Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe

I know I'm a little late to the game but I wanted to share our Thanksgiving Turkey recipe because I thought it was delicious. We used part of the recipe from Giada De Laurentiis HERE. We added our own twist. This was only the second time I have made a turkey (this time with most of Kevin's help) and I was pretty impressed. Our turkey was about 15 pounds I think so we kept it in the fridge three days before Thanksgiving and started the process the day before. Below is step-by-step of what we did. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
15 pound turkey
8 bay leaves
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp cajun seasoning
2 tbsp butter, melted

Directions:
The day before Thanksgiving, remove the gizzards from inside the turkey. Dry the turkey very well using a paper towel. Create pockets around and inside the turkey and place the bay leaves inside the pockets. 

In a small bowl, mix together the salt, paprika and pepper. Season the turkey inside and out rubbing the spices into the bird. Place the turkey in a roasting pan and cover loosely inside the refrigerator overnight. 

The next morning, Thanksgiving, melt butter in a small bowl and add onion powder, garlic powder, cajun seasoning and any other seasonings you would like and pour half of this mixture over the turkey. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook the turkey about 3.5 hours. Halfway through, pour the rest of the butter mixture on.

The internal temperature should reach 160 degrees. Cover with foil and rest 20 minutes before slicing. 

Happy Thanksgiving!