Turkey

I love turkey and I couldn't wait until Thanksgiving so I bought a huge fresh one on sale yesterday. I baked it last night in my oven in a gigantic cast iron oval roasting pot that we affectionately call the baby roaster. I put two round cast iron trivets on the bottom of the roaster to make a shelf to keep the turkey above the turkey fat. I set the oven at 450. I dug out the bags of turkey parts to make a basting sauce. I rinsed the bird and patted it dry and salted and peppered it generously all over.

Here's the recipe for the basting sauce: cube giblets, saute until cooked then remove from heat. Add olive oil to the liquid, add a handful of fresh backyard sage leaves and a couple of bay leaves and a few cloves. Heat, add wine, and a good dollop of honey or molasses. I like to add a cup of apricot preserves or cranberry chutney; a tart fruit is good. Bring the mixture to a boil, keep stirring, then let it cool.

I basted the turkey after one hour of roasting at 450 degrees. I used the whole mixture, and basted again after another hour using the liquid in the bottom of the turkey pan. I basted more frequently as the roasting time continued. When the turkey was done, I removed it from the roasting pan with sturdy skewers (pitchforks!) and placed it on a large platter. It looked like it was made of asphalt, but it was delicious! The hardest part was resisting carving it right away! I let it sit a bit to cool (twenty minutes) to keep the moisture inside the skin. I had to be careful not to turn my back and let Honey gobble it up!