Roasted Turkey With Stuffing

Total Time: 2 hrs 45 mins Preparation Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 5 tablespoons butter, room temp
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon sage
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• coarse salt
• pepper
• 1 (12 lb) whole turkey, thawed if frozen, rinsed and patted dry, neck reserved. (set aside giblets for stuffing, if desired.)
• prepared stuffing, of your choice
• 4 -6 large carrots, halved crosswise
• 2 large onions, cut into 8 wedges
• 2 stalks celery, halved crosswise

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in the lowest position. make herb butter: in a small bowl, mix together 4 tbs. butter w/chopped herbs; season generously w/salt and pepper. prepare and stuff the turkey.
• 2 cut neck into pieces, mix with carrots, ontions and celery, and 2 cups of water in a large roasting pan. set roasting rack over vegetables in pan.
• 3 lift turkey rack; rub with remaining tbs. butter. season generously with salt and pepper. tent turkey loosely w/foil. roast 1 hour, then baste every 30 minutes with pan liquids, until an instant read themometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (avoid hitting the bone!) resisters 125*, about 3 hours.
• 4 remove foil; raise oven heat to 400*. continue roasting occasionally, until thigh reaches 180*, 45-60 minutes more. tent with foil if bird browns too quickly; add more water if pan becomes dry.
• 5 transfer turkey to a serving platter (i bought some extra stems of rosemary and made a "wreath" around the turkey on the platter, it looked nice!). cover loosely with foil and let it rest for at least 30 minutes before carving.