braised turkey breast, sourdough stuffing & citrus gravy

November 10, 2011 | heather parlato

this recipe, with many other delicious treats for thanksgiving, appears in the parlato design studio seasonal eats recipe guide! pick up your copy today in the parlato design studio store, and follow the thanksgiving2011 tag for more recipes as they become available. enjoy & thanks for being awesome!

i’ll just come out and say it: i’ve never been a fan of preparing a whole turkey. as much as i am a fan of using the whole animal, and the benefits of getting to make turkey stock once the meat is eaten off the bone, i don’t like wrestling with a carcass the size of a small child or tying up the oven for hours, wondering if it will come out just right. what i do like is this manageable alternative of braising, which takes only 2 hours, can be done in the oven or on the stove, and allows the chance to flavor the meat with the braising liquid, turning out a really tender and delicious turkey breast.

start by sourcing a naturally-raised, free-range turkey breast [whole foods or your local, independent butcher is a good place to start]. the one i’m using is 3.5 pounds.

unlike chicken breasts, turkey breasts are sold together. cut away the netting and unfold it, and you’ll see you have a symmetrical set.

place the turkey skin-side down on a work surface and rub the insides down with olive oil. now is a good time to stuff the center with fruit, aromatic herbs, or flavorful items [like prosciutto or salami slices]. i have chosen orange slices and some of the cherry relish i’ve prepared. the idea here is that you’ll fold the breasts back up, tie them up to keep them in place [and to create the final shape for the breasts, since they will firm up when cooked], and infuse some of the meat with flavor. what you’ll end up doing is folding the right side over the left to tie it up, so if you have items that will move a lot [like oranges] put them on the left side. you can put everything on one side if you’re afraid it will move too much.

tying up your turkey breast is a little challenging. i find starting with it on one side is easiest, tie butcher’s twine around the top and start tying it up. the video above is a very straightforward way to do it. if you prefer written instructions, these work well too. you may find this gets a little messy. mine was messy too, but it won’t affect the final result. say the serenity prayer and accept your messy stuffed turkey breast.

add some oil to a dutch oven and place the tied turkey breast on its side to brown for a minute or two. flip to the top-side down, and finish up with the other side so your last browning side is the back. once the turkey breast is back-side down, add the mirepoix, cover and sweat a few minutes.

once all the browning and sweating is done, add the white wine, vegetable or chicken stock and orange juice. the liquids should not entirely cover the meat, but rather come up somewhere more than halfway up the sides. i decided to top mine with orange zest so the orange oil could steam out and into the meat. turn up the heat to get the liquids to boil, and then turn down to medium-low and cover to braise about 2 hours. alternately, you can finish in the oven at 350º for about 2 hours. make sure to check liquid levels periodically and add water if they’re boiling away.

braised turkey breast

1 3.5-lb turkey breast
mirepoix: 1 onion, 3 med. carrots, 1 heart celery, all chopped to medium dice
2 cups white wine
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
juice and zest of 2 oranges
optional stuffing: 2 oranges, sliced & 3 tbsp cherry relish

cut netting from turkey breast and place the open breasts on a work surface, skin-side down. rub the inside of each with olive oil and line each with any fruit or herbs you’d like to infuse into the turkey [i chose orange slices and cherry relish]. fold one side over the other and tie up as a roast with kitchen string.

in a dutch oven, brown the sides and top of the turkey breast. finally, place the back side down and add the mirepoix, cover and sweat the vegetables 3 minutes. add the wine, stock, orange juice & zest,
and bring to a boil. turn down to low, cover and simmer 2 hours, or place a 350º oven for 2 hours.

vegan options

don’t bother with trying to replicate turkey on a vegan diet. ditch tradition [you’re probably not into it anyway] and take the opportunity to make your all-time favorite entrée to celebrate with your friends & family.

variations

obviously, there are hundreds of whole-turkey recipes online, but if you’re looking for a different option for a turkey breast, try evan kleiman’s suggestions for roasting a turkey breast.

it’s a myth that you need actual turkey drippings to make gravy. i used some reduced braising liquid and a little butter, and it’s delicious!

citrus gravy

2 cups turkey braising liquid
1⁄3 cup flour
1 tb butter

place 2 cups of the turkey braising liquid in a saucepan, or simmer to reduce the turkey braising liquid down to 2 cups. add the butter and whisk to incorporate. while whisking, add flour in 1 tbsp increments and whisk to incorporate. continue whisking as gravy thickens to desired consistency.

this recipe makes about 2 cups of gravy. if you plan to double it, use the desired amount of turkey braising liquid to start [you may add stock, water or wine to increase], and add 1 tablespoon butter for every 2 cups liquid. when whisking in flour, take more time between additions, as the gravy will thicken more slowly, and likely won’t need double the amount of flour.

vegan options

i’m finding so many interesting options for vegan gravy, i thought i’d share some tasty ideas:
vegan gravy using mushrooms
awesome mushroom gravy
cashew gravy
miso gravy
tasty onion gravy

i love stuffing, but when i thought about making my own recipe, i thought about how i could make it more tasty with interesting bread, and not entirely and all-out carb-fest by adding some nuts and seeds. i chose whole grain sourdough, and worked in mushrooms and a mix of pepitas, pine nuts and sliced almonds. make it with some of your turkey braising liquid, or keep it vegan with vegetable stock.

sourdough stuffing

2 tb olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large stalks celery, sliced
2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
2 cups turkey braising liquid or vegetable stock
1⁄2 cup white wine
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp sage
1⁄2 lb sourdough loaf, cubed & toasted
1⁄3 cup each of toasted pepitas, pine nuts & sliced almonds

preheat oven to 350º. sauté onion on medium-high heat in 2 tbs olive oil, 3 minutes, add celery and mushrooms, saute 2 minutes. add wine, simmer and reduce, 5 min. turn off heat, add the turkey braising liquid or stock, thyme, sage, salt and pepper to taste.

add toasted sourdough cubes to a 9 x 12” baking dish and pour vegetable mix over. toss to coat and soak sourdough through. sprinkle nuts over the top. bake 40 minutes at 350º until heated through.

cauliflower yam purée

November 8, 2011May 18, 2015 | heather parlato

i was a bit torn about which root vegetables to work with for the seasonal eats guide. i love sweet potatoes and white potatoes, but i also love all the late-harvest squash, and having that plethora of carbs on the table seemed like overkill. what it came down to was, i wanted to incorporate as much as i could, but maybe not all in their own dishes. i sent the sweet potatoes to hang out with the pumpkin in a savory pie, which will be up next week, and then settled in to figure out an alternative to mashed potatoes that used some variation of cauliflower purée. when i realized i could use white yams, i thought this dish would be a vitamin and fiber rich cruciferous alternative to mashed white potatoes.

cauliflower yam purée

1 head cauliflower, cut into medium florets
1 white yam, cut in half lengthwise
4 oz feta cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1⁄3 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste

roast yam cut-side-down on an oiled baking sheet at 300º for 30 minutes. scrape the flesh from the skin and set aside. using a steamer pot, steam cauliflower 15 minutes. reserve steaming liquid when finished.

place the cauliflower florets and yam in a food processor or blender with .5 cup cooking liquid, feta, olive oil and white wine vinegar. process until smooth, adding cooking liquid as needed (this will take a some scraping and mixing between blends). transfer to a mixing bowl.

whisk in the dijon, parmesan cheese, and salt & pepper to taste. transfer to a serving bowl and dust with finishing salt and ground pepper.

variations

make it vegan
substitute the feta for 1/4 cup vegenaise and 1/2 cup soy milk
omit the parmesan, adjust salt to taste

alternate ingredients
substitute some of the yam or cauliflower, or simply add to them [cube and steam until soft]:
– celeriac / celery root
– white potatoes
– turnips
– parsnips
substitute feta cheese for goat cheese
substitute parmesan for any hard, salty cheese
– asiago
– romano
– hard jack cheese [an early american homestead version of parmesan]

request your FREE seasonal eats guide TODAY!

November 7, 2011 | heather parlato

LAST DAY TO REQUEST A FREE COPY!!!!

1. go to the contact form.
2. enter your contact information, mailing address and write “i’d like a free seasonal eats guide!”
3. watch your mailbox for its arrival.

the parlato design studio seasonal eats recipe guide has 9 delicious, seasonal, local, healthy recipes for thanksgiving, all with online breakdowns, suggested alternates and vegan options. so far we’ve covered the apple cherry galette and the apple, celery, lemony yogurt slaw. more to come as we countdown to thanksgiving.

request your free copy today!

apple, celery & lemony yogurt slaw

November 3, 2011 | heather parlato

this recipe, with many other delicious treats for thanksgiving, appears in the parlato design studio seasonal eats recipe guide! request a free copy before november 7 [details here], and follow the thanksgiving2011 tag for more recipes as they become available. enjoy & thanks for being awesome!

apple, celery & lemony yogurt slaw

i decided to include a fresh, crunchy salad in my thanksgiving menu, because so much of thanksgiving food is carb-laden comfort food, i thought it would be nice to contrast that with some raw greens and fruit. this salad is really easy to prepare if you have an adjustable mandoline with a julienne attachment [it’s not necessary, but it cuts the prep time down a lot]. replacing any mayonnaise with yogurt, we’re getting a leaner fat and protein, and natural probiotics. beyond being tangy and refreshing, a little of this salad goes a long way!

apple, celery & lemony yogurt slaw

half a head of napa cabbage
4 medium apples, mixed
2 large stalks celery
1 cup plain greek yogurt
juice and minced zest of 2 lemons
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp crushed
mustard seeds
1 tb apple cider vinegar

slice cabbage crosswise thinly [about 1⁄8” thick] and place in a large mixing bowl. julienne the apples into matchsticks with a knife or a julienne mandoline and place in the bowl. slice celery stalks thinly crosswise with a knife or mandoline and place in the bowl.

in a small mixing bowl, add the yogurt, minced lemon zest, mustard and mustard seeds, mix to incorporate. whisk in the vinegar and lemon juice to incorporate quickly to prevent curdling. salt and pepper to taste.

pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss to coat. transfer to a serving bowl to serve.

variations

make it vegan
substitute the dairy yogurt for vegenaise, cultured soy, or coconut vegan yogurt
skip the yogurt and make…
– lemon viniagrette
– lemon maple vinaigrette

alternate ingredients
– increase the color contrast with some red cabbage
– increase the tangy factor with some radicchio
– spice it up with some julienned radishes
– increase the probiotics with some saurkraut
– go all out on color and fiber with vitamin-rich root veggies like julienned carrots and beets

apple cherry galette

November 1, 2011 | heather parlato

i really wanted this to work out as a 3-flour galette, but as it happens, there just isn’t enough gluten to hold everything together without driving a person mad when it’s a third almond flour. that doesn’t mean it drove me mad, perse, but i couldn’t put it in my recipe guide this way in good faith. hence, the photo above shows 1/2-cup each of white flour, wheat flour and almond meal flour, but unless you like a super-challenge, i’m recommending 3/4-cup each of white flour and wheat flour instead. we’ll be cutting that up with 1 stick of butter and 1 tablespoon sugar.

a really wise master pie baker who did an entire demonstration at machine project explained that the best way to create the perfect pie crust is to cut the butter into little squares, and then cut it into the flour on a work surface. this is also a really good way to get zen, because it takes awhile. if you never had a heyday cutting up particulates in your cocaine before doing lines, now is your much larger, g-rated chance, because it’s a lot like that. cut from one side to the other, through the clumps of butter, scrape it all back up and cut it back the other way. this will integrate some of the butter into the flour while retaining the smaller clumps that will eventually melt into a flaky crust while baking. as the clumps get smaller, sprinkle small amounts of ice water over the top and cut it in, until you have moist, small clumps that come together in your hands. but hey—if you have a food processor and want to cut the butter in that way, by all means go ahead!

this is pretty much what you’re going for, no matter what flour you’re using. slightly moist but not too wet. if you were to gather this up into a ball in your hands, it should push together and retain its shape. once you get to this point, ball up your dough without handling it too much and melting the butter, and put it in a bowl to chill in the fridge, at least 1.5 hours.

granny smith, fuji and red delicious apples

this same wise pie baker suggested using a selection of apples, to vary the flavor and texture, and i’ve really liked this idea. i chose a granny smith, a fuji, and a red delicious, which are popular at the farmer’s market and self-pick orchards alike. core out your apples, trim away any rough parts, and then slice them to 1/8-inch thick slices. place the slices in a mixing bowl with the dried cherries, the lemon juice and zest, honey or sugar, and cinnamon, and toss to coat. set it aside to marinate.

preheat the oven to 350º. when the dough is sufficiently chilled, and flour a work surface and roll it out to about 1/4-inch thick and a 12-inch circle. this is where my experimental dough had trouble holding together, so if you want to ease some of your pain, put down a piece of parchment, flour that, and roll your dough out over it. if necessary, you can flip it on to a plate and peel off the parchment without breaking the dough. once you have it to the right size and thickness, transfer it to a baking sheet and spoon the apple mixture into a mound in the center, leaving about 3-inches of empty dough all around. work from one side around to the other, folding the extra dough over the center mound, crimping edges as you go. if the dough breaks anywhere, just pinch it shut, or pull off a piece and patch it if necessary. once you’ve finished this part, it’s time to bake: 45 minutes at 350º or until golden brown.

apple cherry galette

1 stick butter
3⁄4 cup white flour
3⁄4 cup wheat flour
1 tb raw sugar
3 apples, mixed variety, sliced to 1⁄8” thick
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 tb honey or raw sugar
1⁄2 tsp cinnamon
1⁄3 cup dried cherries

place sliced apples in a mixing bowl. sprinkle with lemon juice & zest, honey, cinnamon, and cherries, and toss to coat. set aside to marinate. process butter, flour and sugar in a food processor or cut butter into flour with a dough scraper, until it reaches a crumbly consistency. sprinkle ice water over mixture 1 tsp at a time and process in pulses until the dough resembles moist chunks that just come together in your hands. push into a ball and chill 1.5 hours.

preheat oven to 350º. roll dough out to a 12” circle on a floured work surface. transfer to a baking sheet and spoon the apple mixture into a mound in the center, leaving about 3” around on all sides. fold the sides up and around the apples, crimping and pinching the corners as you go. bake at 350º for 45 min.

variations

make it vegan:
substitute 1/2 cup of any of the following for the butter:
– earth balance vegan spread
– non-dairy margarine
– vegetable shortening

use only raw sugar rather than honey.

alternate fillings:
use a mix of apples with these, or substitute the apples for:
– pears
– persimmons

substitute the cherries for:
– pomegranate seeds
– currants
– boysenberries
– mullberries
– dried figs

add vanilla extract, your favorite additional spices, or a splash of brandy to your sliced apple mixture.

the parlato design seasonal eats recipe guide for thanksgiving is here!

October 31, 2011 | heather parlato

it’s a bird! it’s a plate! it’s green beans & gravy! its … the parlato design seasonal eats recipe guide, to infuse local, seasonal & healthy flavor into your thanksgiving meal this year!

some of you know, and some of you don’t, but i love cooking and experimenting in the kitchen. i also love writing, and decided to combine these two activities into something called seasonal eats for LAist for the past year.

as a way of saying thanks for reading, thanks for being awesome clients, or just thanks for being you, my way of giving back this year is to give you 9 local, seasonal, healthy recipes that are easy, fun and don’t require a million ingredients in a quickie accordion-folio format you can reference in the kitchen, hang on the refrigerator, or tuck into your recipe box. and if you’re looking for pictures, more complete instructions, vegan adaptations or flavor alternatives, i’ll be blogging about each of these recipes in the weeks leading up to thanksgiving under the tag thanksgiving2011.

i’ll be offering a FREE copy to anyone who sends me a personal request through my contact page through november 7, 2011 [that’s a note from the contact form that i recieve by 11:59pm, monday, november 7, 2011]. you’ll get yours hot off the press & in the mail as soon as i get them. aside from anything else you might want to write, make sure to say you’re requesting the recipe guide, and send your mailing address! after november 7, 2011, they’ll be available for purchase for $5/each in the store.

a pretty sweet deal for people who subscribe to the blog or follow links early & often, i say! so go write me a note and request yours today!

loquat leaf tea

September 29, 2011 | heather parlato

back when we finally got our first big bounty of loquats from our rehabilitated trees, i researched loquats and found that one traditional use for the leaves was in tea for treating sore throats. at the time, i chose some nice, young, unblemished leaves and hung them to dry in the kitchen, eventually folding them into a jar for storage.

i have been feeling a sore throat coming on, and i’m all out of slippery elm bark [another sore throat remedy] so i thought i’d try it out. since i’m not sure what the flavor of these leaves is like, i figured i’d mix it up with some other under-the-weather tea herbs. i’m surprised how much of these were not bought. we have lemon verbena growing in a pot, but i did go out foraging for fresh, clean eucalyptus leaves in the park, and i’ve been chopping up all my orange peels and drying them in the oven.

loquat leaf tea: a sore throat remedy

3 large dried loquat leaves, crumbled
3 large dried eucalyptus leaves, crumbled
1 tb chopped ginger
1 tb dried orange peel
1 tb dried lemon verbena leaves
1 tb dried mint leaves
4 tsp raw honey
zest and juice of 1 lemon

place in a teapot and pour about a quart of hot water over all the dried herbs, ginger and lemon zest [a tea press works well for this]. let steep about 5 minutes. pour into a mug and stir in 1 tsp raw honey for each cup. slice the lemon crosswise in half, and then lengthwise into quarters. squeeze 1/4 lemon into each cup.

raspberry picking at snow-line orchards

September 27, 2011 | heather parlato

raspberry patch in the mountains of oak glen, california

last week, my friend seth and i took a day trip to oak glen above yucaipa for some apple & raspberry picking. i highly recommend this area for some good-time harvest season fun [but fair warning: the whole area is packed on weekends]. we were hoping to avoid the weekend crowds, but alas, there is no self-picking on weekdays save for raspberry picking at snow-line orchards. i had been looking forward to berry picking anyway, so we split a mini-pack of fresh cider donuts, bought our cartons [12 bucks will get you an empty 3-pack to fill yourself] and got to work.

there’s a lot more than raspberries going on in the raspberry patch though. it’s an entire microcosm of activity with grasshoppers jumping around, bright green leaf beetles going about their business, little brown frogs croaking from somewhere in the bramble, and not least of all, BEES! they’re everywhere! i thought they might be pollinating flowers, but upon inspection it seems that bees are little vampires when it comes to raspberries, gently puncturing each individual drupelet and drinking the juice. if you’re allergic to bee stings, you might want to steer clear of raspberry picking, but seth and i never got stung. the good old rule of don’t bother them & they won’t bother you still stands.

cartons of fresh raspberries from snow-line orchards

it took us about an hour to make our way through a few of the rows and fill our flats. picking raspberries is a pretty simple technique of searching out those of the deepest color, gently pinching the berry and pulling it away from the stem. if it doesn’t come off easily, chances are it’s not ripe. unlike stone fruits, raspberries do not continue to ripen once picked, so it’s best to only pick the ripest fruit. you can save time by searching out clusters of ripe fruit, cupping your hand and picking several berries one after the other, letting them drop into your palm as you go, rather than placing each one individually into your basket.

despite all the delicious-sounding baked goods i found starring raspberries, i have opted to eat most of them fresh, to get the most of the raw nutrients. i made up this raspberry parfait that uses more fruit than i’d ever normally use if i’d bought them locally [this recipe would easily use a whole small carton]. what a luxury to have this much fruit!

raspberry pepita parfaits

1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup whole plain yogurt
2 tbs pepitas
1 tb vanilla extract
1 tb honey
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp cinnamon
a splash of rosewater

place everything except the raspberries & pepitas in a small mixing bowl and mix until you reach a uniform consistency. taste and adjust flavors if necessary.

depending on the glass you use, you can choose how to layer your berries and yogurt. i chose these martini glasses, so i put a heaping tablespoon of yogurt on the bottom, then a layer of berries, then split the remaining yogurt, and sprinkled the remaining pepitas and berries on top.

gutter variety purslane

August 22, 2011 | heather parlato

walking up my street yesterday, with my eyes on the ground, i found my wandering thoughts interrupted by something familiar. hey, isn’t that purslane—growing right there in the gutter?

either purslane is everywhere suddenly, or i am finally aware of it enough to realize people everywhere are talking about this plant. a summer favorite at farmer’s markets, purslane is an edible succulent that only grows in warm summer soil [often thriving in poor quality soil, too] and full sunlight. it’s often been called a weed, since it is quite hardy and has a tendency to spread with a near-indestructible root system that stands up to breakage and root dividing. it’s also just an annual, so allowing it to have its summer season won’t ruin your garden for fall. in fact, it won’t ruin it at all—purslane is a great ground-cover that keeps soil moist, pulling deep water to the surface and hydrating companion plants.

moreover, though, purslane is good for you! i was just reading about its superfood qualities: Purslane contains more omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid in particular[4]) than any other leafy vegetable plant. Simopoulos states that Purslane has 0.01 mg/g of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). This is an extraordinary amount of EPA for land-based vegetable sources. EPA is an Omega-3 fatty acid found mostly in fish, some algae, and flax seeds.[5] It also contains vitamins (mainly vitamin A, vitamin C, and some vitamin B and carotenoids), as well as dietary minerals, such as magnesium, calcium, potassium, and iron. Also present are two types of betalain alkaloid pigments, the reddish betacyanins (visible in the coloration of the stems) and the yellow betaxanthins (noticeable in the flowers and in the slight yellowish cast of the leaves). Both of these pigment types are potent antioxidants and have been found to have antimutagenic properties in laboratory studies.[6] read more on wikipedia or nutritiondata.com’s breakdown on purslane.

purslane seeds — 2 purslane seed pods, close-up.

so, obviously i’m not going to eat it right out of the gutter, but reading about its copious seed production, i went down with an envelope to collect seeds. purslane produces little seed pods full of tiny black seeds, and you can shake or pinch them into an envelope for collection [there are 2 in the photo above, along the center horizon of the photo]. once that was done, i pulled up a healthy cluster, and took 5″ cuttings of new stems to plant in my herb garden and in little propagation pots. one way or another, i’m getting in on this plant. hopefully i can grow it from hanging pots right outside my front door. comment if you want some seeds!

while i wait to see how this experiment turns out, i’m researching recipes. here are some i found that look pretty good:
cucumber and purslane yogurt salad
purslane, peach and onion salad
purslane agnolotti
purslane, meyer lemon and pear salad with kaffir lime vinaigrette
tomato, cucumber and purslane salad

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