Cristina Ferrare's Turkey

Total Time: 6 hrs Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 5 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 1 1/2 cups dijon mustard
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (do not discard lemon rinds)
• 1 (15 lb) free-range turkey
• 2 bunches fresh poultry herbs (sage, thyme, rosemary)
• 2 -3 cups hot water (or broth)

Recipe

• 1 to make marinade:
• 2 combine ingredients in a bowl. whisk until smooth and creamy.
• 3 refrigerate till needed.
• 4 clean out cavity of the turkey and rinse well, inside and out. pat dry and place turkey in a large roasting pan.
• 5 it is very important that you pat it dry in order to get that nice golden turkey skin.
• 6 tie turkey legs together and cover tips with foil. keeping them wrapped and tied stops the legs drying out while cooking.
• 7 tie turkey wings together and cover tips with foil. keeping them wrapped and tied stops the wings drying out while cooking.
• 8 stuff cavity of turkey with lemon rinds and one bunch of poultry herbs. place the second bunch of herbs in the roasting pan.
• 9 place turkey breast-side up in roasting pan. insert thermometer in the thickest part of the breast.
• 10 pour the marinade over the turkey.
• 11 allow to marinade over night.
• 12 cover with foil and roast for 2 hours @ 350 c.
• 13 after 2 hours, add hot water (or broth) to the bottom of the pan. stir to make gravy for basting.
• 14 baste turkey and cover with foil.
• 15 roast turkey another 30 minutes and repeat basting process.
• 16 continue basting every 15 minutes until the thermometer reaches 180–185°, approximately 3 to 4 hours.
• 17 the constant basting is what gives the skin that lovely golden color.
• 18 remove turkey from oven and place on cutting board. cover turkey well with foil to keep warm. let it rest 15 to 20 minutes before carving.