TURKEY ROLL WITH CRANBERRY STUFFING

This turkey roulade will make your holiday table even more special. Juicy turkey breasts stuffed with a delicious mix of fresh cranberries, feta cheese, sweet dry apricots, mushrooms and more goodness.

Christmas is approaching with lighting speed, and I am trying to figure out what will I prepare for Christmas day lunch. We always have our closest friends over for lunch, because  family visits us on Christmas Eve, so Christmas day is reserved for friends.

Last year I prepared classic turkey with cranberry classic stuffing, but this year, I would like to go a bit deeper in my culinary challenge. So I have decided to keep the same meat game and keeping the turkey meat on the table, but different way.

I have decided to go for turkey breast roll, stuffed with yummy cranberry stuffing and with creamy mashed potatoes.

Ingredients needed for this festive turkey roll

•  olive oil
• mushroom diced
• scallions
• salt & pepper
• parsley minced
• fresh cranberries
• brown sugar
• feta diced
• dried apricots diced
• turkey breast 2-3 lb
• butter melted
• Dijon mustard
• cooking twine or toothpicks

How to prepare the stuffing

You will need fresh cranberries or dried cranberries (also canned cranberries will work), dried apricots, fresh mushrooms, scallions, feta cheese, fresh parsley and little of sugar, if you are using fresh cranberries (please see the note below). If some of these ingredients doesn’t make you happy, you don’t really like, you can always use whatever you have on hand, like apples, carrots, green peas, different cheese like Gruyère or cheddar.

Note: I have used fresh cranberries, and it little overpowered other ingredients with the acidity of popped cranberries, but I figured out how to cut down on the acidity, you can add a little spoon of sugar or use dried cranberries (these are sweet) and  problem with acidic stuffing is solved.

Process of preparing the stuffing

In a medium skillet, preheat olive oil and add minced scallions, minced mushrooms, fresh cranberries, dried apricots and  cook for 5 minutes. At the end add a teaspoon of brown sugar, feta cheese and parsley. Set aside and prepare the turkey breast.

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How to make your turkey breast juicy and tender

Everybody says, that turkey breast tend to be dry when baked. Not in this case. If you tenderize your turkey breast, which in this case is mandatory (with food mallet), the turkey breast will be incredibly tender and all the juices will penetrate easily in the meat.

You will need 1 large turkey breast, some seasoning, what you already have at home, Dijon mustard would be one of the special ingredients, but you can grab any mustard you have at home.

TIPS: Make sure you choose a turkey breast not too thick, then the process of tenderizing the meat will be longer and harder. Turkey breast around 2-3 lb should be excellent. When I tenderize meat, I always use plastic food wrap, to cover the meat from all sides. When meat is covered, no meat with spray away from your board. I as well cover my mallet, so I have easier cleaning process.

It is better, when you take out meat from refrigerator 30 minutes, before you will work with. It won’t be that cold and cooking process will be faster. Take your turkey breast, cut in half, but don’t cut through. Open the turkey breast and cover in plastic food wrap. Pound the turkey with mallet to tenderize. Once your turkey breast in flat, season from both sides with salt and pepper and spread generous amount of Dijon mustard.

Process of filling the turkey roll with stuffing

Scoop the stuffing into the centre of the turkey. Roll the turkey breast up away from you, making sure the roll ends up seam-side down. Tie with twine in 3 spots across the roll and once lengthwise, or use toothpicks to secure the turkey breast. Transfer to the prepared baking dish with cover. Add half cup of water and 1/4 cup of butter. I also seasoned turkey breast on the top with smoked paprika seasoning, but you can use your favourite seasoning on top.

Baking: Bake the stuffed turkey for 1 hour, covered with aluminum paper. In between baking, pour some juices over the turkey breast, at least twice. After 1 hour of baking, remove the cover and let bake for another 15 minutes.  Let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Slice and serve with mashed potatoes, with a little spoon of Dijon mustard on a side or cranberry sauce.

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