Turkey Time

Hey Fam, 

I know what you are thinking turkey in April...um no ma'am, but honestly turkey can be a nice switch up to your weekly meats.

This brined,dry rubbed, slow roasted turkey breast recipe is sure to change your mind. Now let me just start off

by saying that this is not a difficult recipe, but it is a labor of love. It all starts with a water bath brine for the turkey.

Growing up I rarely ever ate the "white meat" of chicken or turkey. The white meat, meaning the breasts, because it was always sooo dry.

I just figured that's how it worked. But boy was I wrong. I was first introduced to turkey breast on Thanksgiving at my in-laws house.

You heard me right...just turkey breast...I thought I was being punked. I'd never heard of just making the turkey breast.

Before even tasting the turkey I already assumed it would be dry. Well, I was wrong to say the least.

It was the juiciest piece of turkey breast I had ever eaten. I had to know the secret.

My mother in-law is amazing in every way so she quickly brought me up to speed.

She told me it was just a simple brine. Now I'm going to be honest...I didn't actually know what a brine was 😜.

So, I looked it up as soon as we got home. I thought okay, I can totally recreate this meal.

Fast forward a year or two and now I can't imagine cooking turkey breast or whole chickens any other way!

So here is the run down: First start off by preparing your brine. You can use any brine recipe. They all pretty much have the same effect.

My husband and I kind of wing it from time to time. We throw in one onion cut into quarters, any herbs we have in the garden i.e.

rosemary, oregano, parsley, thyme, and a bay leaf or two. We also add garlic, sugar and a cup of salt. It is going to seem like quite a bit of salt, but trust me you need it.

The salt helps break down the meat and gets it nice and juicy. For this brine we added all the end pieces from veggies I prepped for the week.

Read my most on prepping veggies for more info.

Then you will need about two gallons of water. Remember you are going to eventually be putting a whole turkey in the brine. Bring the water to a boil, turn off and add a bowl of ice cubes to help cool it down. Once the brine is completely cool transfer it to a bowl big enough to hold the turkey and the brine. We let our turkey sit in the brine with a lid overnight in the fridge.

Take the turkey out of the brine and pat it completely dry. Then combine your favorite seasonings in  a bowl...I used two teaspoons of garlic powder, pepper, dried oregano, thyme, and one teaspoon of salt. Then the zest of one lemon. Oil the turkey and sprinkle the seasoning mixture all over. Loosely cover the turkey breast and place the turkey back in the fridge to sit for 4 hours.

Cook the turkey on a wire rack, breast side down @ 425 for 30 mins. Flip it, turn the oven down to 375 and cook for an additional 90 mins or so. Once the turkey reaches an internal temp. of 170 it is good to go. Take it out and let it rest for at least 15 mins. Slice the turkey breast and enjoy! 

This is a time consuming recipe, however I have decided that if it ain’t broke don’t fix. This recipe works for us and the results don’t lie. It's flavorful, juicy, and makes me happy... which isn't that the point of cooking?

Try it out and let me know your thoughts. 

Peace, Love, and Turkey. 

-BallinwiththeBergs