It’s the new year and a lot of us (ME!) are subtlely watching the food going into our mouths in proportion to the numbers on the scale going up. Or if you’re being diligent like I’m trying to be, going down.
A popular protein this time of year is chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken. Lean, white meat that can be masked in multiple applications and hardly offensive to any sensitive palate. It’s not like we’re talking liver here.
I do like free-range, organic chicken, but what about the other white meat? Pork? Yes, pork, but not this time. I’m talking turkey. In fact, turkey breast.
Turkey gets the short end of the stick when it comes to cooking it at any time other than the holidays or being sliced up in a deli sandwich. But the turkey has so much more to offer, especially as a single breast all roasted up and ready to gobble.
Bad pun, I’ll take a punch for that one.
A local grocer has recently taken on the turkey initiative and expanded their roster of available cuts of turkey. Rather than just offering up the national brands of ground turkey meat or a few off-hand whole birds, Harmon’s Grocery is butchering every cut of the bird in individual offerings. You want legs? You got legs. You want wings? You got wings. You want the breast? I want the breast! They also freshly grind their own turkey meat so I know its not going to be mixed with fillers or flattened in flavor thanks to having every ounce of fat removed from it. I recently had a bad experience with a kosher brand I picked up at Trader Joe’s—that I thought would have been fantastic given the price—so I’m back to my go-to freshly butchered variety.
I recently gave my favorite recipe for roast turkey breast when I guest posted for Shawn on her tasty blog I Wash You Dry and she took some well deserved time off and vacationed with her kids and husband at Disneyland. Turkey for Mickey? That’s a grand trade indeed.
Juicy Roast Turkey Breast
Ingredients
- 1 bone-in turkey breast half about 2 1/2 pounds, with skin on
- 1-2 tablespoons butter
- ½ lemon
- ½ head of garlic crushed with paper on
- 1 cup white wine
- 4-6 sprigs of fresh thyme
- kosher salt and pepper
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Rinse and pat dry the turkey breast. With your fingers, carefully separate skin from the turkey meat and spread half of the butter under the skin.
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Spread the rest of the butter on top of the skin. Place turkey breast in a roasting pan and season with kosher salt and pepper. Pour wine over breast, then squeeze juice from the lemon over the breast and then add to pan with the garlic.
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Top the breast with thyme sprigs.
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Roast turkey until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the breast reaches 140 degrees, or for about 30-35 minutes. Remove from pan and cover and rest for at least 15 minutes and then slice turkey as needed.
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Reserve pan drippings for gravy if desired.
And noooooooowwwww, just a lovely selection of my Friday Faves.
1. Negative calorie ingredients may lead to weight loss? Jackie investigates with a soup recipe to die(t) for.
2. So you don’t live in Brooklyn but want to shop like a local, hipster foodie? Check out Dépanneur, the new online bodega located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn that features everything salty and sweet from Brooklyn-ite purveyors. Curated by a group of hipsters themselves, including grilled cheese blogger extraordinaire MacKenzie, this site is sure to spread the foodie love with a bigger Brooklyn accent than Rosie Perez when yelling for Woody Harrelson. “I love you infinity plus infinity!” Bonus: Enter “DEP154U” for 15% off your total purchase.
3. Food bloggers: It’s happened to me (this week, and has yet to be resolved) and it’s probably happened to you. And if it hasn’t yet, it will. David imparts his wisdom on what to do when someone lifts the content from your blog. (via @AmbitiousKitch)
4. Speaking of the inimitable David, here’s his great interview with Matt on food photography. Getting down to the nitty gritty, even to which pen Matt prefers to write with. Want more? See my interview with Matt here.
5. Speaking of interviews, thank you to newly-mothered Rachel for featuring me on her Day In the Life series. I LOVE perusing the other featured bloggers and gaining insight into their days.
6. January. Organization. As I’ve mentioned before, not many do it better than Tracy. Check out her many organizing projects (+ check for her, – check for me) and her goals for 2013. How do they stack up to yours?
7. Speaking of getting things into order, I am obsessing over these folders, and how nobody came up with them before must mean there wasn’t a woman involved with product development.
8. And how could we ignore the kitchen? The biggest cluster-frick-frack in the whole house! Now, here’s 40 great kitchen organizing tools to create the cooking oasis of your dreams. (via @TTableKitchen)
9. This video emulates pretty much exactly how I feel each time I make my beloved guacamole. How ‘bout you? (via @completedelish)
10. Are you a pinner? Me too. And I’ve been back-seat lazily searching (okay, I haven’t looked but have totally wanted to) for the Pin It button that appears when you move the cursor over an image so it’s-oh-so-easily-wham-bam-pinned. Thanks to another great Pinterest tutorial from Amanda, my dilemma is no more. Amanda, how many chocolate cookies do I owe you for saving me so much investigative time?
BONUS: What’s that you say? You want to an iPad 2? And a $100 gift card? And a bunch of other stuff? I’m giving one away when you enter here. Did someone mention turkey meatballs?
Related Recipes
Mexican Turkey Meatball Sandwiches with Avocado
10 Cranberry Recipes Plus a Grilled Brie, Turkey, Cranberry & Avocado Sandwich
Turkey and White Cheddar with Caramelized Onion and Grape Grilled Cheese Sandwich
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Liz @ The Lemon Bowl says
Love your weekly recap Heidi!! And I’m thrilled to see roast turkey breast- such a great source of lean protein that we forget about after the holidays. Yum!
Bev @ Bev Cooks says
Oh that chicken makes me dance.
Bev @ Bev Cooks says
I meant TURKEY. You wrote “chicken chicken chicken” and my brain went CHICKEN CHICKEN CHICKEN.
Betty Ann @Mango_Queen says
I love how lovely this roast turkey breast looks like. I’m sure it’s tender and succulent in person! Thanks for the round up of Friday faves. Will enjoy all the helpful info. Thanks for sharing all these fabulous news & recipes :-) Happy weekend, Foodiecrush!
[email protected] says
Girl… that looks truly divine!
Annalise says
Oh wow. Heading to Harmons today. Think I’m gonna have to pick me up a turkey breast!
Stefanie @ Sarcastic Cooking says
I made this turkey roast for my family over the holidays. Huge hit! I was hoping for leftovers for sandwiches, but apparently my family was pretty hungry! Great recipe!
Rachel Cooks says
Love Friday Faves and love turkey! Checking out that interview with Matt–I just bought his book and it arrived yesterday! It is so great!
Thanks again for letting me interview you, and for the mention here. xo
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
Your turkey looks delish, love the lemon and herbs!
Lauren @ Part Time House Wife says
The pictures of this breast makes my mouth water more than I’m comfortable with. ;-) Looks amazing and love a good juicy turkey breast!
Kevin (Closet Cooking) says
Now that is some nice looking turkey! Bring on the sandwiches!
natalie says
i’ve been wanting to make roasted turkey breast but can’t seem to find it at any of my grocers :'( … and now it’s taunting me… when will they invent a way to taste food over the internet?!
Jen says
I’m not sure why, but I only ever think to eat turkey in sandwiches and at Thanksgiving. But I do love it so!
Zachar says
whoah this weblog is great i love studying your articles. Keep up the good work!
Katie @ On the Banks of Squaw Creek says
It was so great to meet you food bloggers last week – you had such great questions! If you want to see how non-organic, non-free range poultry is raised, check out my blog. :)
Now I’m off to check out more of your turkey recipes!
Rose R. says
The picture of the roasted turkey breast looks really delicious and so does the taste! I followed this recipe and used a very healthy turkey breast. I bought an all-natural, antibiotic-free, hormone-free and humanely-raised turkey breast and I’m very happy because I just served my family a plump and juicy bird. Yay! :D
heidi says
So glad it was a goodie in your book too.
Rose R. says
And I thank you, Heidi for sharing your recipes. More power! :)
Christy says
This made a great dish! I poured the leftover juices over buttered new potatoes and it added great flavor! My only concern is with the temperature you gave…isn’t the internal temp of turkey breast supposed to reach 165? Looking forward to making this again!
Komit says
Im sorry not with the love fest. The turkey looks dry. Temperature is too high and the cooking is to fast. Did you cook it uncovered? I use a bag 325 and 1.5 hours use clelery and onion they sweat and mosten the meat. The presentation is nice but I would never trade that brown crust for moist meat.
Ronnie says
Agree – 140 is way too low for poultry. I wouldn’t eat it at a degree under the recommended 165 and usually set for 170 just to be safe. This is universal professional advice.
Sandria Warne says
I will definitely try this one. I always try new ideas on cooking and this sounds great. Cooking in this hot temperature is a tedious work but your idea of fast and instant turkey breast recipes would be helpful. Thank you.
heidi says
Thanks for the note Sandria, I hope it works as well for you as it does for me!
Kyle says
140 degrees? That seems way too low.
Kim | a little lunch says
I’ve met SO many talented foodies in my blogging lifetime and there’s a handful that qualify as “reliable with fantastic recipes.” You’re one of them, Heidi! Made your “juicy roast turkey breast” for Thanksgiving this year to rave reviews. Many thanks — great recipes withstand the test of time. (Even 3-1/2 years later… glad I Googled!) I would’ve taken photos, but some things are best left to memory… or repeat performances. I WILL be making this again, and again!
Anna Wright says
I was looking for some inspiration and came across your blog. Going to try this out soon. Thank you for sharing.
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GOOODDD
Sonya says
This looks so simple and yummy I want to try it! Big fan of high temp roasting of birds. I know that the internal temp will continue to rise after being removed and covered, but 140 does seem a very low point to take it out. Is that a misprint or will it really get up to 165 after 15 minutes rest? Thanks!
Nat says
” pat dry the turkey breast …season with kosher salt and pepper. Pour wine over breast, then squeeze juice from the lemon over the breast… ” does it make sense ?
Jake says
I usually only eat turkey for Thanksgiving. I think I might have to make an exception with this recipe.
April R. says
My first turkey breast of the season and I NAILED it because of this super easy to follow recipe. Wow. I cannot believe how juicy this was. I had a 3.4 lb breast and cooked at 40 mins…pulled out and was at 140°. Let it rest and it was some serious turkey eating. I am a dark meat person through and through but I would have this in a heart beat. Just make this recipe and you will love it!
Side note: used an apricot beer (from Sea Dog) bc we were out of wine.
Evelyn says
Sounds like just what I need. Gonna use it for my Thanksgiving Turkey breast. Let u know how it turns out.
Simi says
Tried cooking turkey for the first time this thanksgiving. This is an awesome recipe and so easy to make! The turkey was juicy and super flavorful.
Jill says
It wasn’t done!! Even after an hour and a half!!
Jacquie says
I made this and was never so disappointed. Had an almost 2 lb breast, roasted it for 45 minutes as the skin was not very brown. Thermometer registered at 140′ and I took it out and rested it for 25 minutes. Carved it and it was wet and not cooked. Now I’m looking at other recipes and they say the thermometer should be at 160. Very disappointed. Had to put the slices in the toaster oven and cook until done and throw the rest of the breast into the oven for another 25 minutes. Sure cast a negative feeling to what was going to be a nice dinner.