Holiday’s Scented Roasted Turkey

Ingredients

Brine Liquid
• 7 liters water
• 1+1/2 cup salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 5 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon dried juniper berries
• 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
Turkey
• 1 fresh whole turkey (18 to 20 pounds)
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 medium onions minced
• 2 lemons juice and zest
• 2 oranges juice
• 3 clementine juice
• 1 tablespoon Chinese five spice (star Anise, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, cinnamon)
• 1 large onion
• 2 large carrots
• 5 celery stalks
• 1 bunch fresh thyme
• 1 bunch sage
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 whole star anise
• 3 whole cloves
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter

Instructions

1. Clean the turkey, patted dry, remove neck and giblets rand reserve for stock. Place a large pot over high heat, add 1 liter of the water, salt, sugar, bay leaves, coriander seeds, juniper berries, and pepper corns, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring until salt dissolves. Let cool for 5 minutes.
2. Line a 5-gallon container with a large turkey-roasting bag, place turkey in bag. Add salt mixture, remaining 6 liters of water, and the vinegar. Tie the bag weight it with a plate and refrigerate for 24 hours, flipping turkey 3 times.
3. After the 24 hours of brining, remove the turkey from the brine, use lots of paper towels and completely dry the turkey inside out.
4. In a bowl mix the minced onion, minced garlic, Chinese five spice, juice and zest of 1 lemon, juice and zest of orange. Use this paste and rub all the inside of the turkey's cavity and the neck with it.
5. Juice the clementine the other orange and lemon (don't throw the juiced lemon, orange and clementines in the garbage, reserve), add the salt, black pepper and the paprika and mix well. Rub the whole turkey skin with this mixture.
6. Peel, wash and chop onion, celery, carrots and the parsley stalks. Place the all the vegetables, the whole spices (cinnamon sticks, whole star anise, whole cloves) and the reserved clementine in a very large roasting pan. Place the turkey on the vegetables and spices, stuff the cavity with the sage, thyme and the reserve lemon and orange.
7. Preheat oven to 420 F. melt the butter and brush the turkey breast and legs with 1/4 cup of it. Place the turkey in the oven and roast for 40 minutes. Take the turkey out of the oven, reduce the heat to 350 F, brush the skin with more butter then carefully and with the help of another person turn the turkey (let the breast face down toward the bottom of the pan) and continue cooking the turkey for another 2 hours and 30 minutes. Once more take the turkey out of oven and flip it over letting the breast to face upward, brush the breast and legs with the rest of the butter, roast for another 40 minutes.
8. Take the turkey out of oven, loosely cover it with a tent shaped piece of aluminum foil and let it rest at room temperature for 3 minutes. Garnish the plate with some steamed vegetables and serve with mashed potato , cranberry-citrus sauce and gravy .