Christmas Ideas

Christmas Ideas

24/11/2008

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Comments: 7 readers have left a comment

Christmas is creeping up on us quite quickly and we need to start thinking about the big day that we all get together with our family and friends and enjoy a massive fest of gift sharing and over indulging of fresh seafood, meat platters and christmas pudding.

With figs coming into season next month, now is the perfect time to take advantage of this wonderful, yet often forgotten fruit. Figs are a good source of calcium, iron and potassium. They have anti-bacterial properties and can also be a good laxative.

They match well with the dried apricots and the sage adds that extra fresh boost to the stuffing leaving you with a light, fresh feeling without having the bloated heavy touch.

Turkey Breast rolled with an apricot, fig and sage stuffing

1 Large Turkey Breast

100g dried apricots, sliced

100g dried figs, sliced

6 leaves of fresh sage, finely sliced

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp brown sugar

Clean the turkey breast of any excess scraps and remove the tenderloin.

Remove all meat from the scraps and blitz in a food processor..

Combine the turkey mince, sage, apricots and figs.

Lightly beat out the turkey breast until resonably flat and approximately 1-2cm in thickness.

Place the stuffing on the breast in the middle and roll each end over.

Put onto some cling-film and roll into a log then twist the ends to tighten. Hold this together by wrapping with another piece of cling-film.

The turkey can be cooked in a steamer for approximately half an hour.

It can also be wrapped in foil (still in the plastic) and cooked in the oven for approximately 1 1/2 hours at 180 degrees.

Slice carefully and serve with your favourite roast vegetables and sauce.

Serves 4.

Matt's Site

Reader Comments

bignanna

30/11/2008 at 09:35

Matt, how would it go with the turkey breast (steggles/Inghams) 2kg breast, defroze breast and put the stuffing in then wrap in foil provided and cook per instructions. Love figs but they are so expensive to buy the last time I looked they were $1 each? Would prunes/apricots work?

Matt Clark

30/11/2008 at 21:12

Any turkey will do, whether frozen or fresh, as long as it's not already cooked. The dried figs are good and you can get them quite inexpensive. The texture of the fig really makes the dish. Prunes would work but would add a much stronger flavour. You could almost try anything, pear and apple would be an interesting one as would some glace cherries. Even the apricots with some cranberry sauce.

bignanna

02/12/2008 at 17:04

Thanks Matt I'll try the dried figs, yes turkey breast will be raw.

Samantha

11/12/2008 at 19:44

I am also thinking of just buying one of those turkey breast rolls. So am guessing I would have to cut open and put the stuffing in, wrap with string, then into the foil... How much turkey mince would I need to buy to make the stuffing. And at what stage do you add the balsamic and brown sugar? Doesn't say in your recipe! Sounds yummy, hope you can help me out.

Rebecca

11/12/2008 at 22:57

hiya matt, i want to cook this dish, as my ovens broke, lol, can i boil the turkey rolls, or does it have to be steamed??? also would a sausage meat stuffin work?

Matt Clark

12/12/2008 at 23:04

Samantha, I have simplified this recipe from a more difficult one where I used fresh figs. The balsamic and brown sugar are ingredients that I forgot to remove while doing this. Please excuse my stupidity. For a 2kg turkey breast you will need about 400g of turkey mince. You will get enough meat from the tenderloin and off-cuts when trimming the breast otherwise you can buy this as extra. I find it best by cutting the thick part of the breast in at an angle and folding it out to form a rectangle shape then beating it out slightly to form a consistant thickness. Blitz your turkey off-cuts (if not already minced) in a food processor or chop it up finely. Add the sliced dried figs
and apricots and chopped sage, combine well, then shape into a log. Place into the breast and roll it up. You will find that the plastic wrap will hold it together without using any string. Lay out a double thickness of the plastic wrap and lay the turkey roll onto it.

Matt Clark

12/12/2008 at 23:19

Roll up the turkey and tightly twist the ends. hold into place with another piece of plastic wrap.
This stuffing would also be nice with some crushed macadamia nuts.

REBECCA, I wouldnt suggest boiling it. You can cut it in half and wrap to make 2 smaller ones which may fit into a small steamer or you can make a steamer by placing some water in an old cake tin, place in a cake rack and place turkey on the rack. Cover with foil and heat slowly to produce a slow but steady rate of steam. And to answer your stuffing question, this is only a recipe and a guide for these flavour combinations, you could use sausage meat but you will have a different result in regards to flavour and texture. Likewise, you could omit the turkey for chicken mince instead and add some orange and macadamias or even sundried tomato and spinach. The options are endless. As long as you have some sort of meat to bind your ingredients. You can also add some egg whites which will give you a lighter result.