1 - 13 lb. Fresh Turkey (cleaned weight)
1 onion, peeled and cut into quarters
2 celery ribs, cut crosswise in half
1/2 lb. salt pork, cut into thin slices lengthwise (can use sliced uncooked bacon instead)
2 celery ribs, left whole
1 cup thinly sliced carrot rounds
1½ cups thinly slice onions
1/4 cup coarsely chopped parsley
2 Bay leaves
3 fresh sage leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried
4 springs of fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
6½ cups Chicken Stock or canned broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.
Sprinkle the turkey inside and out with salt and pepper. Put the quartered onion and halved celery inside the cavity of the turkey.
Place the turkey, breast side up, in a roasting pan. Cover the top of the turkey with slices of salt pork or bacon.
Place the turkey in the oven and bake about 30 minutes. Rotate the pan occasionally as the turkey bakes.
Scatter the rest of the vegetables and spices around the turkey. Pour the stock around the base of the bird, over the vegetables. Cover the roasting pan and continue cooking for 1 hour.
Reduce the oven heat to 350 degrees. Continue cooking, basting often for about 1 hour more.
-- Recipe adapted from Craig Claiborne's Southern Cooking published by the University of Georgia Press.