SAN ANTONIO – When you wake up on Thanksgiving morning, the last thing you want to do before you've had your coffee is stuff a bird full of bread, stick it on a roasting pan, and babysit it for several hours while you repeatedly baste it, worrying if it will dry out.
Or at least that's how I feel.
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The roasted young turkey breasts I made today were not only moist, they were flat-out juicy, flavorful, and I didn't have to baste them -- at all. Plus, they only took an hour and a half to cook (a whole turkey would probably take a bit longer, but not terribly long).
I came up with this recipe after baking a whole chicken in a newly-purchased chicken roasting dish. It has a little cup in the center (for the wine or broth to release moisture inside the chicken's cavity) and has a groove on the side to easily pour the juices onto your carving platter when the chicken is done.
The chicken came out so moist and savory that I had to give it a shot with turkey. The results were delicious. Bonus: all the roasted garlic.
If you don't have a roasting dish, you can always cut the top off a soda can and place it in the center of a roasting pan or large casserole dish.
Here's the recipe.
Ingredients:
- Bone-in young turkey breast (the one I used was about 5 1/2 lbs.)
- Kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1 Tbsp. chicken rub (I used the Bolner Fiesta brand rub)
- 4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- Fresh thyme, rosemary, and sage
- 1 lemon, cut in half
- 2 heads garlic with tops cut off, 4 cloves reserved and minced
- 1/2 cup white wine (I used chardonnay) or chicken broth
- Extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Rinse the turkey breast with water, inside and out, and pat it dry with paper towels. Liberally rub the turkey, inside and out, with kosher salt and ground black pepper.
Using a fork, mix the butter, chicken rub, and 4 cloves of minced garlic. Using your fingers, rub all of the butter mixture between the turkey skin and breast meat all over the turkey.
Stuff the lemon halves and a handful of the fresh herbs inside the breast cavity. Pour the wine into the center cup of the roasting dish (or the soda can) and place the turkey breast up onto the dish (or roasting pan) with the cup inside the breast cavity.
Brush olive oil all over the turkey and place the garlic heads and the rest of the fresh herbs in the pan around the turkey. Roast in the oven for 1 1/2 hours (or longer depending on how large your turkey is).
Gobble gobble!
