Apple-Sage Brined Turkey Breast

November 15th, 2011 by amanda

I hate to admit this, but I don’t eat turkey on Thanksgiving. I don’t. I’m not a turkey person. I would rather load up on stuffing and green beans and mushrooms and oh my goodness, the gravy.

I set out to make a turkey that I couldn’t resist and resist this turkey I could not. You start with a turkey breast (which btw, I expected to be small. The smallest breast I could find was 7 pounds! Seven!) and you brine it in a mixture made from cider, brown sugar, and sage. Then when you cook it, you baste it with butter, more cider, and more sage. I cannot begin to explain to you how good my house smelled as this bird was cooking.

The best part, of course, was the gravy! It was sweet from the cider and the sage just put it over the top. I think I am officially obsessed with sage.

I couldn’t stop taking little pieces every time I walked past the kitchen. It was fantastic and I’m hoping my husband will let me cook one of his turkeys using this method for the big day.

Apple-Sage Brined Turkey Breast

from Pillsbury

Ingredients

For the brine:
½ gallon (64 ounces) apple cider
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup coarse salt
¼ cup chopped fresh sage or 1 tablespoon rubbed sage
1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
1 bone-in whole turkey breast (5 to 6 lb), thawed if frozen
For the basting sauce and gravy:
¼ cup butteror margarine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage or 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Page 1 of 2 | Next page

Posted in turkey | 10 comments

Previous post:
Next post: