Fire It Up - Andrew Schloss [103]
When the turkey is done, use grill mitts to remove it to a carving board, and cover it with foil to keep warm.
For the pan sauce: Remove the rack from the roasting pan and put the roasting pan over medium heat. Add the apple juice, broth, and poultry rub. Bring to a boil, scraping any browned bits clinging to the bottom of the pan into the liquid. Boil until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and swirl in the butter, if desired. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, and strain into a serving dish.
Spoon the stuffing into a serving bowl, carve the turkey, and serve with the pan juices.
TURKEY BREAST
Whole Turkey Breast Studded with Pistachios and Lime
MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS
There are several ways of stuffing ingredients into a solid chunk of meat. You can cut a pocket in the center, butterfly it and roll it, or disperse the stuffing throughout the roast as we do here, which is known as larding. Larding is traditionally done to game meats to get fat deep into the interior of very lean meats. In this recipe, you make holes all over a turkey breast, then plug them up with a nutty paste of pistachios, parsley, and lime zest. Try to space the holes evenly so that when you slice the turkey, every slice will get its share of the flavor.
INGREDIENTS:
¼ cup chopped pistachios
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon coarse salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 boneless turkey breast half (about 3½ pounds), washed and patted dry
¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
½ cup Preserved Lemon Relish
DIRECTIONS:
Light a grill for indirect medium heat, about 350°F.
Mix together the pistachios, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, lime zest, and 2 teaspoons of the olive oil in a bowl. Plunge a long knife with a thin blade into the turkey breast and twist to make a hole. Stuff the hole with some of the pistachio mixture. Continue until the turkey is uniformly punctuated with stuffing, about 12 holes in all.
Mix together the lime juice and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and coat the outside of the turkey with this mixture.
Combine the remaining teaspoon olive oil and the thyme in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Brush the grill grate and coat with oil. Put the turkey on the grill away from the heat, cover the grill, and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers about 155°F, about 1 hour. Baste twice with the olive oil–lime mixture during the last 40 minutes of cooking.
Remove to a large serving platter. Let rest for 8 to 10 minutes, carve, and serve with the lemon relish, if desired.
TURKEY BREAST
Grilled Turkey Breast Medallions with Gribiche Sauce
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
When sliced into thick medallions (called cutlets), turkey breast can be grilled over direct heat, just like boneless, skinless chicken breast. Because turkey breast is firmer than chicken, the results are meatier. And because turkey medallions are evenly cut, they cook through evenly, unlike a half chicken breast, which tends to dry out at its tapered end. The medallions are served with a quick and easy cold sauce that is typically served with poultry and fish in classic French cuisine. Gribiche is a pungent mayonnaise, chunky with pickles, herbs, and hard-cooked egg—sort of an extra-tangy tartar sauce.
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups Poultry Brine
Four 1-inch-thick slices boneless, skinless turkey breast cutlets (about 5 ounces each), about 3 inches across
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Poultry Rub
1 cup Gribiche Sauce
DIRECTIONS:
Combine the brine and turkey slices in a 1-gallon zipper-lock bag, press out the air, and seal. Refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours.
Light a grill for direct medium heat, about 350°F.
Remove the turkey from the brine and discard the brine.