Moist & Tender Turkey Breast

 Photo By: Marg-CaymanDesigns

I have to admit, I've never been a huge fan of turkey, let alone white meat. At Thanksgiving I'll normally go for the dark meat and maybe once a year I'll cook up a turkey breast for a mini "Thanksgiving" type dinner. I decided on a turkey breast for our CIJ dinner because I found a new recipe on Pinterest that claimed to keep the breast meat "MOIST and TENDER". It was a 5 star recipe, with lots of raving from others who had enjoyed it. Now, let me tell you...This recipe did NOT DISAPPOINT. I was absolutely gawking over how moist it was. I added a touch of gravy for the yum factor and even went back for seconds. On a shopping note, I was a very happy with the Market Pantry brand turkey breast I purchased at Target. It came with a gravy packet inside, to add to the drippings and I thought that even tasted great. So, if you hesitate to eat turkey, because cooking an entire bird is overwhelming, give this recipe a try. You will not be disappointed.

Ingredients:

• 1 (5 -20 lb) fresh or frozen turkey breast (thawed) or 1 (5 -20 lb) turkey
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 12 ounces chicken broth or 12 ounces beer or 12 ounces white wine
• 1 -2 tablespoon mayonnaise    

Directions:

1. Place turkey or turkey breast in a roasting pan.
    
2. (I use a foil-lined 13x9-inch pan) Combine melted butter and chicken broth.
   Note: I skipped the foil and just used a heavy duty, non stick broiler pan 
    
3. Pour over turkey.
    
4. Rub mayonnaise all over turkey's exterior.
   Note: I didn't measure this necessarily. Just took out a few spoonfuls, put them aside and made sure I had enough to cover the entire turkey. 
    
5. Salt lightly if desired.
    
6. Roast at 300°-325°F until internal temperature reaches 170°F on an instant read thermometer. (I raise the temperature to 350° for the last approximate 30-45 minutes to crisp skin).
    
7. Remove from oven and let sit for about 30 minutes before slicing.
   Note: Do Not Skip This Step. It's VERY, VERY important to let your bird sit. 
    
8. Note: because the butter and broth are for making gravy, if you need to make a lot of gravy, double the amount of both.
    
9. To make gravy: pour pan drippings into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add 1 Tbls. cornstarch per cup of broth/drippings to 1/4 cup cold water. (You'll usually need 2-3 Tbls) Mix well to dissolve. Stir cornstarch mixture into broth and stir until thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste. If too thin, dissolve more cornstarch in water and add until desired thickness. If too thick, add water or more broth to thin.
    
   Note: I used the gravy packet that came with the Market Pantry turkey and just added the juices from the pan to that mix and then followed the instructions by adding water. 

I did not take a photo of my turkey, so the photo above is the photo posted with the recipe at Food.Com

Remember When Wednesday: Peanut Brittle Recipe

My friend suggested I use Wednesdays to post "Remember When" blog post, so this Wednesday we're going back to December 11th, 2010, when I posted my peanut brittle recipe.

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Apparently I've been promising my husband some Peanut Brittle since Christmas In July and his patience were about gone. The peanuts have been sitting patiently on the pantry shelf, but because I get so hot making peanut brittle, the thought during the middle of summer is not very pleasing. 

Today was the day and less then 20minutes later, it's done and off the Christmas "must have" check list. At least his "personal batch" that is. I'll probably make him one more batch and a batch for our son Chris. 


This recipe was already in the Nemnich family when I married my husband, so I was handed the recipe and told to "make this one". I'm not a huge peanut or hard candy fan, but this is good stuff.

Peanut Brittle
1 cup of white/light karo syrup
1 cup sugar
2 TBSP butter
1 tsp soda
2 tsp vanilla

Mix sugar, Karo and butter in heavy, large, deep skillet or use a large soup pot. Using a non stick pan is what I prefer.  Add butter to melt. Add peanuts and stir on medium, high heat until it begins to brown and turn into an Amber color.

Once it's reached the right color, remove from heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda. This will add some air and make the mixture fluffy. 

Pour and spread onto a buttered or butter sprayed cookie sheet. Let cool and break into pieces. 

What I'm using is my new Silpat from Martha Stewart, which you can buy at Macy's. When I watched Martha make cashew brittle last month and use this tool, I knew I had to have one. What I didn't know, was that my cat needed to eat some too! I left it on my desk for a few days and when I went to wash and use it, I noticed the cat had chewed the corner and edges of the mat. Needless to say, I'm not a happy camper!

On a personal note, I have fond memories of making and boxing up peanut brittle for my grandfather when I was a teen and young adult. I wasn't always able to send much, but I would always send at least some peanut brittle. It was one of his favorites. 

The batch below is a double batch and will require two cookie sheets for spreading. I double batch, should fit into a larger tin container.