We have your turkey all rolled up.
For most of my life, Thanksgiving was easy. My sisters and I would go to Mom's for dinner, where Grandma would cook the same menu of 1950s favorites. Then we'd trudge over to Dad's for dessert, where someone had picked up a couple of pies from the local bakery. It was hectic but well-defined. Everyone knew what was going to happen, what we would eat, and what was expected of them.
Then, my sister suggested we all have Thanksgiving together: Mom, Stepdad, Dad, Stepmom, all the kids and various relatives. Great idea. Really.
For three years, I tried to quietly sabotage the new tradition. Year 1: I sulked. Year 2: I sulked a lot. Year 3: I flew to London and ate vegetarian moussaka with friends.
Finally, they got the idea.
Having made my point, I suddenly found myself in rather powerful position. The family had ceded all decision-making power. I controlled the location (my house), the guest list (small), and the menu. A little drunk on the power, I made a radical decision: I ruled out a picture-perfect turkey.
A whole turkey is nice — in theory. It's tradition. And it does look good in the holiday photos. But it's a royal pain. First, you have to get a 20-pound bird into a bag full of salt water to brine it. Then, you have to fit it in the fridge. Next you roast the turkey, taking up the whole oven for four hours on the day you need your oven most. Last you have to carve the bird, which always, at least in my family, results in one mangled turkey. And did I mention that most of the family doesn't eat dark meat?
So this year I'm making a stuffed, boneless turkey breast, which solves all the problems the traditional turkey presents. It's all white meat. It takes only two hours to cook. And it's easy to carve.
There are a surprising number of recipes out there for "turkey roulade," but most of them are suggested for Christmas dinner, not Thanksgiving. There are recipes for turkeys stuffed with apples and raisins, mushrooms and hazelnuts, anything you can think of, really. A recipe from New York chef Mario Batali with chestnuts and prunes caught my eye initially. But in the end I chose a recipe from Ina Garten, a.k.a. the Barefoot Contessa.
I'm not much for TV chefs. But this recipe, which I practiced in advance of the big day, is a keeper. I got a butcher to debone and butterfly a turkey breast. Then I made the stuffing, which is studded with sausage, dried cranberries, figs, pine nuts and lots of herbs — a combination that screams Thanksgiving. Then I lay the turkey out flat on a cutting board, spread it with a thin layer of stuffing, and rolled it up like a jelly roll. It’s neat and tidy, a symbol of our new Thanksgiving tradition.
Jane Black is a staff writer at the Washington Post.
| Roasted Turkey Roulade, adapted Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics |
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Ina Garten’s original recipe makes a little extra stuffing but not enough for leftovers. I’ve doubled the stuffing ingredients. I’ve also overruled her fast-and-easy call for pre-made stuffing mix by making my own with a cheap baguette and some herbs.
Serves 6 (with stuffing for leftovers)
6 cups bread cut into cubes (from two cheap baguettes)
3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper
1 ½ cup large diced dried figs, stems removed
1 ½ dried cranberries
1 cup calvados or brandy
1 stick unsalted butter
2 cups diced celery stalks, about 6 stalks
1 ½ pound pork sausage, casings removed (sweet, hot, or mixed)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
3 cups chicken stock
2 large eggs, beaten
1 whole turkey breast, boned and butterflied (you need a butcher to do this for you)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place chopped bread on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with thyme leaves, salt, and pepper. Bake for 1 hour until toasted. Crunch with your fingers until the bread is broken into small pieces. Set aside.
Place the dried figs and cranberries in a medium saucepan and pour in the Calvados and 1 cup water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Melt the butter in a very large skillet (or two medium ones) over medium heat. Add the onions and celery and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage, crumbling it into small bits with a fork, and sauté, stirring frequently for 10 minutes until cooked and browned. Add the figs and cranberries with the liquid, the chopped rosemary, and pine nuts and cook for 2 more minutes.
Place the stuffing mix in a large bowl. Add the sausage mixture, chicken stock, eggs, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and stir well. (The stuffing may be prepared ahead and stored in the refrigerator overnight.)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a baking rack on a sheet pan.
Lay the butterflied turkey breast skin side down on a cutting board. Sprinkle the meat with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Spread the stuffing in a half-inch thick layer over the meat, leaving a half-inch border on all sides. Don't mound the stuffing or the turkey will be difficult to roll. (Place leftover stuffing in a buttered gratin dish and bake for the last 45 minutes of roasting alongside the turkey.)
Starting at one end, roll the turkey like a jelly roll and tuck in any stuffing that tries to escape on the sides. Tie the roast firmly with kitchen twine every 2 inches to make a compact cylinder.
Place the stuffed turkey breast seam side down on the rack on the sheet pan. Brush with the melted butter, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, and roast for about 2 hours until a thermometer reaches 150 degrees in the center (test a few places). Cover the turkey with aluminum foil and allow it to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes. Carve half-inch slices and serve warm with the extra stuffing.
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Photograph by H. Armstrong Roberts/Retrofile/Getty Images, "DIY" photograph by John and Eliza Forder/Getty Images, "Pantry" photograph by Áslaug Snorradóttir.
