Turkey experiment

[mrdutton]

Try this one and see how the old taste buds work it over. All of my guests said they liked it............. (oh and they all went back for seconds so they may have been telling the truth!)

Turkey Brasciole (Brasciole is traditionally done in Italy with beef or veal)

The Meat:
1 skinless, boneless turkey breast

The dry rub:
1 tbs dried rosemary
1 tbs dried thyme
1 tbs course ground sea salt
1 tbs course ground black pepper

The stuffing:
1/2 to 3/4 lb Brie cheese, at room temperature
1 tbs chiffonade fresh basil
1tbs chiffonade fresh sage
3 ea cloves garlic, minced

1/4 lb very thinly sliced proscuitto
1 to 2 tsp capers
1 to 2 tsp pignoli (pine nuts)

Other required items:

olive oil
butcher's twine
freezer paper or parchment paper

The instructions:

Mix together the dry rub in a coffee grinder or in a mortar and pestle using the rosemary, thyme, sea salt and black pepper. Set aside.

Butterfly the turkey and then beat it between two sheets of parchment or freezer paper with the flat side of a meat tenderizer until the meat is less than 1/2 inch thick.

Remove the brie cheese from its casing, retaining the soft cheese. Mix the cheese together with the basil, sage and garlic.

Place the cheese stuffing onto the center of the turkey. Add the capers and the pine nuts. Cover the stuffing with the thin slices of ham.

Bring one end of the turkey over the top of the stuffing, squeeze tightly and roll the turkey until tightly and completely rolled over (like you'd do with a pastry roll). Tie the turkey roll off with the butcher's twine.

Generously coat the outside of the turkey roll with olive oil and then generously sprinkle and pat the dry rub onto the roll. Make sure the roll is well coated with the dry rub, but that does not mean you have to use all of it.

Refrigerate the turkey roll for about an hour to allow all the flavors to macerate a bit.

Cook in the oven at 350 to 375 until the outside is brown and slightly crisp or cook over a charcoal grill or gas grill again until the outside is brown and slightly crisp. I did mine on the gas grill.

Remove from grill and allow to rest for about 15 minutes before removing the string and cutting into about 1/2 inch slices.

Plate with a black bean and corn salsa and freshly steamed asparagus sauced with a taragon and white wine sabayon.

Serve with a lightly chilled (to about 65 to 60 degrees) syrah or shiraz. Or you might want to try a decent Oregon Pinot Noir or maybe even a young one from France.

This is a lot of work, but it is worth it!! Quantities are approximate. This was an experiment, I made this recipe up off the cuff because I wanted to do something interesting with some turkey. When I cook like this I never really pay attention to the amount of ingredients I am using................