Champagne Marinated De-Boned Roasted Turkey

I read recently that if you would like to roast your turkey quickly all you have to do is have it de-boned. How fabulous I thought! With such beautiful sunny days of late on the coast of B.C. not only can I make a quick turkey feast fast, but I can sit on my patio, soak up some rays, and enjoy the glorious aroma of a cooking bird.

And so I picked up my de-boned albiet lazy looking turkey tonight (the little dude looked as though he'd had a little too much gin and juice by the pool in California....then again, how else is one to look when they are missing their spine?) As I write this my turkey is flat out and just waiting for a pan to do some seriously relaxing roasting. My turkey looks lov-er-ly and will be oh so easy to carve when it's cooked!

I heard a rumour that some champagne might be a nice marinade for turkey. So I bought three little one serving bottles: one for me and two for my spineless friend.

Combine: 1 tbsp. salt, 3/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper, 1 tsp. celery salt, 12-15 lb. turkey de-boned, 4 tbsp. of butter, 2 onions chopped up, 1/2 tsp. thyme, 1/2 tsp. of marjoram, 1 cup of chicken broth, 1-2 cups of champagne and flour.

Heat oven to 425 degrees, mix salt, pepper, celery salt and rub into turkey. Put the turkey into a roasting pan and rub with the melted butter. Roast at this temperature for 15 minutes.

Mix onions, thyme, marjoram, and broth and pour over turkey. Reduce heat to 325 degrees and roast for another 15 minutes. Pour champagne over turkey and roast for another hour basting frequently. I always use a thermometer to make sure meat is cooked. Once cooked, put on a platter and cover with tin foil.

Gravy:

Strain pan gravy into a saucepan. Melt remaining 1 tbsp. butter in a cup. Stir in flour smoothly. Cook in a microwave for 1 minute then added cooked flour mixture to strained pan gravy gradually. Stir and let simmer 5 minutes.

Serve in a warmed gravy boat.

Turkey Breast with Sauteed Mushrooms and Cream Sage Sauce and Braised Red Cabbage

Wow! Did I ever celebrate Sage tonight! I browned my turkey breast in it (with a sprinkle of of Chinese 5 spice and sage leaves,sauteed my mushrooms in it and then made a creamy white sauce with it. Here was dinner tonight:

Turkey Breast browned in sage butter and Chinese 5 spice. I think I've already put a recipe in the blog for Turkey Breast in Sage butter - but this time sprinkle your turkey breast lightly with 5 spice because it compliments the sage butter really well (just butter in the pan with a little salt, pepper, and sage leaves). Take out the browned on both sides turkey and add sliced mushrooms to the pan and saute until soft. Add the turkey breast and mushrooms to a casserole and bake in the oven at 300 until still tender but cooked (10-15 minutes).

Sage Sauce: Make a roux by melting 2 tbsp. butter in a pan and then stirring in 3 tbsp. of flour. When the roux is crumbly add 1 cup of cold low fat milk and stir with an egg whisk to blend). Add about 6 sage leaves and 1/2 cup of dried Parmesan Cheese and keep stirring until sauce is thickened. When sauce is cooked add your pasta of choice or pour over a vegetable like squash.

Braised Red Cabbage: Slice red cabbage, 1 apple, and 1 onion and toss into a pan with 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup of smokey bacon or pancetta, a handful of parsley, 1 tbsp. of anise or fennel seeds, salt and pepper stirring and cooking until glistening, soft and pretty.

Ground Turkey Hash

Yes I know it's a little early, in Canada anyway, to be using up turkey in hashes, but the turkey I'm using here is ground. I've adapted a lovely recipe I found in the South Beach Diet, to my version - whatever the hell is in my refrigerator. I have also started reading cookbooks again as I feel like I'm stuck in a rut and can't get some things to taste as fantastic as I normally do. I need to re-learn herbs and spices and start using them generously again. I think moms sometimes get into ruts because their children may find something too spicy. Well, to hell with you kids - mama needs to get her cooking game on again - after all, if they're hungry enough they'll eat anything. Truth be known however, my children are great eaters and are willing to give many things a try. One of my sons will take nice crusty, prosciutto/havarti- filled sandwiches to school with fruit and soup. My other son loves a good meat and mashed potato dish and both my children love broccoli. Not bad. Here is my recipe for Ground Turkey Hash and remember - be flexible - add whatever veggies you have:

1 pound of ground turkey, 1/2 onion chopped up, 2 cups of frozen beans (I absolutely love the Europe's Best brand of green and yellow beans), 2 cups of chopped up sweet potato or as we call it here in Canada - yams. Also you'll need some 1 cup of chicken broth, 1 340 ml. of V8 juice, 2 tbsp. of flour, 1 tsp. of minced garlic (I used jarred - much easier), 1 tbsp. of olive oil. 1/2 tsp. of thyme.

In a large frying pan, heat oil over medium oil. Add sweet potato, onions, garlic, and frozen green beans. Cook and stir around for about 10 minutes until lightly browned and beginning to soften. Then add ground turkey and continue cooking until meat is thoroughly cooked. Add thyme. Then add 1 cup of chicken broth and simmer for about 10 more minutes on medium low. Then stir together V8 Juice and flour until it's nice and smooth and add to the pan. Continue simmering down to desired consistency and pour over rice.

Nicely Spiced Turkey Lasagna

What to do with a pound of ground turkey? Hmmm. Tomato sauce, white sauce, spices, noodles.....The sauces used in this lasagna are soft and succulent off-setting the pleasant spicy surprise of chipoltle spice. The olives are a nice addition too, especially the green onions.

Saute 1 pound of turkey with 1/2 cup of chopped olives (I used mixed, black and GREEN), 1/2 chopped onion, 1/4 cup of sundried tomatoes, 1/2 tsp. of poultry seasoning, 1 tsp. of basil, a pinch of salt and a 1/2 tsp. of pepper. Once cooked, add 1 cup of philly cream cheese with 1/3 cup of milk to ground turkey mixture and turn the heat off. In a separate pot make a sauce first by making a roux of 4 tsp. of butter and 4 tbsp. of flour (you may want to use more butter if the flour is too dry), 1 chopped green onion, and a pinch of chipotle spice; then add 2 cups of chicken broth with 1/2 cup of tomato sauce and bring to a boil. Once it boils, turn the heat down to simmer for a minute or two and then turn it off completely. I used no bake lasagna noodles. Layer a lasagna dish with at least one cup of sauce and layer noodles to cover the pan. Then add turkey mixture, 1 cup of cheese sprinkled evenly (I used Tex-Mex), then top with more noodles, the rest of the sauce, and top completely with 2 cups of cheese and cover with foil. Bake covered for 45 minutes at a 300 degree oven.