Turkey Breast Stuffed With Fennel And Red Pepper Recipes

TURKEY BREAST STUFFED WITH MATZO AND FENNEL

Steps:

• Make stuffing:
• Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté onion, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to moderate and add fennel, celery, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, then cook, stirring occasionally, until fennel and celery are golden and tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer vegetables to a bowl to cool.
• Soak raisins in boiling-hot water to cover 5 minutes, then drain well and chop. Add to vegetables.
• Rinse matzo in a colander under hot running water until softened, 15 to 30 seconds. Drain, pressing gently on matzo to extract excess water. Add to vegetables along with egg, parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and stir until combined.
• Stir together 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and ground fennel seed in a small bowl.
• Bone turkey and remove skin:
• See No Bones About It.
• Butterfly and flatten turkey:
• Arrange 1 breast half, skinned side down, lengthwise on work surface, with thinner, pointed end nearest you. Starting at top (thicker part), cut breast half lengthwise down middle, but not all the way through to work surface, with a boning knife or a sharp, small knife, stopping about 1 inch from end closest to you. Then, turning knife horizontally, cut turkey breast open on either side like a book jacket, beginning at lengthwise cut, to form 2 flaps. Open flaps, then put butterflied breast between 2 sheets of plastic wrap.
• Pound turkey with flat side of a meat pounder or with a rolling pin until 1/2 inch thick. Butterfly and flatten remaining breast half.
• Stuff and roast turkey:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Remove top sheet of plastic wrap from 1 breast half and pat turkey dry. Arrange with a short side nearest you and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Mound half of stuffing in center, leaving a 1-inch border on each long side. Fold short end nearest you over stuffing to enclose, gently pressing on filling, then roll to form a cylinder (don't roll too tight, or filling will slip out of ends). Tie rolled turkey breast crosswise at 1-inch intervals with kitchen string. Season remaining turkey breast half with remaining 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, then stuff, roll, and tie in same manner.
• Rub fennel oil all over roasts to coat. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large heavy flameproof roasting pan straddled across 2 burners on moderately high heat. Add roasts (position 1 roast over each burner) and sear, turning with tongs, until golden brown on all sides, about 6 minutes total. Cover pan tightly with foil and roast turkey in oven until a thermometer inserted diagonally 2 inches into center of each roast (to touch stuffing) registers 165°F, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer roasts to a cutting board and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 10 minutes before slicing.
• While roasts stand, straddle roasting pan across 2 burners on moderately high heat, then add 1 1/2 cups broth and deglaze by boiling, stirring, and scraping up brown bits, until liquid is reduced to about 1 cup, 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk together remaining 1/4 cup broth and potato starch and whisk into sauce, then boil, whisking, until slightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a sauceboat and skim off any fat. Serve turkey with sauce.

ROAST TURKEY WITH GARLIC, SAGE AND FENNEL

Steps:

• Bring the turkey to room temperature 1 hour before roasting. Place a rack in the lowest position of the oven and remove the other racks; preheat to 350. Remove the neck and giblets from the turkey; discard the liver and reserve the neck and the rest of the giblets. Dry the turkey inside and out with paper towels and season the cavity with salt and pepper. Halve 1 head garlic crosswise and stuff into the cavity along with 3 onion wedges, the apples and 1/2 bunch sage.
• Place the remaining 3 onion wedges, the fennel and carrot in the center of a large roasting pan with 1 cup water. Set a rack above the vegetables and place the turkey breast-side up on the rack. Season all over with salt and pepper. Chop 3 tablespoons sage, then melt 3 sticks butter with the sage and salt and pepper to taste in a saucepan over medium heat. Fill a meat syringe with the sage butter and inject it into the breasts, legs and thighs; continue until you have used about half of the sage butter. Brush the bird with the rest of the butter and tie the legs together with twine.
• Roast the turkey, uncovered, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Rotate the pan and continue roasting until a thermometer inserted into the thigh registers 165, 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes. Turn off the oven but leave the turkey inside until the thermometer registers 170, 15 to 20 more minutes.
• While the turkey roasts, make the gravy: Melt the remaining 1 stick butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the reserved neck and giblets, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until brown, about 10 minutes. Peel and smash the remaining head of garlic, add it to the pan and cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the broth and bay leaves, cover and simmer over medium-low heat, about 2 hours. Discard the bay leaves, neck and giblets.
• Transfer the turkey to a cutting board and let rest 20 to 30 minutes before carving. Transfer the vegetables to a blender. Pour the drippings into a liquid measuring cup and skim off the fat. Add 1 cup drippings and the flour to the blender and puree until smooth. Whisk the remaining drippings and pureed vegetables into the broth mixture. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the gravy is smooth, about 10 minutes. Stir in the balsamic vinegar; season with salt and pepper.
• Transfer the turkey to a platter and garnish with any remaining sage. Carve the turkey and serve with the gravy.