With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it’s time to think about how you are going to cook your turkey.

There are many different ways to prepare it, so I’m going to focus on the herbs and the gravy.

I’m working with an 18-pound turkey. To begin with, you want to saute some fresh herbs in butter. I prefer sage. Get that pan hot with the melted butter first and then saute the sage. You also can use large basil leaves if you prefer.

Once the herbs have been cooked, pull up the skin — without tearing it — from the turkey meat. Slip in the herbs as far to the front of the bird as possible, between the skin and the meat. Then put in several more, gradually working your way back.

Why put in the fresh herbs? They add great flavor to the turkey. Sage will accent the flavor of the turkey.

Once you’ve pushed several of the herbs in the turkey, take a pastry brush and brush it with melted butter. Brush the turkey legs first and then tuck the turkey legs back by the turkey before basting the breast.

If you have any stuffing to put in, now is the time. Make sure not to put the warm stuffing inside the bird because if you do that you will have time, temperature and food safety issues.

Cook the bird at 425 degrees for the first 30 minutes and then at 325 degrees for the remainder. The cooking time for an 18-pound turkey will be about 3 hours and 15 minutes to 3 and a half hours.

To make the gravy, take the juices from the turkey and put them into a pan with a little cold water. Some people like to add white wine, too.

Put it on medium heat, skimming the particles off the top as it comes to a simmer. Then take the mixture and pour it through a strainer into another container in order to strain out the skin and other large pieces. These liquid drippings will be the base for your gravy.

Now, you need to make roux. Take 4 ounces of butter and 4 ounces of flour and heat them in a fry pan until the consistency feels like fine sand.

Then, take the roux and add it to the pan drippings to make the gravy. Cook until you get the consistency you want. Remember, when the mixture comes to a boil, that’s the thickest it will get. Also, the longer you boil it, the darker the gravy will get. If it’s too thick, add more of the drippings.