Steam Roasted Turkey or Turkey Breast

Steam Roasted Turkey or Turkey Breast with  Turkey Gravy 

Serves: 6 – 8

You can close your eyes and steam this small turkey or turkey breast. It won’t get dry or burn. Just set a timer and turn around the roasting pan once during halfway of roasting. Make sure turkey is defrosted completely. We like to serve with cream spinach, mashed potato and cranberry sauce.

1. Steamed Turkey Breast/Turkey

Ingredients: About 6 pounds bone-in Butterball turkey breast or small about 8-9 pound turkey, defrosted completely in 3-4 days; ½ stick, 4 tabs melted unsweetened butter; ½ tsp. granulated garlic powder or 4 large cloves fresh garlic chopped; ½ tsp. dry or 1 tbsp. fresh-chopped rosemary; 1tbsp. fresh chopped thyme, about 1 cup rough chopped celery leaves; 1 tbsp. coarse sea salt, and fresh ground black pepper.

1-14.5 ounces (411G), about 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock heated with ½ cup water; 2 oranges: one peeled and one unpeeled sliced into ½-inch thick slices; 2 lemons: one with the thick ends trimmed out and sliced and the other to save for the juice; 1 apple, cored and cut in to wedges; coarse ground black pepper to taste.

In a large roasting pan, add heated water and chicken broth, orange and lemon slices and apple wedges. Put the wire grade over the stock. Take out two large pieces of the aluminum foil, big enough to cover the roasting pan airtight, put them together, then fold over twice lengthwise, on the long side, to make one large piece, and set aside.

Preheat the oven at 400F and arrange the middle rack for roasting turkey.

Wash and pat dry the turkey.  Sprinkle the cavity all over with black pepper, then stuff the turkey with celery leaves. Rub the lemon juice all over the turkey. Mix butter, garlic and rosemary, thyme, and rub all over the turkey, sprinkle with little coarse sea salt and pepper all over. Put the turkey over the wire rack in the roasting pan, cover with aluminum foil, air-tight, pressing the foil against the edges well. Place the roasting pan in the hot oven.

Roast turkey for 30 minutes at 400F, turn around the roasting pan halfway, reduce the temperature to 350F and roast about 50 minutes or until turkey is done.  Turn off the oven and take out the roasting pan and let it rest for 8-10 minutes until the steam goes back to roasting meat.   Open foil away from you and take out the turkey/breast and rest on a cutting board, loosely tented with aluminum foil for about 15 minutes; collect the juices from the pan and make gravy. Slice the turkey against the grain with an angle, thick or thin, and serve with the warm gravy, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes and gravy.

2..Turkey Gravy (M: 2 cups)

Ingredients: 2 cups thick strained turkey roasting liquid (rinse out the fat from the top); 1 packet instant chicken broth; 4 tabs cornstarch; ½ cup water; ½ cup good white wine (op); salt and pepper to taste; ½ cup each dry cranberries and dry prunes chopped; ½ cup white wine; salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Whisk the corn starch and chicken stock in ½ cup water in a medium pot, add 2 cups thick cooking liquid, bring to a boil on medium heat until thick, about 4-5 minutes. When it starts bubbling and is thickened, take off the heat, add wine, cranberries, prunes, salt and pepper to taste, simmer on low heat 5 minutes. Turn down the heat and keep it warm on very low heat, or heat it again and serve it later. If it is too thick, add some orange juice or lemon juice with some water. Pour in a gravy bowl and keep it warm.  Slice the turkey and serve warm with sides.