We followed Ina Garten’s Perfect Roast Turkey recipe, the version that included roast vegetables: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/perfect-roast-turkey-recipe2.html. For a 14 lb turkey, we made the following modifications: first, for the first part of cooking, we placed the turkey breast side down to increase the likelihood the breast would not dry out. Also, instead of adding two sliced onions to the pan at the start of roasting, we added half a sliced onion and 6 sliced shallots. Second, after roasting for 1 hour 40 minutes, we carefully turned the bird so it would be breast side up. We coated the breast side (including drums and wings) with another 2 Tbsp melted, unsalted butter. We also added 1 lb tri-colored baby potatoes, peeled cloves from 1 bulb garlic, and about 3 parsnips (peeled and cut into four vertical quarters) lightly seasoned with salt, black pepper, and olive oil, to the pan. At that time, we covered the turkey wing tips with foil. We then cooked the turkey and veggies for an additional 1 hour 50 minutes and then removed the entire pan from the oven (rather than leaving the vegetables in on their own). We placed an aluminum tent over the turkey and let the entire pan (including veggies) rest at room temperature for 20 mins. Note: we used a brined turkey from Whole Foods that came chilled (but not frozen). Around 3 hours prior to cooking, we removed the turkey from the packaging and patted the outside and inside dry with paper towels. We then lined a large plastic tub with paper towels, placed the turkey in the tub, lodged a few paper towels inside the cavity and on top of the turkey to let the skin dry out further. We had read that this would allow the skin to crisp up while roasting, and it did. (Nov. 2015)
Cooking Adventures 