Monday, October 11, 2010

Pre-Holiday Turkey Teaser

What is your favorite holiday?  Well, my favorite is Thanksgiving.  I love being surrounded by family and sharing in delicious food and drinks together.  I love that it's a Pre-Christmas celebration and our heads aren't quite wrapped in the chaos of shopping yet.  And more than anything.. I love the way my Mom can cook a turkey.

I have much to learn about cooking this holiday dinner and will continue to observe our very-own Thanksgiving dinner expert.  My Mom has been cooking Thanksgiving for our family since the late 80's, I believe.  There were definitely our fair share of kitchen mishaps but, overall.. there is nothing that woman can't do in the kitchen.  I only hope that I can cook a turkey as good as her some day.

Since Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite dinner event of the year... I thought I would do a little pre-holiday main course.  This was the first time that I made this recipe and there will be a few changes along the way but, definitely a great effort thus far.

Cranberry Turkey Breasts
- 2 or 3 turkey boneless, skinless turkey breasts (I happen to get these on sale a couple weeks ago and kept it frozen)
- 1/4 cup whole canned cranberry
- 1/2 cup of Craisins
- 1/2 sweet onion thick sliced (I diced it and decided that didn't work out too well)
- 1 or 2 TBSP of Tarragon
- 2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 TBSP honey
- Salt and Pepper

Place the turkey breasts into a roasting pan.  Cover in EVOO and season with salt and pepper.  Add the tarragon, onions and craisins.  Bake at 425 for 25 minutes.  In a separate dish, combine the balsamic vinegar, canned cranberry, 1 tbsp of EVOO, and honey.  Whisk until completely combined.  When the turkey is done baking.. pour the cranberry sauce over the top.  Serve and enjoy.

Pre-baking.

Post-baking.


The only downside to baking this the first time and not using a roasting pan.. is that the onions and craisins did get a little burnt if they were on the side off the pan.  I would like to try a raspberry sauce that can be baked over the top of the turkey.  I will experiment with that one.

I paired the turkey with something simple... buttered pasta noodles.  What ever you decide for a side, I would recommend something simple in flavor.  We also enjoyed a glass of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay with this meal.

Happy Turkey Meal to you!

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