Spatchcocked dry-brined Cajun butter turkey

Set the turkey on a paper towel, breast down, backbone up. Trim the extra flap of skin.

Cut along both sides of the backbone with a good pair of scissors and remove it; save it for gravy.

Make a small knife cut down the middle to help open the bird, flip it and press down on the breast until it cracks and lies mostly flat.

Pat dry. Dry brine with kosher salt, a tablespoon for every three to four pounds: a little inside, then on a rack over the skin, under the wings, on the breasts and legs.

Refrigerate uncovered 24 to 36 hours; the skin drying out helps it crisp.

Mix the rub: two tablespoons each of smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, thyme and black pepper, plus cayenne.

Put one third of the rub in a small pot for the injection; work the other two thirds into one and a half sticks of butter for the herb butter.

In the pot over a burner, melt about a stick of butter with chicken broth and the juice of about half a lemon; off the heat, cool a few minutes.

Strain the injection butter through a small strainer so the nozzle does not clog.

Inject about 400 cc under the skin of the breasts, thighs and a little in the legs, massaging as it plumps.

Flip, dry the inside and rub on a little herb butter.

Flip back, dry the top, gently loosen the skin over the breasts and thighs without tearing it, push in blobs of butter and massage them through; butter the top.

Roast at 425 degrees, about an hour and a half for a twelve-and-a-half pound bird.

Pour a little vermouth under the rack to create steam and keep the bird moist.

Carve: pull the leg and thigh off, cut the breast straight down.