Saturday, January 1, 2011

Turkey Breast with Zatar and Sumac (and Honey. Oh my!)

Since Kitchen Play extended its current contest through the weekend, I decided to take advantage of that option. I had planned on cutting this one close, cooking it on the night of the 31st and posting right away, but when I saw there was extra time, I figured it would be just fine to put off the post just a little.

The Kitchen Play contest this month is sponsored by MySpiceSage.com, and luckily I had the critical and somewhat exotic spices for this dish - zatar and sumac. And I also had fresh parsley.

I considered buying a chicken for the recipe I was going to riff off of, but I had a nice half-turkey breast in the freezer and I was itching to clear some space in there. So turkey it was.

At Thanksgiving I had disassembled two turkeys for the dinner, and had prepped and frozen some of the parts, this was a boneless half-breast that I had rolled and tied for more even cooking.

The honey I had was starting to crystallize, so I melted it a bit in the microwave before I mixed it with the spices. If yours is too thick, a gentle heating will help get it to a spreadable texture.

Roast Turkey Breast with Zatar, Sumac and Honey

1/2 breast of turkey, boneless, rolled* (about 2 1/2 pounds)
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon zatar
1 teaspoon ground sumac
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place turkey breast on a rack on a baking sheet or roasting pan. You might want to line the baking sheet or roasting pan with a bit of aluminum foil for easy cleanup. If the honey drips off during cooking, it can burn on the bottom of the pan. Or, if the rack is high enough, add a bit of water to the bottom of the pan to prevent burning.

Mix the honey with with spices and parsley and spread the mixture over the turkey breast.

Roast the turkey at 325 degrees until it reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees - it took about 2 hours for mine. Let the breast rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

*You can use any sort of turkey breast you like here. Just adjust the roasting time to accommodate the size and shape of your roast.
Yum

1 comment:

Pam said...

Thanks for taking a stab at my recipe! I love the idea of taking the flavors and using them in a much subdued way - I'll have to give it a try the next time I make turkey!

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