Roasted Turkey

​My family doesn't always agree on how they feel about the dinner that I set in front of them.  (Let's face it, we're almost never unanimous in our evaluation of a meal.)  When I entered the world of food service, one of the first lessons that I learned is that I was never going to please everyone.  A dish that one person perceives as too salty, another person will comment that it didn't have enough salt.  

It's hard enough to come up with meals that the majority of my family will enjoy, and even harder to try and figure out what someone elses family might like.  Whenever I take a meal to someone, I like to try and make something that is liked by MOST everyone.  Turkey is one of those foods that almost everyone can appreciate.  I made a couple of turkey breasts last month - one for my family and one to take to another family.  

Roasted Turkey Breast
3 onions, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
5 sprigs fresh thyme
5 cloves garlic, halved
1 cup chicken broth
5 -7 pound turkey breast
4 pounds turkey drumsticks
3 tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons pepper

​Arrange onions, celery, carrots, thyme and garlic in an even layer on the bottom of a foil lined baking sheet.  Pour broth over vegetables.  Place wire rack over vegetables.

​Pat turkey dry with paper towels.  Brush breast and drumsticks with melted butter.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.    Place breast, skin side down, on wire rack.

​Bake at 275 for an hour.   Turn breast over and bake until internal temperature reaches 165.  

​Remove from oven and tent turkey breasts with foil.  Bake turkey legs in a separate until 165 degrees.  Heat oven to 500 and place turkey on a baking sheet.  Roast until skin is golden brown and crisp. 

​ Let rest for 20 minutes and then carve.

​These turkey breasts came out super moist and delicious.  Most of the time, when I make a meal for someone else, I don't get to taste it.  In this case, I'm going to assume that the turkey that I delivered was just as juicy as the one that we had for ourselves.  We had lots of leftover turkey too, which meant that lunches were covered for the week.

Ciao!

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