Turkey cutlet results

Nature Boy

Howdy.
Thanks, all, for the suggestions on the stuffed turkey breast cutlets. Overall a pretty succesful cook with a few problems. Like Qfan suggested, I picked up some different kinds of shrooms. Then sauteed some onion, garlic in olive oil until just turning golden, dumped a little sherry in (no white wine available), and let it evaporate, and the onions caramelize a bit, then added the shrooms and some canned spinach....a tad of soy sauce, pepper and some oregano and parsley. (thought about saying "Bam!") Let it simmer while I pounded the cutlet out. Then cooled the mixture a bit, and ran it thru the food processor and added some parmesian cheese and salt to the goop....er...stuffing.[p]Here is where things got funky. First I had too much stuffing, but wanted to use as much as I could! The breast was as flat as I could get it...but still fairly thick. Not sure how much more I cudda pounded it, but would have been nice if it was thinner. Overall it was about 12 x 8 inches though. Well I got greedy trying to put too much goop on, and it was not a pretty picture trying to roll it up. Well, I got it tied up while green goop was oozing out both ends, and it was ugly!! It was wrapped up though, with plenty of stuffing left inside. I wiped off the green spooge, and dusted it with my rub, then through it on the egg over a platesetter/drip pan at 400. It took an hour to reach 165, and it looked a WHOLE lot better than when I started.[p]Anyways, it was pretty good, but the green was a bit much for the kids. And the stuffing was still a bit soupy after cooking.[p]Lessons learned:
Don't make too much stuffing when planning to "jellyroll" something.
Strain the spinach better when using canned...and use less.
Maybe throw an egg in to help "bind" it all together.[p]It tasted pretty good to me, but man, I could use some practice.
And I think for the kids, I will try YB's shrimp stuffed version for the next one! Or maybe I could dye the spinach :-)[p]Well....I tried to keep it short!
Beers
NB

Gretl

Nature Boy,
I keep a coupla bags of chopped spinach in the freezer. Before using it, I put however much I want to use in a strainer, run hot water on it to thaw it, and then squeeze the holy hell outta it. Then I saute it in a skillet to remove even more moisture. The result is a very small amount of very dry spinach. Mushrooms are also very hard to get all the moisture out of, and that probably contributed to the overall goopiness (that's real techo-talk). You needed something to bind it; bread crumbs or cubes, or leftover cooked rice (which would go well with Asian spices) would work. And yes, an egg woulda probably helped. I'm gonna try something similar and I'll let you know the results, though my plan is the trad bread stuffing. I asked the butcher about buying some tenderloin netting and he gave me some, free for nothin'. I guess it pays to be a gorgeous chick sometimes! <vbg>[p]Cheers,
Gretl

Nature Boy

Gretl,
Oh yes. Gorgeous babes have a way![p]Great tips. How much can you pound those breasts?? Dang. Better reword. After a while it didnt seem like the cutlets would flatten out anymore, but they were still kinda thick. What is a good starting thickness, and what should I expect from the final pounded thickness?? I pounded for a minute or two. Could I have kept workin on em and gotten them real flat without pulverizing it??[p]Lots to learn about cooking...eh?
Stamp out goopiness.[p]Thanks, and Cheers back!
NB

Gretl

Nature Boy,
Did you read my answer to your first question about cutting the breast first? Maybe I wasn't clear; it's easier to show you than it is for me to write it down. Keeping the knife parallel to the cutting board, slice through the thick part of the breast leaving it attached at one edge, and then open it out like a book. Then, since it's already half its previous thickness, you only have to pound it slightly to even it out. If you're going to jellyroll it around a filling, I'd say to keep the meat about 1/4 to 1/3-inch thick. Alternately, you could kind of make a package around the filling, folding the edges like a big old eggroll. [p]I digress....I was in a cooking class a couple of years ago where we boned whole chickens without cutting them into pieces; we began by cutting down the entire back and removing the backbone, ribcage, and thigh/leg bones. The results looked like, well, boneless chickens with their little wings attached, their little boneless, empty drumsticks....then we stuffed them and sewed up the back. While they were roasting, breast-side up, they resembled sort of squashy-looking regular chickens. The really cool part happened after it was done and had rested; can you imagine slicing through the whole beast, nice meat/skin outside and savory stuffing inside? Very pretty indeed. And it cooked more quickly and evenly than a conventionally stuffed intact bird. Your next question...how long did it take to remove the bones? For my teacher, about 10 minutes. For me, like, a whole afternoon. Geez. Forever. Well, not QUITE that long, but it was pretty ugly work. Hey, I might try it again sometime, now that I think back on how good it could be roasted in the Egg.[p]Whoa, I'm going on WAY too long. Time to go home. Gonna see Billy Joel and Elton John tonight in concert. I'm SO old...I saw EJ on his very first concert tour in, what, 1970? Thereabouts. I figure every 32 years or so, I can afford it!! Hey, Elton...remember me??[p]Cheers,
G.

Nature Boy

Gretl,
These pieces that I, myself, hacked off of the turkey before throwing it in the soup were not purty...or anything like the turkey or chicken breast cutlets you buy in the store. Fat at one end, and thin at the other. Next time I will cut them AFTER I plan what to do with them. But I shudda listened better too and cut the things in half like you said. Now I have a graphic image in my head, and some real experience....it'll be better next time! Sort of like the chicken deboning deal you were talking about. Once you do it 3-4 times, you too will be at the 10 minute mark.[p]Thanks again for the tips. Tell Elton "hey" for me. [p]We'll kill the fatted calf tonight
So stick around.
You're gonna hear electric music,
Solid walls of sound.[p]Don't forget your electric boots and mohair suit!
Have fun.
NB