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How do you best cook your organic, pasture-raised turkey? There is no single answer to this question, as every turkey, oven and cooking style is different. Whatever your preferred turkey recipe, keep in mind that turkey—heritage turkey, in particular—needs special attention, as it’s easy to overcook.
Here is a collection of roast turkey recipes that we think are interesting and just might fit into your Thanksgiving plans:
Roasted Heritage Turkey, from LocalHarvest
Heritage Turkey with Crisped Pancetta and Rosemary, from Epicurious
Roasted Heritage Turkey, from Martha Stewart
Roasted Heritage Turkey, from The Daily Meal
Roast Heritage Turkey, from Los Angeles Times
How to Cook a Pastured Turkey, from Mommypotamus
Cider-Brined Spatchcock Turkey, from Eating Well
Paleo Pastured Whole Turkey, from Paleo Plan
This Elmwood Stock Farm family recipe has been used to cook broad breasted turkey for three generations:
Clara Bell’s Holiday Turkey
20-pound farm-raised turkey
1 onion, quartered
2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
a few fresh herbs (thyme, parsley, bay leaf)
salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 T. butter
2 strips bacon, uncooked
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Remove the neck and giblets, and reserve for making gravy.
Rinse the room-temperature turkey with cold water, and pat dry. Place the turkey, breast-side up, into a roasting pan. Inside the cavity, insert the celery, onion and fresh herbs. Sprinkle the outside of the turkey liberally with salt and black pepper. Place small pieces of butter across top of turkey. Place bacon on outside of turkey, making an x on top. Add about 4 cups water to the pan. Cover or tent with foil, and put in oven.
Estimate 15 minutes per pound, but use the thermometer to know turkey is done. Once every hour, use pan juices to baste. Begin checking for doneness one hour prior to estimated finish time. Remove cover last 30-40 minutes to brown the skin. Your turkey is done when thermometer reaches 170-175 degrees F. Remove from oven, and let rest at least 20 minutes prior to carving to ensure juiciness.
With the care and cost that goes into organic, pasture-raised turkeys, there’s no reason not to use as much of the bird as possible. Stock or broth can be easily homemade into a rich, flavorful ingredient that will be part of your meals for several months to come.
You can search online or in your favorite cookbooks for a turkey stock recipe. We like this one from Simply Scratch because it uses the slow cooker—no more time spent standing at the stove—and also uses apple cider vinegar to pull the minerals out of the bones and into your nourishing broth.
In addition to using your holiday turkey bones to make a stock, you can also purchase a stock-making pack of organic, pasture-raised turkey pieces as well as frozen turkey stock professionally made from Elmwood Stock Farm turkeys. Click here for stock pack and frozen stock availability.
Let’s talk about one reason big holiday meals are a joy: the leftovers.
A few we can’t wait to eat:
Turkey Cranberry Melts, from Two Peas and Their Pod. That these gooey open-faced sandwiches are topped with arugula moves the recipe to the top of our leftovers list!
Turkey Sliders, from Cookie Named Desire. The quintessential day-after-Thanksgiving lunch!
Turkey Pho, from Malaysian-American chef Ron Hsu. Because regular ol’ turkey soup is so 2019, and pho is delicious!
Turkey and Potato Dumplings, from Half Baked Harvest. Comfort food to the max.
Thanksgiving Leftover Pop Tarts, from The Butter Half. These are gluten-free, even!
Leftover Turkey Spring Rolls, from The Pioneer Woman
If you know of a must-eat leftover-turkey meal, please send us the recipe to add to our collection!
The turkey is the centerpiece of the holiday meal table, yet seasonal side dishes made from as many local and organic ingredients as possible give guests even more to look forward to.
Sweet Potato Biscuits, from Plan Cook Host
Southern Sweet Cornbread, from Whisk It Real Gud
Salad with Arugula & Cranberries, from Make It Grateful
Radish “Potato” Salad, from With Food & Love
Bacon, Balsamic & Brown Sugar Brussels Sprouts, from Food. Love. Tog.
Sautéed Garlic Spinach, from Simply Lakita
Thanksgiving Kale, from The Merchant Baker
Roasted Turnips & Pears, from Martha Stewart
Twice-Baked Sweet Potato Pudding, from Marisa Moore
Pumpkin Slab Pie, from Simply Scratch
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in Lexington, KY by Envy Interactive
