Slow-cooked Turkey Breast with Gravy

When it comes to holiday cooking -- or entertaining in general -- I typically find the logistical side of things much more daunting than the actual cooking. Figuring out when to make everything so it's all done at the same time is challenging, but finding space to cook it all can be almost impossible.

This fall, I tested various cooking methods with turkeys in an attempt to get them out of the often. This slow cooker recipe ended up becoming such a favorite that the hubby requested it three times within the span of about six weeks. That's a lot of turkey.

The downsides to this recipe include the fact that this makes a turkey breast, not a whole turkey. And the skin doesn't crisp up, so you lose that wow factor (and the flavor of the toasty skin).

But this recipe is so easy, and the meat is so tender and delicious that I don't even miss the skin, which I shouldn't be eating, anyway. And the drippings make fabulous gravy, which I doctor up using my dad's tried-and-true cream of chicken soup method.

Slow-cooked Turkey Breast with Gravy
Makes 8-10 servings

1 bone-in turkey breast (about 6-7 pounds)

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 14.5-ounce can chicken broth

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup

1 can water

4 heaping tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup water

Salt and pepper, to taste

 

1. Put turkey in 6-quart slow cooker. Rub with butter. Combine the salt, rosemary, thyme, garlic powder and pepper; sprinkle over turkey. Pour broth over turkey. Cover and cook on low 5-6 hours, or until tender.
2. Remove turkey from slow cooker. Cover with foil and set aside.
3. Pour turkey drippings into a pan on the stove top; skim fat from drippings.
4. Add cream of chicken soup and 1 can water and combine. Bring gravy to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium. Simmer about 10 minutes.
5. Combine cornstarch and water. Return gravy to a boil and add cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly. When gravy reduced desired thickness, reduce heat to low. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Carve turkey and sprinkle with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve with gravy.

Brined Turkey Breast

Brining a turkey has long been on my bucket list, and what better way to ring in the New Year and all its resolutions than by tackling something I've always wanted to try?

Okay, so I actually made this on Christmas Eve. Anyway, I haven't yet tried brining a turkey -- or even eating a brined turkey -- because there really hasn't been much of an opportunity for it. We've only hosted the holidays a few times. We typically need drippings for gravy. You don't want to try it and accidentally screw up the sole main course.

This is a Betty Crocker recipe, and I decided to try with a turkey breast. It's a good introduction to brining because it fits in the fridge and is just easier to handle. Plus, my dad was already planning to bring a ham, so there wasn't a lot at stake. If the turkey was awful, we surely wouldn't starve.

One problem I had was finding a turkey breast that wasn't packed in some sort of salt solution. We don't have access to a lot of fresh turkeys in these parts, so I ended up going with the salt-soaked variety. That made the outside pieces of the meat a bit saltier than I'm used to, but not terribly so. Overall, the turkey was incredibly juicy and was infused with great flavor, even if the skin didn't brown and crisp as much as I'd have preferred.

I wasn't positive if the end result was worth the extra effort, but my mother said it was amazing. She even took home leftovers. And Mom knows best.

Brined Turkey Breast
Makes 8-12 servings

9 cups hot water, plus more to cover turkey breast, if needed
3/4 cup salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 4- to 6-pound bone-in turkey breast, thawed, if frozen
1 onion, cut in eight wedges
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
4 sprigs fresh thyme
3 dried bay leaves
Salt and pepper
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup dry white wine

1. The day before, mix water, salt, and sugar in a large container or stockpot. Stir until sugar and salt are dissolved. Add turkey. Cover and refrigerate 12-24 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

3. Remove turkey from brine. Rinse it thoroughly and pat it dry before placing in roasting pan.

4. Fill cavity with onion, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf. If necessary, tie some string around it to keep everything together.

5. Place turkey breast side up and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

6. Combine butter and wine. Soak a 16" square piece of cheesecloth in the butter mixture and drape over the turkey.

7. Bake 90 minutes.

8. Remove cheesecloth from turkey. Remove onion and herbs, but leave them in the pan. Bake 30-60 minutes longer, or until a meat thermometer registers 170 degrees F in the thickest part of the turkey.

9. Let rest before carving.

Baked Turkey and Black Bean Taquitos

The hubby and I hosted Thanksgiving last week, and invited both our families. And that's about all I have to say about it.

Yes, I'm a food blogger who has no Thanksgiving recipes to post. The hubby and I made a few turkey breasts and a ham, mashed potatoes, and steamed corn. My dad made gravy. The hubby's mom and older sister provided the pies and sides galore.

It was pretty much The Thanksgiving Where I Did Nothing Except Clean and Set the Table. Which, admittedly, was a lot of work. It was the first big clean sweep of the house since the little man was born, and come Thanksgiving Day, I was exhausted. (Operating on about three hours of sleep may have contributed.) I was so tired that I forgot to make coffee after dinner, and I think half our guests left without being offered pie.

But it was great to see our families, including this guy, who spent his previous three or four Thanksgivings elsewhere.

This is my brother. Ladies, he's single, owns his own business, has all his teeth, AND changes diapers. Please, take a number.

And now we're swimming in leftovers, including lefse, which my sister-in-law left for me because she knows I love to eat it with peanut butter and jelly. (I've grown up with lefse all my life. I've even made it on multiple occasions. But I'm not Norwegian, so I'm allowed to eat it however I like.)

But mostly ham and turkey. And while I love pot pies and soups like everyone else, I quickly reach the point where I want my leftovers to taste like anything a holiday dinner. No gravy, and definitely no poultry seasoning.

Enter leftover idea #1, turkey and black bean taquitos. This actually started off as empanadas, which I think was a Robin Miller recipe. The hubby had never heard of empanadas; he had them confused with pinatas.

Anyway, I had waaaaaay too much filling left over. So I made some oven-baked taquitos, just to see how they'd turn out. And the hubby and I both liked them far better than the empanadas. Hooray for improvisation! You can add more cheese, if you prefer, but the hubby and I are still trying to undo the food sins of the past few days.

Baked Turkey and Black Bean Taquitos
Makes 12

2 c. shredded cooked turkey
1 15-oz. can black beans, drained
1/2 c. shredded pepperjack cheese
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 c. salsa
2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro (optional)
1 tsp. ground cumin
12 7" flour tortillas
Olive oil, for brushing (can use cooking spray, as well)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, combine turkey, black beans, cheeses, salsa, cilantro, and cumin.

3. Place a few spoonfuls of turkey mixture at the edge of each tortilla.

4. Roll the tortilla tightly and secure with a toothpick.

5. Place on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil, or spray with cooking spray.

6. Bake 15 minutes, until crisp.

Spicy Chicken and Sausage Alfredo

Today is Mother's Day, and I'm lucky enough to have the best mom in the world. My mom is also my best friend. She's cute, smart, funny, and loyal -- everything you could want in a friend. But she also loves me unconditionally, offers me money on a regular basis, and will hopefully clip and paint my toenails now that I can barely reach them myself.

And if she actually read my blog, she'd be totally flattered right now.

Isn't she cute?


She's the one sandwiched in between me and my Aunt Gwynne. And I'm the only person in this photo who looks even remotely close to my own age. It's freaky.

My mom and I are a lot alike, except when it comes to food. For example, Mom isn't big on meat, cheese, sweets, oil, fatty foods, and spicy foods. If you've been following this blog, you know that I am certainly a fan of all those things. It's not that Mom is a frequent dieter, despite her tiny size. She eats a lot. She just eats a lot of only a few foods. (Like an entire watermelon in one sitting. Salted, including the seeds.) She loves grapes, Diet Coke, Slim Fast (for the taste), Cool Whip, popcorn, melons, squash, and butter (as a food, not a condiment).

And then there are the food combinations. Foods My Mom Eats could be its own blog. There are the crab legs in hot dog buns with ketchup and mustard, salad with cottage cheese topped with canned mushrooms and cold canned soup, and the Cool Whip sandwiches topped with hot coffee, just to name a few.

Yes, this is my culinary heritage. Needless to say, my mother rarely eats what I cook. When she comes to visit, she gets her own special meals, like a grilled chicken breast, some veggies, and a baked potato. With fruit and Cool Whip for dessert.

Alas, I won't be seeing Mom until next weekend, so I am making a non-Mom-approved dish for supper this evening. She might like this if I left out the sausage. And the pasta. And the sauce.

This is a modification of a Cuisine at Home recipe, which is a low-fat twist on pasta with Alfredo sauce. I made many changes, because while the hubby isn't a big fan of Alfredo, he does like spicier pasta dishes with cream sauces. The verdict? Not only did it look impressive ("This looks like something I'd order in a restaurant"), but the hubby really, really liked it, and suggested adding some shrimp in next time. (I like it when he says there will be a next time.) I think this earned a spot on our permanent recipe roster.

Note: I updated the instructions to include the shrimp. We've made this a bazillion times since, always with shrimp. It's a hit!

Spicy Chicken and Sausage Alfredo
Serves 6-8

8 oz. farfalle (bowtie) pasta
1 c. low-fat evaporated milk
1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
2 egg yolks
Dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
Cooking spray
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in short, thin slices
1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined (feel free to use frozen)
2-3 tsp. Cajun or Creole seasoning (I used Tony Chachere's)
1 tsp. olive oil
8 oz. sausage, sliced on the diagonal (use turkey kielbasa to keep this lower in fat; I used andouille for some extra kick)
1 c. sliced button mushrooms
1 onion, chopped
1 small or 1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. reserved pasta water
1 c. frozen peas (optional; the hubby hates peas, so we don't eat them)
2 green onions, thinly sliced

1. Cook pasta in salted water, according to package directions.

2. Whisk together evaporated milk, Parmesan, egg yolks, and cayenne pepper. Set aside.

3. Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray. Sprinkle chicken and shrimp with Creole or Cajun seasoning and add to pan. Saute until chicken and shrimp are browned and fully cooked, about 4 minutes. (The shrimp might finish sooner; just remove that from the pan, first.)

4. Remove chicken from pan, and then add oil to pan.

5. Add sausage, mushrooms, onion, red pepper, and garlic. Cook until sausage starts to brown and veggies are crisp-tender, about 4 minutes.

6. Add 1/4 c. pasta water to pan and deglaze, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom. Cook until water is nearly evaporated.

7. Add chicken and shrimp, and peas, if using. Add sauce mixture, stirring until thickened, about 2-3 minutes.

8. Drain pasta and add to pan, tossing to combine and coat. Sprinkle with scallions before serving.

I love how random pictures appear on my camera. This is Babe. The hubby won him for me in the claw machine at the movie theater yesterday. Apparently Babe likes the pasta, too.

Chicken Tortellini Soup

I was working from home today, which I love to do on occasion because my chairs at home are more comfortable, I don’t have to stand in line to use the microwave, and the bathroom is never closed for cleaning. The main down side (despite my ever-increasing tendency to talk to myself) is that my Internet connection does not like my work laptop, and vice versa. About once every few hours, my laptop is unceremoniously disconnected from the network. In retaliation, my laptop refuses to jump back on to the network without a reboot. A slooooow reboot.

I don’t deal well with idle time, even if it’s 10 minutes. So I try to do something productive when this happens. Run downstairs and throw in a load of clothes. Empty the silverware compartment of the dishwasher (I don’t like doing the other parts). Pick up 37 dog toys. Check my hair for split ends. Count how many rotations the ceiling fan makes per minute. You know, important stuff.

Today I decided to make an eventual pot of soup. Chicken tortellini, because I had everything on hand. So in my first little 10 minutes of downtime, I pulled the chicken and turkey out to thaw (I used a combination; poultry’s poultry, no?), chopped my onion and celery, and put it in the fridge. The next time I chopped my carrots, garlic, and chicken/turkey, and put everything in the fridge. And so on. By this afternoon, I had a beautiful pot of soup bubbling away at the stove, and my Internet connection seemed to settle in for the long haul.

If you’re not dilly-dallying like me, you can throw this soup together in less than an hour, especially if you cut your carrots smaller. (Darn carrots always hold me back.) After you get the ingredients simmering in the pot, this is really a laissez-faire kind of soup. Let it do its thing, check on it occasionally, add some salt and pepper, and it’s ready when you are.

Chicken Tortellini Soup
Serves 6

1 large onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. dried Italian seasoning
¼ c. dry sherry
7-8 c. chicken broth1 bay leaf
3-4 c. cooked chicken or turkey, chopped
2-3 c. frozen cheese tortellini
Plenty of salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add veggies, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables just begin to sweat and soften.

2. Add sherry and cook until sherry is almost evaporated.

3. Add chicken broth and bay leaf. Bring soup to a boil, then lower heat to medium and cook about 10 minutes, or until veggies are almost tender.

4. Add chicken and continue cooking another 10 minutes.

5. Add tortellini and cook 5-10 minutes, or until tortellini is heated through. Season to taste.

Deep-Fried Turkey

I am the worst Thanksgiving food blogger ever. We hosted this year, and I was so busy cleaning and cooking and fluffing my pretty napkins that I forget to take pictures of everything I made. Or everything everyone else made. I had good intentions. For example, I took a picture of my dad stirring a pot of something that would eventually become gravy. But then people were arriving, and we were talking and hugging, and food needed to be transferred to serving bowls … it’s hell being popular.

Luckily the hubby was great about photographing his deep-fried turkey, which was more exciting than what I made, anyway. It’s crispy, and juicy, and so incredibly flavorful that I nearly weep with joy.

Deep-fried turkey has been a hubby specialty for years, and he studied the process and instructions thoroughly before attempting it. For example, the instruction booklet strictly forbade dogs from jumping into the turkey fryer; at no time have we allowed such a thing. (The instructions mentioned nothing about small children, but we just kind of assumed.)

A few tips for safe turkey frying this holiday season:

• Set up your turkey fryer on stable, level ground, such as concrete. You really don’t want your bubbling turkey fryer to tip over onto, say, your foot.
• Keep the temperature of your oil around 325 to 350 degrees. If you get around that 375 to 400 or so mark, your oil can smoke and/or ignite. (I’m not expert, but I think ignited oil is bad.)
• Choose a modestly sized turkey (or two). We usually do in the vicinity of 14-17 pounds. Any bigger, and the oil can bubble over the top of the pot. (The instruction fryer for your manual should recommend the appropriately sized turkey.)
• Thaw your turkey completely. Otherwise the frozen turkey can cause the oil to bubble over the top of the pot.
• Do not fill your fryer too full of oil. Otherwise the oil can bubble over the top of the pot.
• Do not put your turkey in the fryer too quickly. Otherwise the oil can bubble over the top of the pot.

Clearly, the oil bubbling over the top of the pot is less than desirable. Why? Because the oil can run down into the flame under the pot, causing a greasefire, which can ignite the hose that leads to the propane tank, which can cause the propane tank to go boom. (I’m sure you can find videos online.)

So you’ve got a fully thawed turkey; what’s next? First you want to remove the neck and giblets. Trim any extra skin and fat from the tail and neck area. Hey, ya know what?

Turkey butt. Hahahahaha, I kill me. Next, rinse the poor thing.

Then, if you’re smart, you’ll inject and rub your bird. We’ve tried several rubs and marinades, both storebought and homemade, and this is our favorite by far.

Yes, the turkey doctor is in. The hubby rubs some dry mixture over the top of the turkey, and then combines the rest of the marinade with water and injects the turkey. Go ahead and poke ‘em all over. It tickles.

Then fill your turkey fryer with peanut oil. You really do want to use peanut oil, despite the prohibitive price (more than $11 per gallon, oh my!). Depending on the size of your turkey pot, you’ll need 3-4 gallons. Again, the instructions are your friend. (Some instructions recommend filling your pot with water and the turkey first to estimate the amount of oil you’ll need; if you do this, leave a lot of extra room for bubblage. Yes, I made up that word.) Preheat the oil to between 350 to 375.

Insert the turkey hanger hook (this comes with your fryer) into the turkey, and carry the turkey to the fryer using the hanger. Hold the hanger and, VERY SLOWLY, lower the turkey into the oil. This isn’t like tossing mozzarella sticks into the deep fryer; you need to lower the turkey slightly, and then give the oil time to adjust so the bubblage starts to calm down. Then lower slightly, etc. (In all, this can take 2-3 minutes.)

When the turkey is complete submerged in the oil, remove the hanger, put a lid on it, and … don’t forget about it. Ideally, you shouldn’t leave your turkey fryer’s side. In real life, you’ll want to run out and check the temperature gauge about every 10 minutes. If it’s running too cool, increase the propane flow. Decrease the flow if it’s running too hot.

As far as timing the turkey, a pretty reliable calculation is 3 1/2 minutes per pound, if you’re keeping your oil temperature in that 325 to 350 range.

Then grab your trusty hanger and a pal to hold the door while you carry your precious cargo. First, shut the valve on your propane tank. (Safety first!) Then remove the lid, insert your hanger back into the hanger hook, and lift the turkey from the oil. Hold the turkey above the pot for a minute or two to drain any excess oil before bringing the turkey inside.

Let the turkey sit and cool for about 15 minutes. Delight in the oohs and aahs of your stunned guests before carving.

And stop taking photos so you can get it while the gettin’s good. There’s only so much skin to go around.