Butterball’s Recipe for Turkey Success

Butterball is synonymous with turkey in America. They have a 24-hour turkey hotline, a full range of turkey products, and they were gracious enough to share this “recipe for turkey success” with “All Holiday Cafe” readers:

Citrus, Mustard and Herb Infused Turkey
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened unsalted butter
3 tablespoons each of chopped fresh tarragon and marjoram
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon each of lemon and orange zest
2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 Butterball(R) Turkey (14 to 16 pounds), thawed if frozen

*If fresh herbs are not available, substitute 1 teaspoon dried herbs for each tablespoon of fresh.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Combine butter, herbs, zests, mustard, salt and pepper in work bowl of blender or food processor; cover. Process until well blended.

2. Remove neck and giblets from body and neck cavities of turkey. Reserve giblets for stuffing if desired. Drain juices from turkey and dry turkey with paper towels.

3. Remove butter mixture from blender. Carefully work fingers under skin on breast of turkey. Place half the butter mixture under breast area. Rub remaining butter mixture over breast and legs of turkey.

4. Place turkey, breast side up, on a flat rack in a shallow baking pan. Roast turkey approximately 1-1/2 hours. Then, cover breast and top of drumsticks loosely with foil to prevent overbrowning.

5. Roast turkey another 1-1/2 hours, or until meat thermometer reaches 180 degrees F when inserted into the deepest part of the thigh.

6. Let turkey stand 15 minutes before carving.

Turkey advice is just a phone call (or Internet click) away. Bilingual experts are available to help you at the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line (1-800-BUTTERBALL – press 7 for Spanish) where you can ask a home economist or nutritionist your toughest turkey questions, in English or Spanish. Says Butterball:

“We have people calling from coast-to-coast with questions ranging from thawing to flavor ideas to cooking times to people giving us some fantastic regional recipes of their own,” said Astrid Volpert, a native of Puerto Rico and bilingual expert on the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line. “My favorite part about talking turkey is that I enjoy being able to offer a lifeline to all callers. I love reassuring our ‘home chefs’ that they are doing a good job by steering them in the right direction, helping make their holiday meal a success!”

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