Black Currant and Lemon Myrtle Glazed Turkey

It's snowing again, perfect for stay inside and knit days and dinners by candlelight.

The farm where the shearer is working at the moment has a turkey population problem. With the farmers blessing, the men shot one each at the end of their day and thus I share with you a very fragrant, rich recipe for the breast. 

Roasted Turkey Breast with Black Currant & Lemon Myrtle Glaze

1 turkey breast

1 onion chopped

3/4 cup of black currants

1/4 cup molasses 

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup white wine

1 tsp lemon myrtle leaf powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp of mustard seeds

Pre-heat oven to 160C. I rubbed oil over the entire breast to coat. Place the roughly chopped onion in the bottom of a roasting dish and add a handful of black currants. (I have mine frozen from the summer). Place the turkey breast on top of the onion and currants. 

Place the remaining black currants and all the other ingredients into a small saucepan and heat gently to "pop" the currants so they warm and ooze and make the glaze a lovely baste-able liquid. Brush generously onto the turkey and season with freshly ground black pepper.

Bake in the oven for 1-1 1/2 hours basting a few times during the cooking. When the breast is cooked, remove from heat and rest while you turn the heat back on under the glaze. Add the pan juices in also. Simmer and reduce to a thicker, syrupy, unctuous sauce to spoon over the slices. 

The molasses is smokey and salty-ish and the maple syrup sweet with the tang of the lemon myrtle and fragrant currants and the turkey can really take the robust flavours. The slow roast helps ensure a tender and moist meat.

Slow Cooked Turkey

We killed three free ranging turkeys at the weekend. Relax, this one isn't dead yet! I wanted to show you the beautiful wings spanned out and the lacy under rear.  One doesn't see them like this very often.  We saved some of the feature feathers for a friends crafting work.

I won't get gory on you as I know many cannot kill their meat. I will tell you though that to pluck and draw it, they hung it from my beautiful garden arch that Craig made me for Christmas one year! This method worked very well as it was a good height and they had a large box underneath to capture the feathers.

These lovely free rangers had full crops when they were killed. One had a crop full of whole cherries and basil and another had a crop full of whole acorns!

One of the females we left whole for a roast and we had some of the kids around. I'm not just being a boast here, but, this was THE best roasted turkey I have ever had. It was moist all over and the meat was a beautiful texture. I think the proof is right there for a free ranged, humanely slaughtered bird.

What else can you do with turkey???

I discovered a French recipe of turkey breast cooked in white wine with grapes and artichoke hearts....but that's not in keeping with our home produce ideals at all (ie: I don't have any of those growing here or locally).

I found a recipe slow cooking it in milk...that gave me a better idea.

 

This - Slow Cooked Turkey in Milk with Leeks and Broccoli

I cut some breast and thigh into strips and covered it in milk in the slow cooker. I added salt and pepper and sliced leeks and broccoli stalks, then cooked on low for four hours. I added the broccoli flowerets and made a slake of plain flour and water and stirred this in to create a thicker white sauce. I turned it up to high for about half an hour. Meanwhile I cooked some rice to go with it.

I'll be honest here and tell you that Craig thought it was weird but he liked it (He had two helpings of weird!)

I liked the way the leeks infused the dish and I think they are a great partner for turkey.