Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The most DELICIOUS Turkey Breast EVER!


Last night I made the most delicious Turkey Breast. I used Aaron McCargo's recipe for his Turkey Club Sandwich.

**I did NOT cook the brine and do the ice cube thing. I just mixed everything together in cold water.

I started soaking it in the brine on Saturday thinking that I was going to make it on Sunday but it didn't get made until yesterday, Monday. I didn't read the recipe right and I thought that the bacon was supposed to be crumbled and put on top of the turkey breast rub mixture. It doesn't say that at all so I don't know why I thought that. But that's what I did anyway. I was just going to make the Turkey Breast as a regular meat on the table but I had a club roll leftover so I decided to make one of the club sandwiches out of it to see how it is. I didn't have any avacado but I had the lettuce, tomato and I made the Cilantro Mayo. The sandwich was GREAT!

PJ ate his meat on the plate, not on a sandwich and he kept saying how delicious it was. After dinner, he kept going back for more! It's a winner!


Turkey Club
Recipe courtesy Aaron McCargo Jr.


Brine:
1/2 gallon water
2 cups salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, smashed
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
6 leaves sage
1 sprig rosemary
1 sprig thyme


Directions
6 pound turkey breast, rinsed
1/2 bag ice cubes
6 to 8 slices bacon
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons black pepper
12 pieces wheat bread
Cilantro Mayonnaise Sauce, recipe follows
1 tomato, sliced
Lettuce leaves
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and sliced
In a large saucepan filled with 1/2 gallon of water, bring water to a simmer. Add all Brine ingredients and stir. Allow to come to a boil, then cool broth. Add turkey and place in refrigerator for 2 to 4 hours.
*Cook's Note: In a large saucepan filled with ice, pour brine and mix, allowing ice cubes to melt. Brine should be cool to the touch.
Place bacon strips onto cookie sheet. Place in oven for 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the oven and drain on paper towels.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
Remove turkey from brine and place into a roasting pan. Pat dry turkey. Combine mayonnaise, olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, Italian seasoning, salt and black pepper. Rub this mixture all over the turkey breast and under the skin. Place in the oven and roast for about 1 1/2 hours or until the turkey reaches 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Make sure to let the turkey rest before slicing.
Slice the turkey and assemble the sandwiches by topping 1 piece of bread with the Cilantro Mayonnaise Sauce, turkey, bacon, another piece of bread, Cilantro Mayonnaise Sauce, turkey, tomato, lettuce, avocado, and a final piece of bread spread with the Cilantro Mayonnaise Sauce. Repeat with remaining bread and ingredients.


Cilantro Mayonnaise Sauce:
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot sauce
Pinch coarse black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
Combine all the ingredients and mix well.

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