Hello Friends!
Well here we are. It felt like yesterday was Halloween, and literally next week is Thanksgiving! Why does the holiday season swoop in so quickly like this every year? Whether Thanksgiving is at your house, or you are bringing a dish to a potluck, or even thinking about how to use those turkey leftovers, make sure to check my holiday entertaining playlist on YouTube to help you out, which you can access here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLm5-PI4h0s4qF4WqDWPgz5Pdb8ab6BEC7
In the meantime, let’s begin with a brand new recipe, which I recently learned from chef Eric at Afici Restaurant in San Francisco. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area I highly recommend this place for a date night! Not only is the restaurant beautifully designed with modern romantic decor, but chef Eric is incredibly talented and passionate about bringing the cuisine of his Italian family to life. On NBC’s “California Live” he shared with me how to make a turkey roulade, stuffed with pork. Get a load of this beauty:
This is a great dish to make if the thought of cooking a huge turkey is too much stress for you. Tender turkey breast is rolled around a filling of braised pork and butternut squash, and served with gravy. This turkey roulade features the flavors of the entire Thanksgiving table in one dish. Just get some deboned turkey breasts from your butcher, pound them with a mallet when you get home, and they are good to roll up!
The stuffing can be made in advance, and the roulade can be made a day ahead, saving you time on Thanksgiving day to focus on the other side dishes while sipping on a glass of wine… or two. While Chef Eric used pork for this filling, I recommend using minced mushrooms, onions, and celery if you prefer a vegetable filling. Check out his technique in the video below. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
CHEF ERIC’S TURKEY ROULADE WITH BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND PORK FILLING
Ingredients:
- 2 turkey breasts
- 2 lbs. pork shoulder
- ½ lb. Butternut Squash
- 1 cup (200 ml) white wine, separated
- 2 1/4 cups (roughly 500 ml) chicken stock
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Olive oil
- 2 tbsp minced fresh Sage
- Method:
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees
- Butterfly the turkey breasts and pound them evenly
- NOTE: Butterflying is slicing the breast through most of the middle, to open it up to have two even, but still connected sides.
- Season the turkey with salt, pepper, and white wine
- Add the pork stuffing (recipe below) in the middle of the turkey breast and roll the turkey breast tightly
- Tie with Butchers twine in 1-inch intervals to secure, repeat with remaining turkey breast
- In a large heavy bottom skillet, heat three tablespoons of a neutral oil over medium heat.
- Brown roulade on all sides (about 9 mins)
- Transfer to a roasting pan and cook until the internal temp of 155 (about 20 mins)
- Let rest for five minutes. Slice and plate.
- Pork Stuffing Method:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Season pork with salt and pepper
- Heat a heavy bottom skillet over medium heat. Coat with 2 tablespoons of neutral oil and brown pork on all sides
- Transfer the pork to an oven proof pan
- Deglaze the heavy bottom skillet with white wine, scraping to allow some of the pork bits to release from the skillet.
- Pour deglazed wine from skillet and chicken stock in the oven proof pan and cook for about 2 ½ hours until the pork is tender
- Allow to cool slightly and pull the pork apart, mix with the diced butternut squash (recipe below), sage and crushed red pepper flakes as well as salt to taste
- Butternut Squash Method:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Dice butternut squash to ½ inch cubes, careful to keep the size uniform to ensure for even cooking
- Season with olive oil salt and pepper
- Roast until tender and can be pierced with a fork; about 10 minutes
