Sous Vide Turkey Breast

...only I did it with legs.

 


Everyone gets a free supermarket turkey, right? And...most of us usually don't know what to do with it, especially if you are only two people in one household. Well, every year I do a bunch of stuff with it.  Usually grind it up to make turkey burgers, chili, meatballs, or sausage. Last year, I followed Grant Achatz's sous-vide turkey leg recipe and it came out pretty awesome. This year was no different. I ground up the breasts for turkey burgers, I choose the breasts because Laurie likes a lean turkey burger. I used the carcass and wings for stock/gravy, and I used the legs/thighs for the sous vide turkey recipe out of the book. I figured last years came out good, and I was going to vacuum seal anyways, so why not? The major differences between Achatz's and Nicholas's recipes are brine vs. no brine, butter vs. buttermilk, and thigh vs. breast

There is something, dare I say, fun, about breaking down your own meat/poultry. Perhaps I watch too much Dexter?

So after breaking down the turkey, I threw the legs in a brine, as per the recipe. I don't brine much, not becuase I don't understand how great brining is, it's just that I usually don't think to prepare food the night before. The next day I got out my super-thermo-immersion-circulazer...state of the art!

It's funny, I don't sous vide much, but when I do, I have NO problems keeping an absolute consistent temperature. I think the key is the biggest pot you have, with the most water, and dial it in before you throw anything in it.

Here she is, after being taken out of the brine and all buttermilked and herbed up. When I bought my 40$ foodsaver vacuum sealer, Laurie said "Great, another gadget we won't use much", but, like our free emeril saucepan, we use it ALL the time.

Takin' a bath.

I also threw the carcass and wings in a roasting pot with some mirepoix to roast for the gravy. I forgot to snap a picture of this, but imagine a carcass and wings, in a pot, with some mirepoix...in the oven.

In the meantime, Laurie treated me to a perfectly made Sidecar.

When I say perfect, I mean, double strained (I don't care much for ice chips), Half rimmed glass (only on the outside), and a flamed orange peel.

I kept an eye on the turkey to make sure it stayed between 165-170 in the water bath, and it did. I didn't have to adjust it once! The carcass and wings finished roasting, so I started on making the stock/broth for the gravy. We used our previously made Chicken Stock to make turkey gravy. I know...it's somewhat sacrilege, but I didn't have time, nor bones, to make a full-on turkey stock.

After some time, which was a little more than the recipe stated as I had bone-in thighs, not breasts, (but hey, it's sous vide, you can't overcook right!?), the turkey was done.

I have to say, sous vide may taste great, but it's always pretty unappealing out of the bag. Especially skin-on poultry. I actually like my thighs a little higher temp than the recipe calls for, but I knew I was going to throw it under the broiler to crisp it up a little bit while Laurie made her dijon brussel sprouts. We opened up a bottle of the suggested wine pairing which was a young pinot, a basic Bourgogne Rouge.

The gravy was fantastic! I mean, really really good. I would say, and Laurie would confirm, that this is the best gravy we've ever had. We liked it so much in fact, we decided to shred the meat and have open faced turkey sandwiches!! Afterall, this IS in the Family Meal section...who needs haute turkey legs?

Thoughts: It was great. I mean, how can sous vide turkey in buttermilk with gravy be bad? The recipe was pretty simple. Even though it took time, there wasn't much prep. I would, however, do it with the recommended breast though.  Here are my thoughts. Sous Vide-ing is mainly used to cook meat to a perfect temperature without overcooking, I think this works MUCH better for lean meats where overcooking is the biggest issue. Tenderloin, breasts, fish, etc... I think that fattier pieces, such as shortribs, thighs, pork belly...while they won't come out any worse than regular cooking methods, I don't think they come out all that better than a simple braise.

The wine pairing was nice. As I mentioned 100 times, I wish I knew more about wine. The good thing about this book is it's gotten me to try a few wines that aren't really all that 'common' or standard. Granted, for this specific recipe, a pinot isn't all that uncommon, but I'd never had one from France and specifically a Bougogne Rouge. I like trying new things, but I'm always worried that the wine won't go well with the meal, and now I have the confidence via the book, to try these wines.

Next up: Pumpkin Agnolotti - Tonight...off to find some truffled cheese!