Roast Turkey Ala Naked Chef - cooking recipe

Ingredients

6 kg turkey
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon black pepper, freshly ground
150 g butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, grated
1 tablespoon orange zest, fresh
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 celery ribs, trimmed
2 carrots, peeled
2 sweet yellow onions

Preparation

Wash the turkey and pat it dry.
Cut off the wings, and reserve them.
Take the edge of the skin covering the turkey's breasts and gently peel it back freeing it from the meat - be careful not to tear it.
Rub the turkey (outside and inside) with the sea salt, you may need more than 1 tablespoons.
Chill the bird for 1 or 2 hours or overnight.
For prepping the turkey for the oven, pat the bird dry (again), and remove any excess salt from the outside of the turkey.
Combine the butter, orange zest, nutmeg, and remaining 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.
Scoop this combo into a sandwich bag, squeeze the air out, and snip off the bottom corner.
Push this cut corner under the loose skin and squeeze out butter, smoothing it out by rubbing the breast.
Rub any excess butter on the outside of the bird and drizzle with the olive oil.
Coarsely chop the vegetables and place them in the roasting pan along with the reserved turkey wings.
If stuffing your bird, place stuffing into the neck end of the bird -- If not - place sliced oranges and some fresh herbs (such as sage and parsley) into the cavity.
Place the turkey on top of the vegetables and turkey wings in the roasting pan.
Cover the bird loosely with foil and place the tray into a 350\u00b0F oven (180\u00b0C/Gas 4).
For a 6kg turkey, roast 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
Remove foil for the last 30 minutes of cooking.
Once roasted, remove the bird to a serving dish and cover with new foil and a tea towel to keep warm while preparing gravy (if desired). It's best to let the turkey rest at least 30 minutes.