The Feast: Part Seven - Mushroom Turkey Breasts

          Sauces can be a key deliverable in any main course meal. Regardless of how you cook the meat that you are using, any sauce can make or break the flavors you are serving. Many people underestimate the power of making a sauce from scratch, but if you have the time, starting with a homemade stock can enhance any sauce. There is a reason why some restaurants keep a saucier on staff - they have the time and energy that it takes to deliver a sauce (or soup) that will sell the dish.

          When doing turkey-three-ways, I knew that it was important to have an appropriate sauce for each style. I removed the breasts of each turkey and flattened them to overlap. After doing so, I lay the breasts out (two at a time) to form a roll, formed a line of sauteed and seasoned mushrooms, and tied them up similar to the turkey thighs in a previous post

          The end result would be mushroom turkey breasts, seasoned with thyme.

 

          To begin, I seared the turkey roll in a large pan (large enough to hold these gigantic rolls!). Using the same pan allowed me to keep the flavors caked onto the bottom. I used homemade stock to deglaze the pan. To do this, have the pan on a high heat and pour a small amount of stock into the bottom. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan, releasing any small bits of flavor into the stock. Reserve this liquid and reheat the pan.

Mushroom Sauce

(each recipe yields enough sauce for one double-breasted turkey roll)

1 lb mushrooms (any variety)

4 tbsp butter

3 shallots (finely diced)

2 tbsp thyme (picked)

1/4 cup red wine

2 cups chicken or beef broth

salt

fresh cracked black pepper

          You can choose to chop the mushrooms or keep them whole for this recipe because they will be pureed in a later step. By chopping them into smaller pieces, the mushrooms can release more flavor. But, if you are strapped for time, you can choose to keep them whole. If you don't have much time on your hands, you run the risk of burning any sauce... and maybe you shouldn't be making a sauce from scratch anyway?

          Combine mushrooms and butter over high heat until wilted. Add shallots and thyme to begin building the flavors for your sauce. Once all of your ingredients have reached a softer state, add broth and red wine. Turn the heat down to medium high and begin reducing by 25%. You will add the bay leaf at this point but use caution when stirring. If you loose the bay leaf then you run the risk of pureeing it into the sauce. This will create hard inconsistencies in the sauce and reduce the quality of the overall meal. 

         Once reduced, remove the bay leaf and puree the sauce using an immersion blender. You can use a regular blender but be careful (and use a cloth) of the top exploding off! Heat expands and will only result in minor burns to your hand. 

          This sauce can be reserved for later or served fresh and hot. I put half of the sauce on the par cooked turkey breast rolls (as seen in the above picture) and baked the rolls when it was time for service. The remainder of the sauce was heated and served with the sliced rolls. 

 

          This plate was served with cornbread stuffing, asparagus, and figs. Don't miss any recipes from this series! Last weeks post was a creamy Lobster Bisque! 

Written By and Photo Credit: Jane Phillips