Sous Vide Turkey Breasts with Cranberry Orange Sauce
Serves 6 to 8
Turkey is a wonderful meat to eat that tends to only be used for Christmas and Thanksgiving. The long cook times with an oven turned up to temperature is generally something that people do not like to do in warm months. Sous Vide takes away the hot kitchen and will result in people wanting to cook turkey more than twice a year. This recipe calls for just the use of the breasts but the whole turkey can be used if it is broken down into pieces.
Ingredients for the Turkey Breast
- 2 turkey breast, boneless, skinless
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 stems fresh sage
- 1 tbsp white sugar
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp salt
Ingredients for the Cranberry Orange Sauce
- ¾ cup water
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 tbsp grated orange zest
- ½ tsp table salt
- 1 bag fresh cranberries
- 2 tbsp orange liqueur (Triple Sec or Grand Marnier
Directions for the Cranberry Orange Sauce
- Place water, sugar, orange zest and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat stirring on occasion to dissolve the sugar.
- Stir in the cranberries and bring it to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium and let simmer until slightly thickened and about two thirds of the berries have popped open, approximately 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the orange liqueur. Transfer into a glass bowl and let it come to room temperature. Set aside for future use.
Directions for the Turkey Breast
- Preheat the water bath to 146°F.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to the pan and bring it to a shimmer. Place the turkey breasts to the skillet skin side down. Press down on the turkey breasts using a wooden spoon or tongs. Once the skin is a nice golden brown, approximately two minutes, remove it from the skillet and set aside.
- Combine the salt and sugar together and sprinkle it all over the
- surface of the turkey breasts.
- Place the turkey breasts and sage in a bag and vacuum seal it or use the water displacement method.
- Insert the bag into water bath and cook. Cook for a minimum of 2 1/2 hours up to 6 hours. The longer it is cooked the more tender it will be.
- Remove the turkey breasts from the water bath and the bag and pat dry.
- Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add 2 tbsp of olive oil. Bring the oil to a shimmer.
- Add the butter.
- Place the turkey breasts skin side down into the skillet.
- Use a spoon to baste the exposed sides with butter.
- Sear for approximately two minutes.
- Flip the turkey breasts and sear for approximately one minute, basting the skin sides with the butter.
- Remove the turkey breasts from skillet and place on a cutting board. Carve the breasts into manageable portions and place on a serving platter. Serve with the cranberry orange sauce.