A Turkey Recipe for Thanksgiving

OK, while I am the GrillinFool this is not in fact a grilling recipe. But seeing how Thanksgiving is 2 days away I thought I would make an exception. After Thanksgiving I'm hoping to have a smoked Turkey done in a Big Green Egg posted but ahead of time I thought I would go ahead and post this recipe and it is incredibly simple...I have to give credit to Fool's Pappy for this one though as he was the one who turned me on to this recipe...

Lemon Rosemary Turkey

Ingredients:
1 whole Turkey - weight is dependent on how many servings are required.
Brine ingredients - salt, can of sprite, 2 whole apples, one onion, garlic, black pepper
1 large lemon, cut into halves.
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary - for larger turkeys you may want more rosemary but as this is a potent herb go at your own risk
salt and pepper to taste.
butter or olive oil, whichever you prefer (butter tastes better but the olive oil is healthier).

Brine the Turkey overnight in whatever brine recipe your prefer. In this case I used salt (obviously) 2 whole apple quartered, a can of sprite, a whole onion coarsely chopped, garlic and black pepper.

The following day, remove turkey from brine and rinse off the brine, cavity and all.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Gently separate the skin from the breast meat and slide the skin down to expose the turkey breasts.

Salt and pepper the breasts.

Place the lemon halves against the breast with the peel side out. This way the juice from the lemon will baste the breast as the Turkey bakes making a wonderfully intense lemon flavor. Slide the skin back over the lemons to hold them in place.

Remove the rosemary leaves from the stem if the stem is woody at all and coarsely chop the rosemary.

Combine the rosemary with melted butter or olive oil

Rub butter or oil rosemary mixture over the skin of the entire Turkey until it is completely coated

Pepper the outside of the skin (no need for salt due to the brine)

Cover and place in oven for 30-45 minutes.

Remove cover and continue to roast until juices run clear, basting every 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the bird.

If you've followed these steps correctly your Turkey should look like this:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!