Thanksgiving Turkey Porchetta Is Worth It After All

Porchetta is perfect. Crispy crispy skin, roast pork and a magical mix of fennel, pepper and lemon. It’s no wonder that at some point someone decided to try to turn the turkey (one of Mother Earth’s snubs if there ever was one) into this heavenly treasure. But I was puzzled: Reasonable people can agree that turkey breast too easily becomes dry and tasteless. How could this bird (and the driest part of it) produce something similar to perhaps the best version of pork available to mankind, without adding some fat? Indeed, this recipe was not porchetta, but a simple roll. So, I went to make it both tastier and more complex.

Since my favorite porchetta recipes are often stuffed with sausage, I decided to take confit, which many people make with the dark meat of turkey, and use it in my “turchetta” (this is the last time I use that word, I promise). . The duck fat I used to make the confit poured over the roast and gave it more, well, everything. And friends: unlike some experiments in the past, this one is worth it.

Bird destruction

You can just buy a bone-in, skin-on breast and grab a leg or two to make confit, but carving a whole bird yourself will give you one perfect, unbroken piece of turkey skin from tip to tail. important part of this recipe. First, remove the skin from the bird, trying to keep as much of it intact as possible. This includes the legs and thighs.

Start by cutting the skin where the legs meet the cutting board, then use your fingers to separate the skin from the meat, sliding under the skin along the meat against any resistance. If necessary, cut it off the meat with a knife in especially hard-to-reach places, but you won’t need any help. Again, the goal here is to get as big a piece as possible.

Once the skin is loose, place it in a ziplock bag, remove as much air as possible, and place it in the refrigerator to chill. Unscrew the legs from the breast until they pop out, then use a knife to release them from the bird and place them in a vacuum bag. Cut the breast from the bone using the tip of a knife and making shallow cuts along the bone. As a result, you should have a mirror image of each half. Cut off the nugget piece (extra flap hanging from the breast) and clean the breast as needed (removing fat and any imperfections).

You’ll be left with the rest of the bird except the legs, and it’s all extra and unnecessary, so make some stock and enjoy the soup while this recipe cooks.

Line a cutting board with plastic wrap and place the breasts on it. We want to make them the same thickness, so you’ll be butterflying the top of each breast, which means you’ll cut the meat diagonally, but not all the way so you can expose the meat. like a book. Take a hammer and lightly tap the breasts from the middle until they are the same thickness. If you don’t have a hammer, you can use a bottle of wine (but this is an adult recipe – buy yourself a hammer, you’ve earned it). Your goal is to turn your chest into a rectangle. The meat should be slightly overlapped so that there are no gaps left when rolling.

Season the meat

Since it’s turkey, we’re going to season it with the ever-loving stuff. You can start with dry herbs, but if you have fresh, so much the better. I’ve listed the amounts below, but there’s no such thing as too much – so use more if you have it. Place the peppercorns, salt, rosemary, fennel, thyme, oregano, sage, lemon zest, whole clove of garlic and half the jalapeño in a food processor until you form a paste. Even if you don’t like spicy food, porchetta usually calls for red pepper flakes, and I found that adding just half a jalapeño gave the meat just a slight kick, more noticeable as heat than heat. Trust.

Cut a shallow 1/2-inch-deep cross-hatch into the meat, then spread the seasoning and rub it into all the crevices.

Roll it up and let it season

It’s time to ride, baby. We are rolling along the longer side of the rectangle and you should start with the less ideal of the two long sides so that it ends up on the inside of the roll. Rotate the cutting board so that the side is closest to you. Roll the turkey tightly using both hands equally spaced while rolling. If necessary, use the plastic as an aid: grab the edges and push it away from you until the first turkey meatloaf is done, then simply peel off the plastic and continue rolling. Once you have completely rolled the meat, wrap it tightly in plastic, twisting the ends tightly to make it more compact and tight. I carefully placed the finished roll in a vacuum bag for extra security, then vacuum sealed it and put it in the refrigerator for the next two days.

Prepare the confit

While the breast is cooling, prepare the confit. To the leg bag (you’ll actually only need one, but hey, if you’re making confit, you might as well throw in all the dark meat), add two tablespoons of duck fat, a tablespoon of salt, a tablespoon of peppercorns. and a good handful of fresh thyme or two tablespoons of dried thyme, half a lemon and three large cloves of garlic. Massage the legs with this, then vacuum seal and place in the refrigerator to marinate for eight hours.

Then leave the bag sous vide at 150F for 24 hours, then let it cool in the refrigerator for two to three hours.

Marry everything together

Prep the area: Place a rack of twine on your cutting board so you can easily tie the turkey roll up once we’ve finished assembling. Remove the confit, slice the meat from one of the legs, remove five tablespoons of aspic (gelatin in the bag) with a spoon and set it aside in a bowl. Remove everything from the jellied meat, such as peppercorns or garlic, so that only gelatin remains.

Remove turkey and skin from refrigerator. Start by placing the skin face down on the twine grid. Stretch the skin as far as you can without tearing it into a nice big rectangle. You can cut the leather and use it to repair areas where there are tears or tears by simply applying it. Sprinkle the skin with salt and pepper.

Now cut the turkey roll, drain the bag and carefully unroll it over the skin, shaping it so that the rectangles face the same way. Place the chopped confit on top of the half of the turkey that was inside the roll, trying to distribute it evenly, then spoon the gelatin over the confit. There is no need to spread it out – it will melt in sous vide. Now we’re going to roll the turkey again like we did before, starting with the uneven confit side, but this time you’re taking the skin into the roll. Once you get to the end, use twine to secure it in both directions, starting with the shorter pieces along the length, and then use at least two pieces of twine to secure it along the entire length, being careful to use leather to cover it. ends. You won’t be able to secure it too tightly, so don’t be afraid to use too much twine. Trim the ends of the twine. Now, carefully, so as not to damage the skin, place it in a vacuum bag and seal it.

Sous vide

The whole thing is placed in a sous vide bath at 140F for four hours. When it comes out, place it in an ice bath for 10 minutes. Remove it from the bag and dry it with paper towels. I placed it in front of a fan for 20 minutes to really dry out my skin.

Crispy skin

It’s time to deep fry, so prepare a saucepan, deep frying pan, or wok with at least two inches of oil, but make sure the dish is deep enough to accommodate the oil and turkey porchetta so you don’t splatter the oil when you add it. turkey. Heat the oil to 400F and then reduce it to 300-350F. Carefully place the turkey into the pan. Be very careful when handling the pan as the oil may splatter. You’ll need to keep an eye on it as it cooks, just to make sure it doesn’t burn. It should sit on that side for eight to 10 minutes until it’s brown and crispy, then carefully flip it over to the other side with tongs and repeat. While it’s cooking, use a ladle of oil to drizzle the oil over the top and sides, but be very careful not to splatter it. You will continue to turn the turkey until all sides are browned and crispy, and if necessary, very carefully flip the end over, holding it with tongs, long enough to brown the ends. The turkey is already fully cooked, so the goal is to simply brown the sides and then remove it from the oil and let it rest. As soon as the sides become crispy, the dish is ready.

The plate is

Now just let it sit for 15 minutes and then use a very sharp chef’s knife or slicing knife to cut off one-inch thick pieces and serve. Use a spatula to move porchetta from cutting board to plate to maintain appearance.

You can serve this with a sauce, but I recommend a fruit sauce instead, such as Fermented Cranberry Sauce . This is a very rich dish and adding acid will help lighten it up. I served it with lemon, the juice of which on top of the porchetta was very refreshing.

The extra fat resulted in a very luxurious dish that was surprisingly full of flavor. The brisket has a herbaceous, garlicky undertone with the sweet warmth of the pepper. The confits have a peppery silkiness and when they are combined they feel like the most luxurious pate in the pastry. When you bite into it and get a piece of crispy skin, it’s an absolute disaster. Sure, it’s a long way, but we got there, didn’t we?

Turkey porchetta with confit stuffing

Ingredients

• 1 12-14 pound turkey, thawed , or one whole breast with bones, skin, and one turkey leg

• 1 ½ heads peeled garlic cloves

• 2 lemons plus 3 tablespoons lemon zest

• 1 handful fresh rosemary or 3 tablespoons dried rosemary

• 1 handful fresh sage or 3 tablespoons dried sage

• 1 handful fresh oregano or 3 tablespoons dried oregano

• 1 handful fresh fennel leaves or 3 tablespoons dried fennel seeds

• 1 handful fresh thyme sprigs or 2 tablespoons dried thyme

• 1 jalapeno, red or green

• 2 ½ tablespoons peppercorns

• 2 ½ tablespoons salt

• 3 tablespoons duck fat

• Three cups vegetable or peanut butter

Equipment

• leg-split

• Sous vide machine

• Vacuum bags or zipper bags.

• A saucepan or pan at least three inches deep.

• Long tongs

• Plastic box

1. Remove the skin from the turkey in as large a piece as possible. Place in a bag with as little air as possible and store in the refrigerator.

2. Break the bird into two boneless breasts and legs. The rest of the bird can be used for another project. Place the legs in a vacuum bag and set aside.

3. On a cutting board lined with plastic wrap, create a rectangle of meat from the breasts. If necessary, butterfly the thicker parts of the turkey breast and gently shape it with a mallet into an even, ½-inch-thick sheet of turkey. The chest should overlap slightly so that there are no gaps. Cut the meat into shallow cuts.

4. Combine the rosemary, sage, oregano, fennel, half the jalapeño, all but three cloves of garlic, two tablespoons zest, one and a half tablespoons salt and peppercorns in a food processor and process to a paste. Rub this mixture into the turkey, getting into all the cracks.

5. Roll the turkey along the long side, starting with the more irregular side, into a cylindrical log. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, twisting the ends, place in a vacuum bag, then vacuum and leave in the refrigerator for two days.

6. Add the duck fat, remaining salt, pepper, garlic, zest and thyme to the bag. Vacuum seal it and leave it in the refrigerator overnight, for eight hours. Then sous vide it for 24 hours at 150 F. After that, let the confit sit in the refrigerator for two to three hours.

7. Shred the meat of one leg, removing the bones, and set aside. Take out five tablespoons of jellied meat, clean it of greens and set it aside.

8. Place the twine rack on a clean cutting board and place the skin face down on the rack, spreading it out as far as possible. Lightly salt and pepper the skin.

9. Unfold the turkey breast over the skin, making it as even as possible. Add the shredded meat to the half of the roll that was inside (the first part that needs to be rolled). Distribute it evenly and then place the aspic on top.

10. Turn the turkey over, this time including the skin. Tie it with twine in both directions, making sure the ends are also covered with leather. Place the finished roll in a vacuum bag and then sous vide for four hours at 140 F.

11. Place the roll, still in the bag, in the ice bath for five minutes, then remove from the bag and dry the outside with paper towels. If possible, let it sit in front of a fan for a few minutes to dry the outside while you heat a pan of oil to 400F.

12. Reduce the temperature of the pan to 300-350F and carefully add the meatloaf to the pan, being careful not to splatter the oil. Let it cook, supervised, for eight to 10 minutes before turning the roll over and cooking until each side is crispy brown but not burnt. Continue turning until the entire surface is crispy, basting the top and sides with oil as you go. If you are comfortable doing this, turn the roll on its side using tongs and hold it so that only the end is in the oil so that it also becomes crispy.

13. Let the finished roll rest on a cutting board for 15 minutes before cutting into one-inch thick slices and serving. Transfer slices from cutting board to plate using a spatula to maintain shape. Serve with fruit or sour sauce.

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