Roast Turkey With Bread Stuffing

Ingredients

For the stuffing:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ pound turkey liver or chicken liver (about 3)
• 1 cup parsley leaves
• ½ cup chopped shallots
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 8 slices good day-old white bread, crusts trimmed

For the turkey:

• 1 15-pound turkey
• 1 recipe bread stuffing, below
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

12 servings

Preparation

1. Heat the oven to 500 degrees.
2. Make the stuffing: chop together (by hand or in a small food processor) the butter, liver and parsley; stir in the shallots and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread half the mixture on 4 of the bread slices; top each with another slice of bread, then spread the remaining mixture on the outsides of the sandwiches. Cut each sandwich into 6 pieces.
3. Rinse the turkey and remove the giblets. Sprinkle the bird with salt and pepper to taste. Loosely pack the turkey cavity with the stuffing, and then tie the legs together to enclose the vent.
4. Place the turkey on a rack in a large roasting pan. Add 1/2 cup water to the bottom of the pan, along with the turkey neck, gizzard and any other trimmings. Place in the oven, legs first.
5. Roast 20 to 30 minutes, or until the top begins to brown, then turn the heat down to 350 degrees. If the bottom dries out, add water to coat the bottom of the pan. Continue to roast, checking every 30 minutes or so; if the top browns too quickly, lay a piece of aluminum foil on it. The turkey is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 degrees. If, when the turkey is nearly done, the top is not browned enough, turn the heat back up to 425 degrees for the last 20 to 30 minutes of cooking.
6. Remove the turkey from the oven. Take it off the rack, and make sherry reduction gravy, below, while the bird rests for about 20 minutes before carving.