Tuesday, November 18, 2008

James Beard's Turkey Breast

Every Sunday night, I roast a turkey breast. Really, it's laziness on my part. I buy boneless restaurant style turkey breast, cut it into halves, thirds or quarters (depending upon how many of us are home), prepare one piece for that night, and season and foil wrap the rest, to be frozen and cooked at a later date. So, in my new James Beard cookbook (from the library book sale), I happened upon a recipe for turkey breast. Since it's the same meat no matter what, it's really a difference in seasoning, but this was very moist and flavorful. I'm sure a bone in turkey breast could be seasoned the same way; give it a whirl - after you're over the Thanksgiving turkey!

JAMES BEARD'S ROAST TURKEY BREAST

1 Turkey breast
2 tbsp butter (frozen)
1/4 cup white wine
salt & pepper to taste
(water for the bottom of the pan)

Place the turkey breast in the pan. Pour the wine over it, then sliver the butter and place it all over the top of the turkey. Sprinkle with salt and pepper as desired, then roast 20 to 24 minutes per pound or as recommended by your personal turkey vendor, until it reaches 165F on the meat thermometer. Notes: first, I always pour some water in the bottom of my pan (about 1/4") to keep it from scorching. Also, I used my tea cup, rinsed out, of course, to measure out the wine. Since it's really big, I probably used closer to 1/2 cup wine. Ah, so what? The alcohol cooks off, but there was a lot of flavor to this sucker. Finally, I have this cute little enameled roaster with a lid on it that's just the right size for a turkey breast, and I roast mine with the lid on, to keep the moisture from evaporating. It was really very moist, likely due to the butter on top.

I served this with spaghetti squash, which I don't have a picture of, because people were starving to death! To cook the squash, I cut it in half and removed the seeds, put it in a buttered baking pan cut side down, put 1/4" of water around it, and baked at 350 for about a half hour. Then, I melted 1/4 cup butter in a pan, sauteed some leeks until soft, added a diced tomato, and shredded the spaghetti squash in with the leeks and tomato. A touch of salt and pepper, and my guys loved it! I also included rice, but that's really boring, now, isn't it?

8 comments:

Christo Gonzales said...

I could make a nicely stacked sandwich out of that....

Paula said...

That is one lovely platter of turkey! This is the second recipe that I've seen in two days that calls for frozen butter. Does Mr. Beard say why to use frozen? I'd have loved to see a photo of your squash, but I understand about hungry troops. The sauce you made for it sounds yummy. And, I love white rice. I love your big round platter for this turkey, too. When do your older troops start heading home?

Unknown said...

really, you eat Turkey every single Sunday of the year? I strongly dislike turkey and only cook one on Thanksgiving under duress because the rest of my family loves it!

I do have a super easy crock pot turkey breast recipe - take a skinless boneless breast, cover it with lemon pepper and put in the crock pot - done! Seriously. Don't even add water. Cook on low all day, slice and enjoy. g

Paula said...

Wow that turkey recipe looks good!!!
Great Idea too.
I tell you I'm gaining weight vicariously from just visiting your blog.

Hey, Marjie I would like to do a doggie spotlight on Thor for Dogs On Thursday.
If that is okay could you email me.
:)

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

I love turkey and wish I cooked it more often. This recipe looks great. It's so hard to keep turkey breasts moist. I can't wait to see what else you find in your new cookbook!

Christo Gonzales said...

I did a search on your blog and found concord grape jam (purple) and blueberries (also purple) ?????

Pam said...

I should do that instead of buying turkey lunch meat - it's so much better.

The spaghetti squash sounds really good - I've never made it before.

Anonymous said...

I love making turkey breast so this sounds like another great way to cook it, I'm getting sick of my way.