Recently, Chef David Wells (Grandma Dave) prepared this dish for a benefit for several cancer organizations in California.  It was received with rave reviews. . . and it’s no wonder!  That day he slow smoked his turkey breast and served it with an interesting layer of flavors including two different chutneys  (carrot and red pepper chutney and a spiced pineapple-apple-mango) plus a yogurt cucumber sauce.  Heavenly.

In case you don’t have a way to smoke the turkey, this recipe prepares the breast on the stovetop and oven.  However, if you have a smoker I would encourage you to slow smoke the breast after brining.  If you don’t have a smoker, I’ll be posting a homemade way to create your own inexpensive and disposable smoker soon . . it’s a technique Grandma Dave has been using for years!

To Prepare the Turkey:

Ingredients for turkey brine:

2 cups kosher salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup

16 ounce apple juice

4 ounce soy sauce

1 T finely chopped garlic

1 cinnamon stick

1 T pink peppercorns

1 t fennel seed

10 cups ice

 

 

Method: 

Step 1: brine the turkey

Combine all ingredients,
except ice in 4qt. sauce pan.

Bring to a boil and turn
off

Add ice and let thoroughly
cool in refrigerator

Submerge Turkey Breast in
brine for 6-8 hrs

**If brining Whole Bird,
submerge for 8-12 hrs and turn once after 4-6 hrs

Step 2: cook turkey breast

Pre heat oven to 325.

After brining the turkey, rinse well with room temperature water and air dry on a
rack for 30 min. Heat skillet, add some olive oil,
and brown fat side of
beasts first until golden or “Dore”(no need to season as the brine
has
fully flavored the turkey.) Turn over and place into the oven until
internal temp of 145-150 degrees (15 degree carryover – the breast will continue to cook internally while resting and will reach a safe internal temperature for turkey). Let rest for 30 minutes before slicing and serving with chutneys and yogurt sauce.

To Prepare Carrot and Red Pepper Chutney: 

Ingredients:

1 cup carrots brunoised small and cooked
tender

1 red pepper charred and brunoised

2 red hot peppers brunoised small

1 TBSP dry mustard

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup brown rice syrup

1 T Indian spice

1/2 bunch cilantro, finely chopped

Combine all ingredients and
let stand two hours before serving.

*Brunoise is a method of food preparation in which the food item is first julienned and then turned 90° and diced again, producing cubes of a side length of about 3 mm on each side or less.  It’s a precise cutting technique in order to produce a visually appealing and uniform chop.

To Prepare Pineapple Mango Apple Chutney: 

Ingredients:

1 TBSP olive oil

1 small red onion diced

2 apples cored, peeled and small diced

1/2 pineapple small diced

1 mango medium sized small diced

1 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cinnamon stick

Pinch of nutmeg

Method:

To Prepare Yogurt Cucumber Sauce:

2 cups whole milk yogurt

1 European cucumber, peeled, seeded, and
sliced small

1 T garlic finely chopped

1 T kosher salt

1/2 bunch mint

1/4 bunch cilantro

Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix well

Let stand 1 hour before
serving

To Assemble:

Using a warm plate, place a layer of the spiced pineapple chutney on the bottom as the first layer.  Slice the turkey breast and place on top.  Add some yogurt sauce then the carrot chutney.  Top with a little more yogurt sauce.  Serve immediately.