Thanksgiving and the Full Moon

Photograph by Katherine Brownell©2013

Mindful of the beauty of nature all around us, and with all the talk of the full moon, I felt a Thanksgiving Dinner with a twist would be appropriate.

I wanted the intense  flavors of Thanksgiving with the lightness of summer so I did a bit of a twist.





Recipe:

Ingredient list:

1 box of Stove Top stuffing
4 tablespoons of butter
Water per stuffing directions
4 boneless turkey breasts
Olive oil
1 package of prociutto
 tomatoes on the vine
frozen sweet potato fries
1 3 oz jar of pesto
Aluminum Foil

Directions:

1. I used the microwave to make the Stove Top according to the directions adding the 4 tablespoons of butter on top.  When it finished, I stirred once or twice and let it cool uncovered while I worked with the chicken.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 375 F and cover a low baking dish with foil.
3. Tear off two sheets of foil about 24 inches long and fold the long sides together a couple of times so your foil is twice as wide as it usually is and set aside.
4. Cover cutting board with plastic wrap lay out boneless turkey breasts one at a time, cover with more wrap and beat with a kitchen mallet until about 1/2 inch thick and set aside.
5. Lay out your prepared foil and spray with olive oil cooking spray to prevent sticking.
6. Put down strips of prosciutto so that you have a rectangle in the center with no foil showing.  Then, take chicken out of plastic wrap and lay on top of the prosciutto in one single layer.  The chicken should make a rectangle just slightly smaller than the prosciutto.
7. Now, drop spoonfuls of the pesto randomly onto the pesto and spread with separate knife continuing until you have a thin layer of pesto covering the entire chicken rectangle.
8. Add 1/2-3/4 of the stuffing spreading and flattening until you now see only the stuffing and no pesto.
9. Finally, pick up the closest edge of foil and carefully, pulling the prosciutto from the foil roll the meat until you have a loaf where you can see only prosciutto.
10. Make sure top of loaf has no seam, then seal foil, place on baking pan and cook for about 40-45 minutes.  Use meat themometer to ensure turkey is cooked (Juices run clear.)
11. Increase oven temp to 450 F, open foil wrap carefully and slide loaf off onto baking tray.  Cook for another 10 minutes, turning once, then turn oven temp up to broil and broil until prosciutto is golden brown. (Watch carefully)

While meat is cooking:

1. Heat skillet until just short of smoking, add olive oil, tomatoes still on vine, and frozen sweet potato fries.  Sprinkle both with coarse salt.  As tomatoes cook, rest in pan on all sides.  Cook fries as directed on package (about 3 minutes each side).

Photograph by Katherine Brownell©2013

To serve:

 When meat is finished, remove from oven and allow to rest about 10 minutes, then wrap loaf in parchment paper and cut into slices.  As you can see in the picture below, I served the end piece covered in the prosciutto; it was a lovely color.  Each inside slice shows the turkey stuffing spiral beautifully.  The tomato's color is enhanced by the stove top cooking method and the sweet potato fries were a fun summer twist.

Reflections: I forgot the cranberry so when I use the leftovers tonight, I expect to make a cranberry-merlot reduction and possibly a sweet potato puree. 

Photograph by Katherine Brownell©2013