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Home/Holiday/Dry-Cured Breast of Turkey Roulade with Autumn Herbs

Dry-Cured Breast of Turkey Roulade with Autumn Herbs

You’ll love this festive turkey roulade, slathered with a zippy fresh herb and mustard paste. Pretty on the plate, this is an great choice for a small Thanksgiving gathering.

Dry-Cured Breast of Turkey Roulade with Autumn HerbsThis Thanksgiving, I give thanks to Zuni Café culinary goddess, Judy Rodgers, for turning me on to dry salt curing.

Dry-Cured Breast of Turkey Roulade with Autumn Herbs | LunaCafeI had wet brined poultry and pork for years before trying the salt curing process Chef Rodgers describes in The Zuni Café Cookbook.

Dry-Cured Breast of Turkey Roulade with Autumn Herbs | LunaCafeTo compare the two methods, I conducted several tests, and to my palate, salt-curing wins. Although both methods have advantages, you just can’t beat salt-curing for ease and juiciness of the cooked meat.

Dry-Cured Breast of Turkey Roulade with Autumn Herbs | LunaCafeHowever, I discovered a caveat later. My tests involved only three ingredients: salt, sugar, and water. For the dry cured tests, I used salt only. For the wet brined tests, I used salt, sugar, and water to cover.

Dry-Cured Breast of Turkey Roulade with Autumn Herbs | LunaCafeWhat I had not considered was the effect of swapping water for apple cider or other flavorful liquid. Apple Cider-Brined Tenderloin of Pork with Rhubarb Deglazing Sauce is a case in point. Imagine pork tenderloin infused with the flavor of apple cider. Dry curing won’t produce that result.

Dry-Cured Breast of Turkey Roulade with Autumn Herbs | LunaCafeSo now, I choose the technique based on the effect I am going for. Both techniques produce amazing, yet slightly different, results.

Dry-Cured Breast of Turkey Roulade with Autumn Herbs | LunaCafeBecause turkey is humongous, I almost always choose to dry cure it. It’s easier, requires less room in the frig, and produces excellent results.

Dry-Cured Breast of Turkey Roulade with Autumn Herbs | LunaCafeBut for a breast of turkey, the options are wide open.

Dry-Cured Breast of Turkey Roulade with Autumn Herbs | LunaCafeI decided to try a salt and pepper cure combined with an herb paste rub. As expected, the texture and flavor are out of this world.

Dry-Cured Breast of Turkey Roulade with Autumn Herbs | LunaCafeDry-Cured Breast of Turkey Roulade with Autumn Herbs

You will love this festive turkey roulade, slathered with a zippy fresh herb and mustard paste. Pretty on the plate, this is an great choice for a small Thanksgiving gathering.

one whole breast of turkey, skin, bones, tendons, and fat removed
coarse sea salt in a grinder
black pepper in a grinder

Autumn Herb Paste
1½ ounces fresh herbs: equal amounts of rosemary, thyme, and sage, stems removed (¾ ounce trimmed)
1 ounce fresh parsley, stems removed (¼ ounce trimmed)
4 cloves garlic, peeled, and minced or pressed
zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¼ cup cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Note: Combined minced herbs = about 3/4 cup.

  1. To make the herb paste, in a processor fitted with the steel knife, mince the rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley, lemon zest, and garlic until very fine. Add the mustard and pulse to combine. Then with the machine running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and add the salt to taste. Reserve. (Makes ½ cup herb paste.)
  2. On a sheet of foil, lay the two breast halves, top-side-down, side-by-side lengthwise, overlapping the touching sides slightly.
  3. Lay a piece of plastic wrap over the breast halves and using a mallet, flatten the thick portions slightly to an even depth. Remove the plastic wrap.
  4. Grind salt and pepper liberally over the joined breast halves, and then spread the Autumn Herb Paste evenly over the flesh, leaving ½-inch of one long side clear of paste.
  5. Roll the roast lengthwise and tie at 1-inch intervals with kitchen twine.
    Wrap in plastic wrap and frig for 1-3 days.
  6. In a large sauté pan, heat oil and sauté roast to brown all sides. This will
    take about 15 minutes.
  7. Transfer roast to an edged baking sheet or roasting pan, and roast at 375°
    until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the roast reads
    165, about 45 minutes.
  8. Remove from the oven, cover loosely with foil and let rest for 15
    minutes.
  9. To serve, cut into crosswise slices.

Serves 4-6.

Copyright 2012 Susan S. Bradley. All rights reserved.

Written by:
Susan S. Bradley
Published on:
November 22, 2011

Categories: Holiday, Meat & Poultry, ThanksgivingTags: Autumn Leaves, dry curing, poultry, Recipes, Thanksgiving, turkey breast roast, turkey roulade, wet brining; Autumn herb paste

About Susan S. Bradley

Intrepid cook, food writer, culinary instructor, creator of the LunaCafe blog, author of Pacific Northwest Palate: Four Seasons of Great Cooking, and former director of the Northwest Culinary Academy.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Marlynn

    November 13, 2015 at 12:18 am

    The herb paste sounds wonderful and I can see using it for many different recipes. This looks like a beautiful dish to serve for a small dinner party!

  2. Shelly

    November 12, 2015 at 1:31 pm

    This dish looks delicious. We will be smoking a turkey on our wood fired grill, but this would be a great way to prepare it too. I’m tucking this recipe away to give it a try. Thanks!

  3. Ali

    November 12, 2015 at 11:48 am

    Looks elegant and relatively straightforward! We are having too many people to do a breast alone this year for Thanksgiving, but will keep it in mind for future special occasions!

  4. Erin Mckalip

    November 12, 2015 at 11:36 am

    Oh! I like this idea a lot. I always find that turkey just roasted by itself gets a little boring so this is a great change up.

  5. Victoria of Flavors of the Sun

    November 24, 2013 at 9:09 am

    I’ve been looking for that perfect turkey roulade recipe, and here it is! I always look forward to your posts as your recipes consistently appeal. Happy Thanksgiving!

  6. Susan S. Bradley

    November 20, 2012 at 10:50 am

    Thank you for the lovely note, Akia. Happy Thanksgiving! 🙂

  7. John

    January 23, 2012 at 9:30 am

    Breathtaking photos. Great post. Thanks!

  8. Liza

    November 26, 2011 at 8:31 pm

    This looks so delicious! Do you think it will taste as good with chicken breast instead?

    • Susan S. Bradley

      November 27, 2011 at 4:14 am

      Liza, thank you. Yes, it will work with chicken breast as well. You will only need about half as much herb paste though.

  9. Chris

    November 23, 2011 at 10:02 pm

    Beautiful photos! That herb rub is absolutely stunning. I’m wishing I could reach through the screen with a fork and taste it right now. I’ve never tried either method, but I’ve heard a lot of talk about brining for the past couple weeks. So two more techniques to learn and to try – it’s going to be so much fun! Happy Thanksgiving!

    • Susan S. Bradley

      November 26, 2011 at 8:37 am

      Chris, thank you! It was so delicious. I wish you could have tasted it. 🙂 Try dry curing on your next roasted chicken. Hopping over to your blog to check out your Potato Soup. I have half a huge bag of Russet Burbanks to use this next week.

  10. Chris

    November 23, 2011 at 10:02 pm

    Beautiful photos! That herb rub is absolutely stunning. I’m wishing I could reach through the screen with a fork and taste it right now. I’ve never tried either method, but I’ve heard a lot of talk about brining for the past couple weeks. So two more techniques to learn and to try – it’s going to be so much fun! Happy Thanksgiving!

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Susan S. Bradley

Intrepid cook, food writer, culinary instructor, creator of the LunaCafe blog, author of Pacific Northwest Palate: Four Seasons of Great Cooking, and former director of the Northwest Culinary Academy. Read More…

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