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Thanksgiving: Leah Chase's Roasted Turkey

Source of Recipe

From "Saveur: The New Classics" by Weldon Owen


Recipe Introduction

"Leah Chase, the longtime chef at New Orleans restaurant Dooky Chase, prepares a roasted turkey with astonishingly tender, juicy breast meat. The secret, we learned, is to seal the bird in an oversize packet of aluminum foil, which locks the moisture in. To brown the skin, she unwraps it and roasts it at a high temperature for the last 30 minutes."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 1 12-pound turkey, giblets removed
â—¦ Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
â—¦ 1 onion, roughly chopped
â—¦ 3 ribs celery, roughly chopped
â—¦ ½ cup unsalted butter
â—¦ 1 teaspoon dried thyme
â—¦ 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
â—¦ 4 crumbled dried bay leaves


Recipe

Heat oven to 350° F. Season cavity and skin of turkey generously with salt and pepper. Stuff cavity with onion and celery.

Tie legs together with kitchen twine, tuck wings under body, and place turkey on top of an 18-by-26-inch sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Top with another sheet of foil of equal size. Crimp and seal edges tightly to form a packet. Transfer sealed turkey to a large roasting pan fitted with a rack and roast for 2 ½ hours.

Melt butter in a 1-quart saucepan, then add thyme, sage, and bay leaves. Remove top sheet of foil from turkey and raise oven temperature to 500° F; cook, basting with herb butter every 5 minutes, until turkey is browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh reads 165° F, about 30 minutes more. Let turkey rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.

Serves 8 to 12