Turkey Cutlets--take two

So this week our theme is second chances. We start the year with high hopes, plans, and ambitions to conquer our demons, and get our lives in order. But sometimes we fall off--things get busy, someone offers you cheesecake and a brownie (who can choose one!), and we find our plans pushed aside. Recently, I was talking to my Mom, who has recently started a healthy eating plan using Loseit--the same website I used to track my eating. She said she didn't think she could stick to it as long as I had--which I think misses the point. It isn't how long you stay on the path, but how good you are at getting back to it when you get off course. Eating healthy, or anything, isn't an all or nothing--if I spend all day eating cheetos and cheesecake, that doesn't mean I'm doomed to eat unhealthy forever.

In the spirit of giving ourselves a second chance, I'm going to give some recipes and foods another chance. I figure that just because the first time or last time I ate something it wasn't great, doesn't mean that it is always gross, or all ways to cook it are equally as gross. With food it is easy to say, after trying once, that you don't like something--though it takes many times of exposure sometimes to really explore an item.

My first effort is trying a Turkey cutlet recipe--well it is chicken in the recipe, but I had bought two packages of thin cutlets. One of which I destroyed by trying to pan fry, turning them dry and stringy. I hope that this new recipe will produce better results with the half I froze.

Ingredients:

1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped scallions
2/3 cup of mushrooms, chopped
10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and juice squeezed out
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
1/2 cup (2.5 oz) crumbled Feta cheese
1/3 cup low fat ricotta
1/4 tsp kosher salt and pepper, plus more to taste
Skinless turkey breast cutlets (1.5 lbs total)
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 tbsp water
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs



I sprayed a saute pan with cooking spray and sauteed the chopped onions, scallion, garlic, and mushrooms. While that cooked, I defrosted and drained the spinach. I added the spinach, the Italian seasonings, and cooked that for a while as I was chatting with my parents. It is hard to cook and Skype without being distracted, so sorry about that Dad!

Then I added the feta and the ricotta--along with some red pepper flakes and nutmeg. That mixed together and was set aside while I worked on the cutlets.

This is the tricky part of the recipe--preparing and wrapping the turkey to go in the oven. I had bought pre-sliced cutlets, so I merely added salt and pepper and put it between two pieces of wax paper. I then used my container of salt to roll it a little thinner so it was big enough to wrap around the stuffing. Once it was prepared, I placed 1/4 of a cup of the spinach mix in the middle and rolled the cutlet up, placing it open side down.


Once that was done the rest of the recipe was less daunting. I've never really breaded anything, but I watch a lot of Good Eats, and Alton Brown covers the breading station in more than one show! So I set it up--the rolls on one side, the egg mixture (egg, water, salt and pepper), then the crumbs, and finally the prepared pan (which I had covered with foil and sprayed with cooking spray.) So the rolls go into the egg, where they are covered, then placed in the crumbs and rolled to coat, before finishing up on the sheet pan. I finished them off with a dash of cayenne pepper and a quick spritz of cooking spray to crisp the top of the rolls.

The finished rolls bake in an oven pre-heated to 350 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until cooked through. The turkey is thin so it cooks fast--check it often!

 The Verdict:

It tastes and looks like something I'd buy at the store or get at a restaurant--though it cooked maybe 2 minutes too long. If I'd pulled them out a little earlier, they may not have been quite so dry, but this was WAY better than the last time I made it--it was more tender and the stuffing kept it from really drying out. The flavor was really good--spicy, with the richness of the cheese, the freshness of the spinach, and the crunch of the outside covering. The rolls held together very well in the oven, and now that I've got the hang of the rolling I'll be making this again! I also want to explore Skinnytaste's other rolled chicken/turkey recipes! I'm very glad I gave these cutlets another try, and I served them with parsnips and carrots--my second chance for parsnips as well. I'll post about them on Wednesday.

Slow Cooker Turkey Breast

Even though my first effort at cooking turkey was less than successful--tasted good, but dry as the dessert and tough, I embarked on this ginormous hunk of meat with confidence. I spent a lot of time on the internet scouring recipes and techniques to find the best way to cook moist and delicious  turkey. The recipe I settled on was this Crock Pot Turkey recipe from SkinnyTaste--love that blog! Of course, I'm bad at following directions, and I'd read so many other recipes and tips, so I figured that before I put the turkey in the pot I'd do a little dry rub to get some extra flavor in. I found the outline of the dry rub on this website, and modified it somewhat for my smaller bird. I will say going in that I didn't use all of the rub and I used too much, so go easy if you follow this--though the flavor is really really good!

Ingredients:

Dry Rub:
1 tbs black peppercorns
1/2 tbs pink peppercorns
1/2 tbs white peppercorns
3 or so bay leaves
fresh thyme, sage, and rosemary
1/4 c kosher salt
zest of one orange and two lemons

I bought a mix of peppercorns, instead of each color separately--I couldn't find whole white peppercorns, and the pink ones were over 15$ for a bottle. I did pick out the pink and white and green ones to go with the black ones. They were all tossed in a small skillet and toasted until they became fragrant, keeping them moving so they don't burn. Once that was done, I zested the orange and lemons, and tossed that, the peppercorns, bay leaves, salt, and fresh herbs in my blender with the grinder blade on. YUM--the rub is so fragrant and full of bold flavors, and putting it in the blender made it easy to spread on the bird.

I used my fingers to pull up the turkey's skin and pushed the rub all over the flesh, making sure to get it all over both sides. This was my very first time doing this, and I used WAY too much rub--see how dark it is? I put the dry rubbed breast in a plastic bag and in another bag and in the freezer overnight. The original Skinnytaste recipe didn't call for any brining, and while it looked yummy, I worried about the flavor. Besides this step, I mostly followed the directions.


Ingredients:

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots chopped medium (my carrots were very small0
2 celery rib, chopped medium
6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1/3 cup flour
2 cups low sodium broth (I used vegetable, because I didn't have any chicken broth)
1 cup water
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp fresh sage
2 bay leaves
4-6 lb whole bone-in turkey breast, skin on, trimmed of fat (my turkey was bigger than the original recipe--and it was the smallest in the store!)
salt and pepper

In a skillet heated to medium high heat, I cooked the onions carrots, and celery in the olive oil until the onions had started to soften. Then stirred in the flour and cooked until it was golden brown. I added the white wine to deglaze the pan and get all of the flour and any golden bits up. This mix is added to a crockpot and the rest of the broth was added and mixed together. To this, I added the turkey breast--which I had used paper towels to wipe off the excess dry rub.

This went on low for 5-7 hours--though I checked the temp around 4 hours and it was showing 180 in some spots, but I was worried it wasn't consistently cooked, so I flipped it around and let it cook for another hour or so while I worked on the sides. I served this with cauliflower mash and roasted brussels sprouts. Once they were going, I took out the turkey and let it rest on a cutting board covered with tinfoil for about 20 minutes.

The liquid and veggies sat for 5 minutes in the pot, so it could settle, and then the fat layer was skimmed off and discarded. Because of the dry rub it was really salty and peppery--too much so to use. So after straining and removing the celery I discarded half of the liquid and added broth and water and pureed the veggies in the liquid. After that cooked down for a bit, it was not too seasoned, and was delicious!






The Verdict: This is absolutely something I will do again! The turkey was so flavorful and juicy, the gravy turned out an excellent partnership with the turkey and the cauliflower. It made a lot of turkey, but it was so easy to use in a lot of dishes that I ate the whole thing within a week. I'd probably go easier on the dry rub next time, but it did give the turkey a robust flavor unlike some slow cooked meats that are more mushy.