Photo by Charles Luce
Provenance of Dish
Half of this recipe - the turkey roulade - comes from the “Barefoot Contessa” - Ina Garten - by way of Julia Moskin who adapted it for the New York Times. The other half - sous vide boletes - is my invention.
While reading through Ms. Moskin’s posting, I balked at one ingredient: prosciutto. How much better this would be, I thought, if mushrooms were used instead. Specifically, sous vide porcini.
Sous vide is an extraordinary method for extracting maximum flavor from mushrooms. A fistful of fungi in a pint jar of heavy cream submerged in the device’s water bath emerges several hours later a brown, fragrant, fatty umami bomb.
I used much of Ms. Moskin’s and Contessa Garten’s spices and techniques, but rolled the breast around a thick layer of creamy, extra-rich porcini. The results: calorific amazement.
Recipe
Ingredients
One whole, butterflied, boneless, skin-on turkey breast, 2 - 3 Lb.
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup lightly packed dried porcini slices
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds
1 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh sage, plus several whole sage leaves
1 1/2 teaspoon minced rosemary leaves
1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
salt
black pepper
1/2 cup white wine
Instructions
The evening before baking, place the turkey breast in a large zip-lock bag and add the buttermilk. Seal the bag while squeezing to eliminate as much air as possible, and refrigerate. Remove from refrigeration about 1 hour before baking.
Place the dried porcini slices in a pint glass jar. Add the cream. Use a spoon or fork to push the mushrooms under the cream. Seal the jar tightly and submerge in a sous vide bath set to 170 F, or place in a low-temperature oven set to 170 F. Allow mushrooms to process 3 - 4 hours. Remove from heat and allow to cool while preparing turkey and spices.
Position an oven rack in a center slot and heat oven to 350.
Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until just beginning to brown. Add the minced garlic and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat and add the nigella, chopped sage, rosemary and thyme. Stir and set aside.
Remove turkey breast from bag and scrape off as much residual buttermilk as possible. Do not wash. Remove skin and set aside. If meat is quite thick, it may be trimmed and/or pounded to produce an overall thickness of 1 inch or less. Lay the meat out and evenly spread the cooled onion mixture on it. Spread the porcini and cream mixture evenly over the onion mixture. Lick the spreading spatula. Great, isn’t it?
Arrange the meat so that the narrow side is next to you and roll the turkey breast up like a yule log, ending seam side up. Drape the skin over the seam. Using clean twine or string, tie the roulade tightly at 2 or 3 inch intervals. Place sage leaves under the twine.
Place roulade, skin side up, on a small sheet pan or roasting pan. Pans may be lined with aluminum foil to assist clean-up. Drizzle skin with remaining olive oil. Pour wine into pan around roulade, not over it. Roast for 1 - 2 hours, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 150 F in the center of the roulade.
Remove from oven and allow to rest, preferably covered with aluminum foil, for 15 minutes before serving. Slice and drench each slice in any juices that have escaped, then serve.
