Emma Grede’s Holiday Turkey
What You’ll Need
Ingredients
1 whole turkey, ~ 20 lb, organic (neck, giblets removed; rinse and pat dry inside & out) — as per video (Instagram)
12 rashers smoked streaky bacon
3 sticks of butter (~ 1½ cup / ~340 g total), softened
A bunch of herbs to combine into a delicious herby mix:
1 bunch rosemary
1 bunch sage
1 bunch thyme
Maldon salt (or flaky sea salt) & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 lemon
1 mandarin
Veggies for the roasting base (to sit the wrapped turkey on (to catch drippings, add flavor)
2 onions, halved
8 whole carrots
8 celery stalks
4 potatoes, halved
4 sweet potatoes, halved
Equipment
Roasting pan
Meat thermometer
Parchment paper
Turkey baster
How to Make
Preheat your oven to 325 °F.
First, we’re going to prep our herbs and butter
Chop rosemary, sage, and thyme. In a bowl, combine softened butter with about 2/3 of the herbs. Season the herb butter mixture with some of the salt and pepper (tip: don’t over-salt, the bacon will add salt).
Next, let’s get our turkey ready
Remove the turkey from packaging. Remove neck and giblets. Season the turkey cavity lightly with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon and mandarin into wedges. Stuff cavity with wedges, and remaining herb sprigs. (Optional) Tie the legs together with kitchen twine; tuck the wing tips under the body.
Now, we’re going to butter the turkey up
Spread herb butter over the outside of the turkey, rubbing it in, as you do this, also gently loosen the breast skin from the breast meat (by hand, carefully, without tearing too much), and slide some of the herb butter between skin & meat. Distribute as evenly as possible.
Next, we’ll get our Veggie roasting base ready
Chop your chosen vegetables (onions, carrots, potatoes, etc.) into chunky pieces, and lay them on the bottom of the roasting pan.
Now, it’s time for our bacon lattice
Take your two long parchment strips. On a flat surface, lay them in a cross or overlapping lattice if needed, to create a “blanket” you can lift over the turkey. The idea: you’ll cover the turkey in full with this parchment paper, so you will want enough to basically create a fully enclosed tent around it.
First, lay out half of the bacon rashers on your turkey, in parallel rows. Next, layout the other half perpendicular to the first half. Finally, weave pieces into a lattice design.
Time to roast!
Place the turkey (on the veggie bed) in the roasting pan, roast, for about 2 hours. Remove from oven and uncover turkey, use turkey baster to draw up the juices from parchment before discarding. Baste the bacon and turkey skin by gently squirting those juices over the top surfaces to keep moisture in and help bacon fat render. Continue this basting every 30–45 minutes until the turkey is nearing doneness (estimate: 3.5 to 4 hrs total cook time, until thickest part of thigh reaches internal temp of 165°F).
Rest, carve, and serve!
Let the turkey rest at least 20-30 minutes (some prefer up to 45 min for large bird) before carving. This lets juices redistribute. Carve and serve.
Enjoy!
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