Allow us to present the classic Creole Roast Turkey recipe. 

This recipe is best combined with the Oyster Stuffing recipe or with the Onion Stuffing, presented here below.

"The boned turkey is the triumph of  New Orleans cuisine when serving cold turkey.  No great reception or buffet luncheon is complete without it.  It is the standing dish on New Year's day, when the Creole ladies receive their gentlemen friends, and, on occasions of marriages in the family, every father will insist that there shall be a boned turkey for the wedding feast."   Picayune's Creole Cookbook, 1901

-Count 3/4 to one pound of turkey per person for turkeys under 12 pounds, 1/2 to 3/4 pound per person for larger birds.  Avoid toms (male turkeys).  Buy a Grade A bird.  For the best flavor, let it defrost slowly in the refrigerator, in the plastic, over 3-5 days.  Alternatively, put the frozen turkey in a sink full of cold water, keeping the bird in the plastic bag, and change the water several times.

Make a nice stuffing either out of oysters, onions, truffles, or chestnuts. 

Rub the turkey well with salt and pepper inside and out, and rub the inside with 1/2 tablespoonful of butter.

Prepare the Oyster Stuffing (but do not stuff the bird with it, cook the bird without stuffing) or stuff the turkey with the Onion Stuffing, but only 3/4 full, as stuffing expands. 

Use skewers to close the skin. 

Turn the wings back under the body of the turkey.  Rub the bird with butter, and place it in a lightly greased baking pan. 

Bake the turkey at 300F degrees for a bird weighing less than 15 pounds, 325 degrees for birds over 15 pounds.  Count 20 minutes per pound of cooking time for the stuffed bird, 15 minutes per pound for the unstuffed bird. 

Baste bird every 10-15 minutes with it's own drippings.

Remove the bird from the oven, serve it on a hot platter, and garnish with parsley.

Note:  The Oyster Stuffing is served and prepared separate from the bird, but the Onion Stuffing is cooked with the bird.

1 pint of stale bread, wet and squeezed thoroughly

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together, fry in some butter, and stuff the turkey!