It's Sunday afternoon and what you
could really go for is a nice turkey sandwich. Don't run to the
deli for the standard, rubberized and tasteless pound of sliced turkey.
Pop a fresh turkey breast in the oven, and in less than hour you can
have 5 or 6 sandwiches for the price of one.
Here's what you'll need: a 2-lb or larger turkey breast boned or
unboned, olive oil, salt and pepper, mayo, bread, tomatoes, or what-have-you.
Dress the turkey in a light coat of oil, sprinkle with kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, or whatever else you want.
Do whatever you need to do to avoid
overcooking. There's nothing worse than dry and fibrous turkey in
a sandwich or out of it. We use an electronic cooking
thermometer. The recommended internal cooking temperature for
roast turkey breast is 165º. Keep in mind that after removal
from the oven it will continue to cook for 7º or 8º so we set
it for 155º to 158º and let nature takes its course.
After popping it into the oven
prepare the bread or rolls by slicing, then smearing liberally with
olive oil and frying to a golden brown.
Achieving the industry standard of
"golden brown" by frying fulfills the PFI adage that there is no food
that cannot be improved by frying.
When the turkey's done, slice thinly along with some tomato or with whatever else you consider appropriate to a turkey sandwich.
Build the sandwich on the fried sides
which tend to be more waterproof and thus keep the moisture in the
filling and not oozing through the part you hold. Spread mayo on
both sides, pile on the tomatoes, salt, and then load up the
turkey. And that's that.
