Turkey With Mushroom Gravy the best way to baste is with a stick of sweet butter. Peel the wrapper down from one end to keep your fingers from getting greasy and lightly rub the butter over the bird. Periodically tilt the pan and spoon the drippings all over the roasting bird. 

Ingredients 

Serves 10

12–14 pound fresh turkey

1 head garlic, halved crosswise

1 lemon, halved crosswise

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 onion, quartered

Handful of fresh herbs

1 white onion, finely diced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

8 ounces white mushrooms, washed and quartered

8 ounces oyster mushrooms, torn into thin strips

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

6 cups chicken stock

Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. 

2. Rub the entire bird with oil and season liberally inside and out with salt and pepper.

3. Put the quartered onion and herbs in the cavity of the bird, but don’t pack them tightly—leave space for air to circulate.

4. Insert a metal skewer into each of the turkey’s thighs; this helps conduct heat through the meat so that it cooks more quickly and is done at more or less the same time as the breast.

5. Place the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh registers 155 degrees. (A turkey requires about 12 minutes per pound at 350 degrees, so a 12-pound turkey will take about 2 hours total.) Before carving, the turkey should rest for 20 minutes.

6. When the turkey is done, transfer it to a serving platter and tent it with foil to keep warm.

7. Place the roasting pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and onion to the pan juices and cook until lightly colored, using a spoon to scrape all the caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan.

8. Sprinkle the flour evenly over the pan. Cook over high heat, stirring with a flat sauce whisk, for 3 minutes.

9. Add the stock and simmer, stirring frequently, for 20 minutes. Transfer to a saucepan and cover to keep warm.

Tips 

The day before you plan to roast it, pat the turkey dry inside and out with paper towels. Rub the bird all over with the cut side of the garlic and then with the lemon halves, squeezing the juice all over, then stuff the garlic and lemon in the bird. Liberally season the turkey inside and out with salt and white pepper. Place the turkey in the roasting pan and refrigerate it (uncovered) overnight to allow the skin to dry.