Silver palate roast turkey

15 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
-Cornbread Sausage Stuffing with Apples
20 pounds Turkey
2 Oranges
½ pounds Butter salt and pepper paprika
4 tablespoons Corn oil

Directions

1. Make the stuffing for the turkey.

2. Wash the turkey well, inspecting for pinfeathers, and chop off the wing tips, reserving them for later use with giblets in gravy or stock. Dry the turkey inside and out with a kitchen towel.

3. Slice oranges in half. Squeeze the juice all over the outside of the bird and rub into the cavity to refreshen. Salt and pepper the cavity to taste. Fill the turkey with the stuffing, not packing too tightly. Sew up the cavity or close with small trussing skewers.

4. Rub the outside of the turkey all over with 1½ sticks of softened butter and sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and paprika. Drape the turkey with cheesecloth.

5. Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a roasting pan.

6. Four to five hours before serving is scheduled, place the turkey in a preheated 325ø oven.

7. Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter with 4 tablespoons of corn oil in a saucepan. Lift the cheesecloth from the turkey and baste every 30 minutes, first with the butter and oil mixture and later with the turkey's own juices.* 8. Roast for 3« to 4« hours or until the thigh juices run clear yellow when pricked with a skewer. There should be no traces of pinkness. The drumstick will move easily in the socket when the turkey is done.

9. When the turkey is done, remove to a heated platter and cover with foil. The turkey should stand 30 minutes before carving.

10. Remove stuffing into a bowl. If there is any additional from the recipe, bake it in a covered cassarole in a 350ø oven, covered with foil, for one half hour before serving.

11. Serve the turkey on a large platter. Be sure you have sharp knives and a good carver among the group. Enjoy! *For a moist bird, frequent basting is essential, so don't forget! Baste every 30 minutes---breast and legs should be a lovely golden color.

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