Ingredients:

• 12-14 lbs fresh turkey
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco
• salt and pepper
• 1 quart buttermilk

Glaze (for last 15-30 minutes)

• 1/2 cup Maple Syrup
• 1 Tbsp Trader Joe’s Dijon Mustard
• 2 strips Crisp Crumbled Bacon

To stuff inside turkey

• 1 Navel orange quartered
• 1 large sweet onion quartered.

How:

Wash and pat dry the turkey. Place the turkey, breast side up, in an oven-roasting bag.

Add the hot sauce, 1 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper to the buttermilk container; shake to combine.

Pour the buttermilk mixture over the turkey trying not to get in cavity. Seal the bag, transfer to the refrigerator and let marinate, overnight turning the turkey over once at least 5 hours. I also turned on side for 1 hour each side.

Remove the turkey and pat dry inside and out. Rub the skin with 1 tbsp. oil; season with salt and pepper. Let rest at room temperature.

Stuff turkey with oranges and onion in body and neck cavities. This is great with chicken also, really adds moisture in my opinion.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees . Tuck the wings behind the back of the turkey. Place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack set in a large roasting pan. Roast, basting once with the pan juices, for 1 hour. Lower the heat to 350 degrees and roast, basting every half hour, until an instant-read thermometer registers 155 degrees when inserted into the thigh, 1 to 1 1/2 hours more. If the turkey is over browning, tent with foil. Remove from the oven, tent and let rest for 30 minutes. We also basted with some maple syrup mixture at the end and allowed to crisp up.

  Stuff with oranges and onion season with oil salt and pepper

Gravy

Save 1-3 tbsp of drippings for the Make Ahead Gravy.

Note: The skin was nicely colored, crisp and tasty the meat was really juicy and tender even the breast.

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• Buttermilk-Marinated 1/2 Turkey with Caramelized Onion Gravy – Trial Run (stevesacooking.com)