Poultry & Meat Entrées

Easy Roast Turkey Breast with Cranberry Cardamom Sauce

A perfect small-size holiday entrée!

• 1 lb. turkey breast fillets
• 1 /4 c. whole wheat pastry OR corn flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 T. butter OR olive oil

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix flour, salt and pepper together in a shallow bowl. Dredge turkey fillets in the mixture. (Discard any leftover flour.)
3. Heat butter OR oil in a large oven-proof skillet (cast iron or enamel pans work well) over medium heat. Add the turkey fillets and brown on one side (about 3-5 minutes).
4. Turn the turkey fillets over and transfer the pan to the oven. Roast for 15-20 minutes, until turkey is no longer pink inside.

Makes 4 servings

Cranberry Cardamom Sauce

Cardamom adds an interesting twist to this sweet and tangy sauce - try it on turkey, pork chops or baked yams. The sauce freezes well.

• 3 smaller red apples, peeled and diced
• 1 12 oz. bag cranberries
• 1 /2 c. golden raisins
• 1 c. orange juice
• 1 tsp. orange zest
• 1 /2 c. maple syrup
• 1 1/2 tsp. cardamom
• pinch salt
• OPTION: 1 T. kuzu root OR cornstarch + 2 T. cool water, to thicken sauce if needed

1. Mix all ingredients together in a medium saucepan.
2. Simmer on medium heat, stirring often, until the cranberries have popped and reached a sauce-like consistency.
3. If the sauce is too thin, dissolve the kuzu OR cornstarch in the cool water and stir into hot sauce. Continue stirring until clear.

Makes 4-6 servings

Walnut Crusted Pork Roast with Sage

This savory pork dish tastes wonderful with sweet-tart cranberry sauce on top. The Wedge's gluten-free bread can be used for crumbs.

• 2 lbs. boneless pork loin
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 T. olive oil
• 2/3 c. walnuts, roasted
• 1/3 c. breadcrumbs
• 2 T. fresh sage, minced OR 2 tsp. dried sage
• a small handful of whole roasted walnut halves

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Sprinkle the pork loin with salt and pepper, and place on a rack in a roasting pan.
3. Roast pork for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand around 15 minutes.
4. Grind the walnuts, breadcrumbs, and sage in a food processor or blender.
5. Drizzle olive oil over the pork loin and cover with the walnut mixture.
6. Return pork to oven for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.
7. Serve sliced with walnut halves for garnish.

Makes 4 servings

Perfect Roast Leg of Lamb

Tender and juicy with accents of lemon, garlic, and herbs - perfect!

**NOTE: Leg of lamb needs to be specially cut - call the Wedge meat department 1 day in advance to let them know you'll be buying it.

• 5 lbs. whole leg of lamb
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 T. lemon zest
• 1-2 tsp. dried oregano or mint
• 1 tsp. salt

1. Before roasting the lamb, remove it from the refrigerator and let it sit for an hour. Room temperature meat will roast more evenly than cold meat.
2. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F.
3. Cut several small incisions in the surface of the lamb and push the garlic slices into them. In a small bowl, mix lemon zest, oregano or mint, and salt together. Rub the mixture evenly over the surface of the meat.
4. Place lamb on a roasting rack in a roasting pan (the rack will ensure even browning). Place it in the oven at 450 degrees F for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to 350 degrees F and continue roasting for 2 hours (25 minutes per pound).
5. Remove roast from oven and loosely cover with an aluminum foil tent. Let sit for 15 minutes. The juices that come to the surface during will return to the center this way, making the lamb more tender and juicy.

Makes 8 servings

Copyright © 2006 Jennette Turner

Swedish Meatballs with Brown Sauce

These tasty meatballs are traditionally served with brown sauce and/or lingonberry jam (cranberry sauce is a good substitute). For gluten-free meatballs, use gluten-free bread crumbs. For gluten-free brown sauce, use rice flour.

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 lb. ground pork
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 c. milk (preferably whole) or milk substitute
• 1 c. bread crumbs, packaged or homemade
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped finely
• 3 T. butter
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. allspice
• 1/2 tsp. mace
• 1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
• Optional: 1/4 c. fresh parsley, minced

1. Mix breadcrumbs and milk/milk substitute together in a large mixing bowl. Let stand 5-10 minutes.
2. In a large skillet, sauté onion in 1 T. butter until soft. Stir onion into bread crumb mixture. Set pan aside - don't wash it!
3. Add the ground meats, eggs, salt, spices and parsley, if using, to the mixture. Mix well using an electric mixer or by hand. Form mixture into small meatballs.
4. Heat remaining butter in the onion-cooking skillet, and brown meatballs evenly on all sides. Drain cooked meatballs on paper towels. Use meatball cooking skillet to make brown sauce - don't wash it!

Makes 6 servings

Brown Sauce

Adding the optional sherry gives this sauce a nice complexity. Use rice flour for gluten-free sauce.

• 2 T. butter
• 2 T. flour
• 2 c. beef broth, homemade, canned, or boxed
• Optional: 3-4 T. sherry

1. Heat butter in the meatball-cooking skillet. Stir flour into pan and gradually whisk in broth.
2. Continue stirring until sauce thickens. Add sherry, if using. Stir well. Serve over meatballs.

Copyright © 2006 Jennette Turner