neck-end of the bird, carefully push your fingers between the skin and flesh on the breast, loosening the skin. Mix the butter, lemon zest, herbs and garlic together and season. Push the flavoured butter under the skin and spread over the flesh. Smooth the skin back over the breast.
• You can now stuff the neck-end of the bird with the stuffing, if you like, and secure the skin underneath with a skewer. Weigh the turkey and calculate the cooking time - it will need 40 mins for every 1kg.
• Transfer the bird to a roasting tin, cover loosely with foil and place in the middle of the oven. Cook for 20 mins, then reduce the temperature to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 for the rest of the cooking time. Remove the foil for the last 30 mins. Check if the turkey is cooked by piercing the thickest part of the thigh with a skewer. If the juices run clear, it's cooked. If they are pink, return it to the oven for another 15 mins, then test again. If using a meat thermometer, it should read 80C for the thighs, and the breast should be 75C.
• Remove the cooked turkey from the tin, and place on a serving platter (use the tin to make the gravy - see 'Goes well with'). Cover with foil and leave to rest for 30-45 mins before carving.