Roast Turkey Breast with Breadcrumb Stuffing

Place dried porcini mushrooms in a bowl. Cover with hot water and let sit for 15 minutes or so while the bacon in the next step is cooking. Once rehydrated, then chop.

Slowly cook the bacon in a medium frying pan on medium heat until crispy. Remove the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate. Once cool enough to touch, chop. You should have at least a tablespoon of fat in the pan. If not (or if you want to omit the bacon), add butter or olive oil to make one tablespoon.

Heat the same pan on medium (do not drain the fat rendered out of the bacon), add the minced shallots and cook until they begin to brown. Add the chopped dried cranberries, minced sage and chopped mushrooms. Stir well and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the breadcrumbs, parsley, chopped bacon, and turkey or chicken stock and stir well. You want a rough paste, something that will stick to itself. Remove from the heat and allow the stuffing to cool. Season to taste with salt, as needed.

To make the stuffed turkey breast, remove the skin from the turkey in one piece and reserve.

Put the turkey breast between two pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap and gently pound with a mallet until it is about 1/4 inch thick. (It may be easier to butterfly the breast first, depending on how thick the breast is.)

Trim the pounded breast until it is roughly a rectangle. Spread a thin layer of the stuffing over the breast, leaving about 3/4-inch border around all sides.

Starting with one of the shorter ends of the turkey rectangle, roll up the turkey breast.

Lay the skin over the top of the rolled breast and tuck any under the edges.

Tie the rolled turkey breast tightly with kitchen string (cotton, not nylon) and set it on a roasting pan. Paint it with olive oil, or smear butter or bacon fat over it and sprinkle with salt. If you want more drippings for gravy, place pieces of a turkey wing on the roasting pan as well.

Roast at 400°F for 20 minutes, then drop the heat to 325°F and roast for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the breast reads about 155°F on a meat thermometer.

Note: USDA guidelines recommend cooking turkey to 165°F or until no longer pink in the middle. However, we prefer to remove the breast from the oven when it reaches 155°F, covering with foil, and letting it rest to finish cooking. The turkey should reach 165°F as it rests; check with an instant-read thermometer before serving.

Once the turkey reaches the right temperature, remove it from the roasting pan and tent it loosely with foil. Let it rest at least 10 minutes, and up to 25 minutes.

While the turkey breast is resting, if you want, make a little gravy with the drippings. If you are only cooking the breast, and not the optional turkey wing as well, you may not have much to work with. But even a little bit of drippings can flavor a gravy. (If you really don’t have much fat to work with, you can melt two tablespoons of butter into the roasting pan.)

Take the roasting pan with drippings and place over two burners on the stove-top on medium (If using turkey wing, remove it first). Sprinkle with flour and stir until the flour is incorporated into the drippings.

Slowly add stock, whisking constantly until smooth. Season with salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning or ground sage or thyme. Let simmer on the stove until thickened to your preference.

Remove the kitchen string, and thinly slice the rolled breast into about 1/2-inch slices. Place onto individual serving plates or a serving platter and serve with gravy poured over or on the side, as desired.