Splayed Turkey With Herbs
- Total Time
- 2½ hours, plus at least 24 hours' brining
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 112-pound turkey, giblets and neck removed and saved for stock
- 2tablespoons coarse kosher salt
- 1½teaspoons black pepper
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1bunch lemon thyme or regular thyme
- 10garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
- 2fresh or dried bay leaves
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
- Dry white wine, as needed, for the pan
- 1large onion, halved and sliced ¾-inch thick (not thinner, or slices may burn)
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Preparation
- Step 1
Using a sharp knife, cut through the skin that connects legs to the breast on both sides of the turkey. Press down on thighs until they pop out of the sockets and the legs lie flat.
- Step 2
In a small bowl, stir together salt, pepper and lemon zest. Smear mixture all over turkey, including inside the cavity. Pat herb sprigs and garlic all over bird. Stuff bay leaves into cavity. Refrigerate, uncovered, overnight or for up to 2 nights.
- Step 3
Remove turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before you want to roast it. Remove all but the top rack from the oven. (You can remove that, too, but if you leave it in, you’ll be able to roast something else at the same time as the turkey.)
- Step 4
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Take all the herb sprigs and garlic cloves off the surface of the turkey and stuff them into the cavity.
- Step 5
Place a large, empty heavy-duty roasting pan on top of the stove, across two burners if possible. Heat up the pan for a minute or so, until the pan is quite hot. Add the oil, let it heat up for a few seconds, then add the turkey, breast side up, so the legs are parallel to the short sides of the pan and have room to flop open. Press down on the splayed legs so they touch the bottom of the pan. Let turkey sear for 5 minutes, pressing down on the legs occasionally.
- Step 6
Pour enough wine into the bottom of the pan to reach a depth of ⅛ inch. Scatter onions around turkey and sprinkle them lightly with salt. Drizzle turkey and onions with a little oil.
- Step 7
7. Transfer pan to oven, setting it directly on the oven floor (not on a rack). If you have an electric oven, position the rack at the lowest possible position. Top with a pizza stone, if you have one. Place turkey in its roasting pan on the rack and cook as directed. Roast for 30 minutes.
- Step 8
Reduce heat to 350 degrees, give the onions a stir, and if the bottom of the pan is dry, add a splash of wine to moisten the onions. (As the turkey continues to cook, occasionally check the onions to make sure they don’t dry out or they may burn, adding wine as needed.) Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (but not touching the bone) reads 165 degrees and the breast meat reaches at least 160 degrees, about another 40 to 65 minutes depending upon your oven and the pan you use. Transfer turkey to a cutting board and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.
- For Orange Bacon Chile Turkey: Instead of using lemon zest mixture on the bird, use a mixture of 3 tablespoons finely grated orange zest, 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice, 4 grated garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons salt, 1½ teaspoons pepper, 2 tablespoons ancho chile powder and 1 pinch ground cloves. Omit whole garlic cloves and thyme; pat sprigs from 1 bunch sage all over bird, including the cavity. When it’s time to roast, add 2 tablespoons orange juice to pan with wine. Drape ½ pound thick-cut bacon over turkey breast and legs. Roast as directed, checking the turkey during the last 15 minutes to make sure the bacon isn't getting too brown; if it is, cover it with foil.
- For Fennel, Parmesan and Anchovy Turkey: Instead of using lemon zest mixture on the bird, use a mixture of 5 grated garlic cloves, 1½ tablespoons salt, 1½ teaspoons pepper, 2½ tablespoons lightly crushed fennel seeds and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Omit whole garlic cloves and thyme; pat sprigs from 1 bunch rosemary all over bird, including the cavity. When it’s time to roast, in a small pan, melt together 6 anchovy fillets and 6 tablespoons butter. Drizzle anchovy butter all over turkey and onions, making sure to get all the anchovy solids from the pan. Roast as directed; when you lower the oven temperature after the initial 30 minutes, sprinkle 1 cup grated Parmesan all over turkey and onions.
Private Notes
Comments
Every recipe I see for "perfect" turkey is always horribly complicated. I've been doing my birds the same way since grad school, and they're always wonderful: Cook a turkey upside down (ie. breast on bottom) till 1 hour before the finish, then turn it upright the last hour to brown the skin. Everything is cooked, juices go into the breast instead of draining out, and except for turning the bird, you can spend Turkey Day time preparing side dishes. Works for chickens too.
Some oven manufacturers will void the warranty if anything is placed directly on the floor of the oven during operation, whether or not there are exposed heating elements. I use a pre-heated pizza stone on the lowest oven rack. Get the stone as hot as possible for best browning, either on a gas grill or a gas stove-top. Never, never, never place anything directly on a heating element.
I have a standard sized roasting pan. Will I be able to use this approach if I am cooking a 17-18 lb bird (I have a lot of people coming over this year)?
Also, there was a nice tip from the folks at America's Test Kitchen that was similar to Melissa's tip of putting the pan on the oven floor. They suggest putting the pan on a pizza stone for the same reason--giving the dark meat a head start.
Perfect turkey! I’m doing it again next year exactly this way - it’s the first Thanksgiving dinner where people actually liked the turkey (I love Thanksgiving. But my family can take it or leave it).
We tried this for the first time this year. Very tender and flavorful! The only issue was that the legs were totally done in an hour, so we had to remove them until the breast was done. The winey drippings made for a fantastic gravy. We will try this again soon. Thanks Melissa!
I made a 15.5 lb turkey this year, on the lowest rack in my oven, following this method. At 400 ° it was ready in under two hours. Then rested and it carved beautifully. Everyone raved about the turkey. One of my guests who trained at Johnson and Wales, said it was the best turkey she had ever tasted!!!!l Even the leftovers were juicy and tasty.
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