Well, today it is raining, that means our contractor will not show tomorrow.  He doesn’t work in the rain, after it rains, and apparently before it rains.  I tried to wash our guest room rugs this morning and broke the washer.  They started to spin and blew the door open breaking the latch.  I have not liked this washer from day one.  I washed these rugs before with my Sears washer in Gainesville.  This whirlpool is a piece of crap.  It has a delicate cycle.  You better have more than one item to wash or it won’t spin dry.  I can’t wash pillows in it as it won’t spin them.  And I apparently also can’t wash throw rugs in it either.    

Today is the start of the turkey.  It also is a make ahead. As all turkey breasts here were sold frozen, I had to debone the breast myself.  Fine Cooking had excellent instructions and It was easy.  I put the bones in the freezer to make broth after Thanksgiving.  I am brining on Sunday through Monday.  Monday afternoon I will complete the roulades.   Tuesday afternoon I will cook the roulades and made the gravy.  Ina Garten’s new Make It Ahead Cookbook says that she makes the turkey and gravy ahead of time.  She plates the carved turkey with a little gravy, covers and refrigerates until the day of serving.  She puts the tray in a warming oven and holds there until time to serve.  That solves a million problems on the day of as you don’t have to carve when you are dressed up and make gravy with everyone hanging over your shoulder.  

Ingredients: 

For the Brine and Turkey

@ T granulated sugar

1 1/2 T kosher salt

1 T black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

2 medium cloves of garlic, halved

2 (1 1/2 #) boneless, skinless turkey breast halves (Start with a 6 1/2- 7# bone-in turkey breast)  

For the Roulades

1/2 C fine fresh breadcrumbs (I am using panic)

4 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 T finely chopped fresh sage leaves

1 t fennel pollen or ground fennel

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 oz. fontina, grated

1 # bacon

2 T EVOO

For the Jus

2 oz. (4) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 medium shallots, thinly sliced

6 fresh sage leaves

Freshly ground black pepper

2 C lower-salt chicken broth

1 t fresh lemon juice;more to taste

Directions:

Brine the Turkey

1. Combine the sugar, salt, peppercorns, bay leaves, garlic, and 4 C water in a 3 qt. saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar.  
2. Transfer to a large nonreactive container or bowl and let cool to room temperature.  (I set my brining bag in a large pot and put the brine in there)
3. Put the turkey in the brine adding up to 4 C water, if necessary, to just cover the turkey.  
4. Close the bag and refrigerate for at least 12 and up to 24 hours.  

Assemble the Roulades

1. In a medium bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, garlic, sage and fennel pollen.
2. Remove the turkey from the brine, brush off any spices, and pat dry.  
3. Put each breast skin side down between two large pieces of plastic wrap.  Using a meat mallet pound each into a 9” X 10” rectangle that’s an even 1/2” thick.  
4. Remove the top piece of plastic.  Evenly sprinkle each with 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper.  
5. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture evenly over the two cutlets, then sprinkle with the fontina.
6. Fold the longer sides of each cutlet by 1/2”.  Then, starting at the short end, tightly roll up each cutlet into a compact roulade.  
7. Arrange half of the bacon slices (about 10) on a clean large sheet of plastic wrap, overlapping each slice lengthwise so it covers about 1/3 of the slice below it; you want the width of the bacon slices to be the same length as the roulade.  
8. Set one of the roulades in the center of the bacon slices, perpendicular to the slices and seam side up. using the plastic, wrap the bacon up and around one side of the roulade.  Repeat with the other side.  The bacon should meet or overlap at the ends; if it doesn’t, stretch the bacon slices until they meet.  Secure the ends of the bacon with 2-3 toothpicks.  (I used a toothpick in each bacon slice)  
9. Repeat with the remaining bacon and roulade.    
10. You can cover and refrigerate the roulades at this point for up to 12 hours.  (I am going to do this and cook on Tuesday.)

Roast the Roulades

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425 degrees.   
2. Heat the oil in a medium flameproof roasting pan over medium-high heat until shimmering hot.  
3. Put the roulades in the pan seam side up, turn the heat down to medium, and cook, undisturbed, until the edges of the bacon strips are beginning to brown, about 4 minutes; the bacon will not be crisp at this point.  
4. using tongs, turn the roulades and cook for 1 minute more per side to lightly color the bacon, finishing with the roulades seam side down.  
5. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of each roulade registers 165 degrees, about 35 minutes.  
6. Transfer the roulades to a cutting board and let rest for at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour before slicing. 

Make the JUS

1. Pour the drippings from the roasting pan into a fat separator and let the fat rise to the top.  
2. Return 1 T of the fat to the roasting pan; discard the remaining fat and reserve the defatted drippings.   
3. Set the roasting pan over medium heat and add 1 T of the butter, the shallots, and sage.  Cook, stirring often, until the shallots are soft, about 3 minutes.  Lightly season with pepper, then add the broth, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  
4. Add the reserved drippings, 1 T at a time, until the jus has a full, rich flavor.  
5. Bring to a simmer.  Turn the hat down to low and add the remaining 3 T butter, one piece at a time, whisking until the butter is incorporated into the sauce.  
6. Remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice.  Season to taste with more lemon juice, pepper, or salt.  

Serve

Remove the toothpicks from the roulades, slice and serve with the jus.  

I found that I did not like this turkey at all and I believe it was due to the bacon.  Jim bought hickory smoked bacon and I like apple smoked bacon.  I thought the bacon would make the white meat jucier, but it just made it salty and smokey flavored.