Maple Roasted Turkey

Submitted by Finneus Fudge

"This is a nice juicy turkey for the holidays. Cooking time depends on the weight of your turkey. Check the turkey's packaging for more accurate cooking time."

 

• Ready In: 4hrs
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 10-12

ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
• 20 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
• kosher salt
• pepper, freshly ground
• 1 (12 -14 lb) fresh whole turkey
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups white wine
• 10 white pearl onions
• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 8 slices thick smoked bacon

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and remove top rack.
2. Combine butter, sage, and 1/2 t salt. Mix well.
3. Wash turkey and pat dry. Sprinkle the cavity and skin of the turkey liberally with salt and pepper. Using your fingers (or a chopstick works well) gently separate the skin from the breast and legs and massage the sage butter underneath the skin.
4. Place a rack into a roasting pan. Spray the rack with cooking spray. Place the turkey breast side down on the rack.
5. Pour the chicken stock and wine into the pan. Put the onions in the bottom of the pan and put in the oven for 1 hour.
6. After the turkey has cooked for 1 hour, remove 1/4 cup of the juices from the pan and add it to the maple syrup in a small mixing bowl.
7. Baste the turkey with the maple glaze. Cook for 30 minutes and baste again. Cook for another 30 minutes and remove from oven.
8. Carefully turn the turkey over so that the breast is now face up. Baste with maple glaze and then lay the 8 strips of bacon over the breast. Put turkey back in the oven.
9. Continue to roast, basting every 30 minutes, until an instant read thermometer inserted into the meatiest part of the thigh registers 170 degrees. (The thigh juices will also run clear when pricked with a knife).
10. When done, transfer turkey to cutting board and let rest for 20 minutes before carving. This will let the juices settle back into the meat.

Reviews

[Feisty Cat]

Perfect! This is the best turkey I've ever made. The only changes I made were that I substituted olive oil for the butter, and I had a whole bunch of thyme sprigs, so I stuffed them under the skin as well. The only down side is that you don't get the crispy skin because it's covered in bacon, but instead you get perfectly oven-cooked bacon. I'll always use this recipe as long as I have bacon-eaters. 13 lb turkey was perfectly done and moist after 3 1/2 hours.