Yummy Turkey

Yes, ladies, I'm still wide awake! Just to bask in the success of my Thanksgiving dinner for a little bit more... So how did you celebrate? Of course, no Thanksgiving's complete without some good ol' turkey. And I'm sharing with you an easy-breezy recipe that I recently tried that was a hit among my guests:

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 4 hours

Ingredients:

1 (18 pound) whole turkey
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 quarts turkey stock
8 cups prepared stuffing

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Place rack in the lowest position of the oven.
   
2. Remove the turkey neck and giblets. Rinse the turkey and then pat-dry with paper towels. Place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in the roasting pan. Loosely fill the body cavity with stuffing. Rub the skin with the softened butter and then season with salt and pepper. Position an aluminum foil tent over the turkey.
3. Place turkey in the oven. Pour 2 cups turkey stock into the the roasting pan. Baste all over every 30 minutes with the juices on the bottom of the pan. Whenever the drippings evaporate, add stock to moisten them, about 1 to 2 cups at a time. Remove aluminum foil after 2 1/2 hours. Roast until a meat thermometer inserted in the meaty part of the thigh reads 180 degrees F (80 degrees C), about 4 hours.
4. Transfer the turkey to a large serving platter and let it stand for at least 20 to 30 minutes before carving.

Image and recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com