Lemon Pepper Roast Turkey

with Bacon Gravy

prep time: 15 minutes (not including time to make fauxtatoes) cook
time: 3 hours yield: 14 servings

A nice piece of freshly roasted turkey with a side of
mashed fauxtatoes just screams comfort to me. It
looks like you slaved all day in the kitchen for your
loved ones, but both recipes are really quite simple,
and there are lots of uses for the meat. If you find
yourself with leftover turkey after making this dish,
you can use it to make Turkey Tetrazzini (here) or
Turkey Goulash (here), for example. And you can use
the carcass to make a rich turkey bone broth (here)
for use in Braised Turkey Legs with Creamy Gravy
(here) or the goulash.

1 (12-pound) turkey
3 lemons, plus extra for garnish
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fine sea salt
1 cup diced onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large stalk celery, diced
4 small sprigs fresh thyme
10 strips bacon, diced
½ cup ghee or unsalted butter
⅛ teaspoon guar gum (a natural thickener), or 1