Roast turkey for beginners

Lay the sliced onion, sliced carrot and chopped celery in the bottom of a large roasting pan.

Unwrap and rinse the turkey and pat it dry inside and out, cutting off the tail and removing the gizzards and neck.

Season the inside cavity generously with the salt and pepper mix and fold the wings underneath the bird.

Melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a small saute pan over medium heat until the edges just turn golden, toss in the sage and rosemary leaves and cook exactly 60 seconds, then fish the herbs out with tongs and put them in the cavity.

Tie the legs together with butcher string or dental floss.

Paint the entire surface of the turkey with the herb butter, then season the outside very generously with the salt and pepper mix.

Roast at 325F with no basting, no foil and no pricking, roughly 15 minutes per pound; his 13 and a half pound bird took about three and a half hours, to 170 to 175F in the middle of the thigh.

Keep the juices for gravy and rest the turkey at least 15 to 20 minutes.