Recipe: Roasted Turkey Breast

My tastes are pretty simple when it comes to cooked protein.  I can get by on simple roasted chicken from the grocery store for several days, as I have done recently.

But sometimes you want to change the old standbys a little, which is why I decided to tackle a half turkey breast I was eyeing at the grocery store earlier this week.  My preparation is very simple, just something I thought would work.  It's really good, reminiscent of Sunday dinner without any of the fatty reprecussions.

Ingredients:

Half turkey breast
Cooking spray
1 teaspon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sage, rubbed
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Instructions:

Wash and pat dry turkey breast.  Coat a lined baking tray lightly with cooking spray.  Place turkey on tray, skin side down and season with half of the salt and spices.  Rub lightly.  Turn breast over and coat with remaining salt and spices.

Put tray with turkey into fridge for thirty minutes to an hour.

Pre-heat oven to 375 F.  Place turkey into oven and roast for ten minutes.  Lower heat to 350 F and continue roasting for one hour, adding a cup of water at the bottom of the tray midway through cooking time.

Take turkey out of oven.  I always cut the centre of my turkey to make sure there is no pink remaining near the bone.  If there is, I put the tray back into the oven at 375 F for another ten minutes or so, until the juices run clear and there's no pink.

Rest the turkey for five to ten minutes before serving.

Note:  If I wasn't on the Dukan Diet, I would optionally make a gravy out of the pan drippings, flour and butter.  Just heat up the pan drippings with some water and a chicken stock cube, add the flour and gently boil for five minutes, adding additonal salt and pepper as needed, and finish with a pat of butter and cook for another minute.  Straining the gravy removes any flour lumps so you have a smooth and velvety gravy.