Romantic Dinner for Two, Turkey Roulade Recipe

This recipe offers a turkey roulade with prosciutto and sage laced in a rich and seasonal best pick cranberry-red wine sauce. Your taste buds are already getting anxious to feast on turkey roulade for two!

Rolling turkey up like a jelly-roll may seem a very strange thing to do. However, this turkey for two roulade as a holiday meal (or any time of the year) is tasty, warm and pretty darn easy to manage. With a few special ingredients and the desire to cook, this delightful turkey roulade recipe is destined to find itself on your holiday-for-two dinner menu!

TIP 1. When a turkey cutlet isn't just a turkey cutlet

Some turkey cutlets are one big beautiful piece of turkey breast meat that are very easy to roll. Some may look whole in the package but when you take them out, there are several pieces of turkey to contend with. If this is what happens to you, don't worry, we can make it all better. Simply over-lap the pieces into a cutlet shape on a piece of moist plastic wrap. Place another sheet of moist plastic wrap over the top of the turkey cutlet-shaped pieces. Lightly pound the edges together with a meat mallet or rolling pin, this will help them adhere to each other. When the cutlet is rolled and cooked, any irregularities will magically disappear!

TIP 2. Is a turkey cutlet really that sensitive?

The turkey cutlet is a very lean meat and in being so is really sensitive to heat. If you were to sear the cutlet over high-heat you would dry it out and make it as tough as old shoe-leather. To prevent this from happening, always brown your turkey cutlets over moderate-heat, the typical high heat used to brown other meat is just not a good fit for your cutlet!

TIP 3. Turkey roulade likes its space!

You can expand this recipe to fit any number of diners, but if you do, you must use more than one 12-inch skillet. The turkey cutlet should never be crowded in the pan, as crowding will result in an unevenly cooked turkey roulade. Improperly cooked poultry—or any food—can result in inaccurate temperature readings and a potentially unpleasant food-born illness.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dried cranberries (3 ounces)
• ½ cup hearty red wine (a zinfandel will be fine but I recommend that you try a nice chianti, no fava beans please)
• 4 turkey breast cutlets (around 1 pound)
• 1½ ounces of thinly sliced prosciutto (cut it into 1"X 2" pieces to fit each cutlet)
• 2 tsp fresh chopped sage (or 1 tsp dried)
• ½ TBL vegetable oil
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
• ½ cup home-made turkey stock (or canned reduced-sodium chicken broth)
• 1½ TBL unsalted butter
• 1 TBL finely chopped shallots
• 1 TBL balsamic vinegar
• ¾ tsp brown sugar
• ¼ tsp crushed hot red pepper (half or quarter this amount if you don't care for spicy foods)
• Wooden toothpicks to secure the turkey roulade

STEP 1. Rinse the dried cranberries in a strainer under hot water, getting the excess sugar off of the berries. Drain them thoroughly, place in a small bowl and add the wine. Let this soak for about an hour (or using a microwave safe dish, cover with plastic wrap, microwave on high for about ½ minute, and then let them soak for 10 minutes).

STEP 2. Put a piece of the prosciutto on each cutlet and scatter with ¼ tsp of fresh sage (or half that amount of dried sage). Roll up each cutlet into a tube, like a jelly-roll and stabilize by inserting the toothpicks. Place the roulades on a wax paper-lined plate, cover with plastic wrap. Pop in the fridge until you are ready to do the cooking. (They can be prepared up to one day ahead of time).

STEP 3. Using a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the oil (never put raw food in cold oil, it will absorb too much oil making the food greasy) . Heat the oil over medium-heat, do not allow the oil to smoke. (if oil passes its 'smoke-point' it takes on a bitter unpleasant taste, and this will transfer to your food. It also breaks down the oil's molecular structure). Season the turkey roulade with salt and the pepper. Add the roulades to the pan and cook, turning until lightly golden brown on all sides (about 4 minutes). Add half of the stock and cover securely. You will want to reduce the heat to medium-low at this point and allow the turkey roulades to cook gently until they are cooked through, with no sign of pink on the meat at all when pierced with the tip of a small knife (around 7 minutes). Place on a warmed platter tented with foil to rest while you make the turkey roulade sauce.

You have been working so hard up to this point, you deserve a break! How does a cranberry mimosa sound?

CRANBERRY MIMOSA

♣-serves 6-♣ (or one really stressed out cook)

18 fresh cranberries, washed

¾ cup cranberry juice, cold

One 750-ML bottle of champagne, (or sparkling cider if you want to avoid the alcohol), chilled

Put 3 cranberries in the bottom of a champagne flute.

Add 2 TBL of the cranberry juice.

Pour the champagne in until the glass in about ¾ full.

Drink-up! You've earned it!

STEP 1. Toss away the stock that remains in the skillet. Melt ½ TBL butter, add the shallots and cook until soft (about 2 minutes). Add the cranberries and wine that have been soaking, and the remaining stock. allow to heat for 1 minute. Ad the balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and hot pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat and allow to cook for for about 3 minutes (or until the mixture reduces by half). Remove the sauce from the heat and add in the remaining butter a little at a time. Season with salt to taste. (to sweeten the sauce more, you can add ½ TBL honey at the same time you add the vinegar.)

STEP 2. Remove the toothpicks from the turkey roulades and slice into 1" to 1½" slices and serve immediately, spooning the sauce over each slice.

NOTE: The internal temperature of the turkey roulade must reach 165ºF when measured with an instant read thermometer. The roulade should rest for approximately 10 minutes before carving.