BEST ROASTED TURKEY BREAST RECIPES

Steps:

• Adjust a rack in the lowest position and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. 
• Remove any turkey parts from the neck and breast cavities and reserve for other uses if desired. Dry the bird well with paper towels, inside and out. Salt and pepper the inside of the breast cavity and stuff the onion, garlic, herbs, and bay leaves inside. Set the bird on a roasting rack set in a roasting pan breast-side up. Brush generously with half of the butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tent the bird with foil.
• Roast the turkey for 2 hours. Remove the foil and baste with the remaining butter. Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F and continue to roast until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees F in the thigh of the bird, about 45 minutes more.
• Remove the turkey from the oven and set aside to rest for 15 minutes before carving. Carve and serve.

Steps:

• Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 450°F.
• Place the 2 onion halves next to each other in the center of a roasting pan. Line up the carrots, celery and parsnip on either side. If using the garlic, tuck it in among the other vegetables.
• Rinse the turkey breast and pat dry with paper towels. Working your hand carefully under the skin of the turkey to avoid tearing it, separate the skin from the meat on both sides of the breast, but do not detach it. Pat the meat dry with a paper towel. Rub butter over the meat under the skin on each side of the breast. Season with the salt and pepper. Pull the skin down to cover the meat. If necessary, stick toothpicks through the skin and the ribs to secure the skin. Set the breast, skin side down, on top of the vegetables. Pour in 3 cups of the broth. Roast for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. Turn the breast to rest on one side and baste with the liquid in the pan. Roast for another 30 minutes. Turn the breast to rest on the opposite side and baste again with the pan liquid. Roast for another 30 minutes. Turn the breast skin side up and baste again. If the liquid has begun to evaporate, add the remaining 1 cup broth to the pan. Roast for another 30 minutes, baste and then continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part away from the bone registers 165°F, 2 to 2 1/2 hours total at 20 minutes per pound. If the top of the breast begins to overbrown, tent loosely with aluminum foil.
• Remove the turkey breast from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Let it rest for 20 minutes. (The internal temperature of the meat will rise to 170°F during the first 10 minutes of resting, and the juices will settle.) Carve into slices and serve immediately. Serves 10 to 12.
• Adapted from Williams-Sonoma, <i>Essentials of Healthful Cooking</i>, by Mary Abbott Hess, Dana Jacobi &amp; Marie Simmons (Oxmoor House, 2003).