Roasting the perfect turkey can be very tricky as it is easy to end up with tasteless, dry meat. Especially the turkey breast. This turkey turns out flawless because it soaks in brine for 24 hours and then it is roasted.

Check out how to brine a turkey here:
http://thefrugalchef.com/2009/11/how-to-brine-a-turkey/

You need to remove the turkey from the brine, rinse it and then pat dry it well with paper towels. I then like rubbing the inside of the breast meat and all of the outer skin with a mixture of garlic salt, sage and freshly ground black pepper. I never stuff my bird as I find that it takes too long to cook and dries up the meat. However, I like to place a quartered, seeded red apple, a quartered, medium yellow onion, 2 celery stalks halved and 1 carrot halved into the cavity. I find this enhances the flavor overall. I then tie the legs with kitchen twine. Once that is done the turkey must sit at room temperature for 25 minutes.

In the interim, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. You are going to cook your turkey at this temperature, breast side down, for one hour. Remove the bird from the oven and baste it with a melted stick of butter mixed with 1 teaspoon ground sage and salt and pepper. Flip it over in the roasting pan so that you now have it breast side up. Lower the heat in your oven to 375 degrees and cook the turkey until a thermometer registers 175 degrees when inserted in the thickest part of the thigh.

Make sure to baste the turkey every hour with the pan juices. Cover it with foil of it is getting too dark. This turkey was 15 pounds and it cooked for four hours. I tented it the last hour. Remove the turkey from the oven and let it sit for 40 minutes before carving it so that the juices readjust themselves. Serve and enjoy a nice piece of tasty, juicy and scrumptious turkey!

Print the Roasted Turkey Recipe Here