Rosemary Citrus Turkey Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How much rosemary do I add to turkey? ›

The advice I've received is to simply add herbs and vegetables to the cavity that you like. For example, apples, carrots, onions, rosemary sprigs, thyme, sage, and bay leaves. First, place the quartered or chopped fruits and vegetables with the herbs in a shallow sauce pan or skillet.

Wedges of lemon, orange, lime and even grapefruit provide your turkey with an extra layer of flavor. Plus, these fruits add moisture to your turkey as it cooks so you end up with a juicy Thanksgiving centerpiece.

More Ways to Sneak Flavor into Your Stuffing

Fruits: Insert quarters of apple, lemon, orange, lime, or even grapefruit to add moisture and brightness to the turkey. You can even go with dried fruit, like cranberries, to double down on the autumn vibes.

However, there have been occasional reports of allergic reactions. Because of their volatile oil content, large quantities of rosemary leaves can cause serious side effects, including vomiting, spasms, coma and, in some cases, pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs).

Add rosemary to a variety of dishes by sprinkling the finished product with 1 to 3 teaspoons (1 to 3 g) of the freshly diced herb.

Add the lemon zest and juice, crushed garlic and chopped parsley. Mix well to combine. Remove the giblets from the turkey cavity. Season the cavity well with salt and pepper, then stuff with the onions, lemon, garlic halves and 2 bay leaves.

Oven-Roasted Turkey

We recommend starting the turkey in a 425 degree oven for 30-45 minutes before tenting the pan with foil and lowering the temperature to 350 degrees until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the bird.

Stick with salt and pepper, put herbs like rosemary, thyme, and sage to work, or take spicy Cajun seasoning for a spin for some kick. Whatever blend you choose, spread it all over the turkey—on top, underneath, between the body and wings and legs, under the skin, and even in the cavity of the bird.

To achieve a perfectly golden, juicy turkey, let the bird spend time both covered and uncovered in the oven. We recommend covering your bird for most of the cooking time to prevent it from drying out; then, during the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, remove the cover so the skin crisps in the hot oven.

Why put an onion in a turkey? ›

Classic Aromatics

Add halved onions, carrot chunks, celery and fresh herbs to the cavity of your turkey, inserting them loosely. These flavor builders are the base of stock and most soups. As your turkey cooks, they'll steam and infuse your bird with moisture and flavor.

Onion, celery and carrot: These chopped vegetables are placed inside the cavity. These help to add flavor and also keep the turkey moist as they steam. Other vegetables you can use are squashes or peppers.

It may sound unusual, but when you cover your turkey with mayonnaise, it bastes it during the roasting process, keeping the meat moist and tender.

That slime is called a pellicle. It is desirable if you are preparing meat, fish or poultry for barbecue, because it help absorb the smoky flavor from the wood and fat drippings. With sliced meat too much of the meat is affected, and it just becomes unpleasant.

Chemical changes during cooking.

Scientists have found that pinkness occurs when gases in the atmosphere of a heated gas or electric oven react chemically with hemoglobin in the meat tissues to give poultry a pink tinge. They are the same substances that give red color to smoked hams and other cured meats.

You can chop the leaves finely and add them to whatever it is you're cooking, or you can leave the branches whole, add them, then fish them out and discard. I love chopping rosemary over potatoes that I'm roasting, often tossing the potatoes first in a mix of olive oil, dijon mustard, salt, and rosemary.

Rosemary extract is commonly added to commercial ground turkey meat as a flavoring agent but also acts to stabilize color. A cross-section of antioxidants have been tested for their ability to stabilize meat color through direct addition.

Due to its potency, Rosemary Essential Oil should never be applied undiluted. For safe use, mix 15 drops of Rosemary Essential Oil with any 100ml carrier oil of your choice.