Roast Turkey Ala Naked Chef

Total Time: 5 hrs Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 4 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 6 kg turkey
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 150 g butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, grated
• 1 tablespoon orange zest, fresh
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 celery ribs, trimmed
• 2 carrots, peeled
• 2 sweet yellow onions

Recipe

• 1 wash the turkey and pat it dry.
• 2 cut off the wings, and reserve them.
• 3 take the edge of the skin covering the turkey's breasts and gently peel it back freeing it from the meat - be careful not to tear it.
• 4 rub the turkey (outside and inside) with the sea salt, you may need more than 1 tablespoons.
• 5 chill the bird for 1 or 2 hours or overnight.
• 6 for prepping the turkey for the oven, pat the bird dry (again), and remove any excess salt from the outside of the turkey.
• 7 combine the butter, orange zest, nutmeg, and remaining 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.
• 8 scoop this combo into a sandwich bag, squeeze the air out, and snip off the bottom corner.
• 9 push this cut corner under the loose skin and squeeze out butter, smoothing it out by rubbing the breast.
• 10 rub any excess butter on the outside of the bird and drizzle with the olive oil.
• 11 coarsely chop the vegetables and place them in the roasting pan along with the reserved turkey wings.
• 12 if stuffing your bird, place stuffing into the neck end of the bird -- if not - place sliced oranges and some fresh herbs (such as sage and parsley) into the cavity.
• 13 place the turkey on top of the vegetables and turkey wings in the roasting pan.
• 14 cover the bird loosely with foil and place the tray into a 350°f oven (180°c/gas 4).
• 15 for a 6kg turkey, roast 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
• 16 remove foil for the last 30 minutes of cooking.
• 17 once roasted, remove the bird to a serving dish and cover with new foil and a tea towel to keep warm while preparing gravy (if desired). it's best to let the turkey rest at least 30 minutes.