CLEVELAND — It's not Thanksgiving without a turkey, so you might as well make a good one!
How about a bacon-wrapped turkey? Well, that's where 3News' Austin Love comes in...
Here's his recipe:
- a turkey
- a head of garlic
- 4 sticks of butter
- olive oil
- rosemary
- yellow onion
- fresh parsley
- 2 lemons
- a bay leaf
- a pack of thick-cut bacon
The secret sauce to this recipe is no sauce at all, but instead a delicious, citrusy compound butter.
Take four sticks of room-temperature butter and season it with salt and pepper. Then zest two lemons and their juices. Then add chopped rosemary, a handful of fresh parsley, three pressed cloves of garlic, a touch of olive oil and combine.
Then grab your bird, season the inside cavity with salt and pepper. Pop in a head of garlic followed by an onion sliced in half followed by one of your already squeezed lemons and a few sprigs of rosemary.
On the outside, use your fingers to gently lift the skin around the bird to make room for the butter. Grab a handful of butter in a ball, place it under the skin and push it all throughout the bird where you can. Continue to do this until all of the available areas on the breasts and drums are filled. With your leftover butter, massage on the top and lightly sprinkle with olive oil.
Next... It's time to cook. Place the turkey in the 425-degree oven for 10-12 minutes to crisp up the skin.
Take the turkey out of the oven and grab your bacon. Place six to eight strips of bacon on top of the turkey, this will give it a great flavor and seal in those juices.
Finally, pop your turkey back in the oven at 350 degrees until the temperature of the meat reaches 160 degrees inside.
Important note: Don't let your drippings go to waste! Use them to make a rich gravy that will elevate your turkey even more.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Editor's note: Video in the player above features a stuffing recipe from Betsy Kling's mom.