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kosher salt sugar lemons bay leaves turkey breast stalks celery garlic extra-virgin olive oil honey balsamic vinegar kosher salt
Viewed: 14 - Published at: 4 years agoIngredients
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 lemons, quartered and juiced
- 4 fresh bay leaves, or 6 dried bay leaves
- 5 1/2-pound bone-in, skin-on whole turkey breast
- 1 leek, trimmed, quartered lengthwise
- 3 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch lengths
- 2 heads garlic
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon good-quality balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Method
- The day before you want to cook the turkey breast, make the brine: Combine 2 gallons cold water with the salt, sugar, lemons, lemon juice, and bay leaves in a large pot.
- Bring to a boil just long enough to dissolve the salt and sugar, then remove from heat and let cool completely.
- Submerge the turkey breast in the brine, weighting it down with a plate.
- Refrigerate 24 hours while the turkey brines.
- When you are ready to cook the turkey, drain and rinse it.
- Lay out a large sheet of doubled plastic wrap, and make a bed with the leek and celery in the center.
- Lay the turkey on top of the vegetable bed, and wrap the turkey snugly in the plastic wrap, using more if necessary to seal the package completely.
- Put the turkey breast in a gallon-sized resealable plastic bag.
- Seal most of the way, then slip a straw into the bag and suck out the excess air.
- Seal completely.
- Put the wrapped and bagged turkey breast in a large pot, and add enough water to cover.
- Adjust the heat to maintain a constant temperature between 170 and 180 degrees F. Cook the turkey for 40 minutes; then puncture the plastic with a meat thermometer to insert it in the breast.
- The internal temperature in the breast meat should reach 165 degrees F when done.
- While the turkey cooks, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place each garlic head on a square of foil, drizzle with olive oil, and wrap the foil to seal.
- Roast in oven until the garlic is tender throughout, about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the garlic heads.
- Remove from oven and let cool.
- Squeeze out the garlic cloves from the skin into a bowl, and mash with the honey, vinegar, salt, and 2 tablespoons hot water.
- Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F. When the turkey has finished poaching and reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, place the package in an oiled roasting pan and cut open the bag and plastic wrap, letting the cooking juices flow into the pan, then remove the turkey from the bag and return it to the roasting pan.
- Brush the glaze onto its skin.
- Return the roasting pan to the oven, and roast until the skin is browned and crisp, about 20 minutes.
- Let rest 10 minutes before carving.
