Today I’m welcoming my friend Rene to the blog! I met Rene in college and we are still in touch. She is a lot of fun and has the honor of hosting the most entertaining Pampered Chef party I have ever attended. (The consultants were traveling gospel singers.) Rene is a mom of an adorable little girl and a foodie who raises chickens in her suburban back yard. She’s offered to share a great recipe with you today.
Take it away Rene!
I have a confession.
I am a hoarder.
If there is a sale on meat or veggies or anything freezable, I just cannot help myself. I must buy it.
Because of this slight problem, we are currently packed to the brim in our freezers (yes, we have our regular fridge in the kitchen, and another full size fridge in the basement. The house came with two – it’s not part of my hoarding, but it helps!). So last week, during the snowy blast that pummeled the east coast, we decided that it was time to break into the stash.
I had a lovely turkey breast in the freezer that my father-in-law purchased in December and so it was time to use it!
Typically, I have a bunch of fresh herbs on hand in the house, but I was totally out of anything yummy and fresh, so I had to improvise with what we had – and boy am I glad we did! It turned out to be one of the best dutch oven meals we’ve had!
Here’s a listing of the cast of characters for this recipe:
– 3 tsp of finely minced fresh lemon peel
– 1 ½ teaspoons of pink himalyian sea salt (but I assume any and all salt would do)
– ¼ teaspoon of pepper
– ½ teaspoon of dried dill
– 2 tablespoons of garlic infused olive oil (drooooool)
– 2 cups of chicken broth
– Some carrots
– Some potatoes (we are not big carb people, so we didn’t use any potatoes, but you can imagine they are in there, nestled lovingly with the carrots).
So the first step to making this lovely turkey breast is to have a fantastic little helper.
Meet Lillian. She is nearly 3 ½ and as such has a very short attention span. She helped with the grating of the lemon peel and that’s about it. She eagerly was a taste tester though.
I mix all of the dry ingredients (and lemon peel) above into a nice little bowl. I used a glass bowl, because, well it just looks prettier.
(photo of dry ingredients – 0213141038c)
Once they have all been measured out, I broke out this lovely, amazing, delicious gem of an olive oil and added it to the bowl.
There is an olive oil and vinegar emporium not terribly far from where we live, and we went there for my birthday in January. I knew I had to have the garlic version, and I was NOT disappointed. It added an amazing flavor. I assume you could just add some plain olive oil and some minced garlic if your pantry doesn’t include this.
Once you have this all mixed, rub it all over the turkey breast. Ours was 3lbs and fed our family of 3 adults and a hungry preschooler for 2 meals. You can double the recipe as needed.
I let the turkey sit, covered in my dutch oven for about 3 hours.
About 30 minutes before I was ready to pop it in the oven, I took it out of the fridge to come to room temperature. Into the pot, I added a few chopped up carrots (again, you can add potatoes to this step if you are so inclined) and 2 cups of chicken broth. I may have also tossed in a few scraps of onions, but not a lot and I don’t think it’s necessary.
I threw it in a preheated (400 degree) oven for 1 hour and it was ready!
Add some boxed (blech! But my family likes it) stuffing and a homemade green bean casserole (farm fresh beans flash frozen this summer) and you’ve got a mini thanksgiving. Of course, you don’t need the sides… but it was cold, and we were hungry. Building snowmen take a lot out of you!
Thanks Rene!
If you missed any of the previous Dutch Oven Week posts, you can find them here:
Day 1: Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken Corn Soup
[…] semi-homemade version of my aunt’s Italian Festival Bake. Thursday Rene showed you her oven roasted herb turkey. And now that it’s Friday, I thought I’d wrap up by showing you a few other things I […]