The other day a friend of mine bemoaned the fact that she would be having a quiet Thanksgiving this year. She loves turkey dinner with all the trimmings but the thought of “all that work” just for two, and having to process most of the turkey for the freezer, was making her rethink the menu. She wasn’t fishing for an invite. In fact, she was looking forward to her first quiet Thanksgiving in her 42 years.
This recipe is for her, and for others having a smaller gathering, or who will go to someone else’s home and return home without enough leftovers to satisfy that annual craving to gobble some gobble. The beauty of this stuffed smoked turkey breast is it can be prepped and cooked in under two hours. Dark meat fans might feel cheated, but it’s easy as pumpkin pie to throw a turkey leg on the grill at the same time. Prep the rub and the stuffing ahead of time to make your day stress-free.
Ingredients:
1 boneless turkey breast (skin on)
10-14 slices of bacon
Rub ingredients below (or your favorite)
Stuffing ingredients below (or your favorite)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup orange marmalade
Plus:
Wax paper & mallet
Trussing lacers
Food twine
Prepping the meat
Slice turkey breast down the middle of the thickest part of the breast without slicing all the way through.
Place breast spread open on two sheets of wax paper, and cover with two more sheets. Pound out the breast to about 1/2 inch thick. Gently rub olive oil on inside and out and season with your favorite rub, or the one below. Save remaining rub to sprinkle over bacon weave. Bacon weave? You ask excitedly. Read on.
The Rub
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp dried mustard
2 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp dried thyme
1 Tbsp dried basil
3 Tbsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp black pepper
1 Tbsp ground ginger
The Stuffing
I get pretty sentimental about Thanksgiving, so no matter how I may wanted to like a polenta-craisin stuffing, or a wild mushroom, parsnip and wild rice stuffing (I tried both when working on this recipe) my taste buds opted for a traditional bread stuffing. Go with your grandma’s recipe, or try mine:
Prepping-Turkey-Breast
Ingredients
2 slices bacon
Bread cubes, about 2 cups
Olive oil
1/2 large onion
1 large carrot
2 celery stalks
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp finely chopped rosemary from 1 sprig
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup chicken broth
Cook bacon slices, then remove slices when starting to crisp. Add olive oil to pan with bacon drippings and saute onion on medium heat until nearly clear, then add carrots and celery. Finely chop bacon slices. After about 3-5 minutes, add bread, herbs, chopped bacon, salt & pepper. Stir as bread toasts with ingredients for a few more minutes, then add broth. Cook down for another 5 minutes and set aside.
Putting it all together: Adding a bacon weave!
Bacon Weave
Fire up your favorite grill, adding wood chips or chunks to get it good and smoky. If using a charcoal grill, bank fire on one side to leave an indirect cooking side. For gas grills, preheat all burners, then turn one side off for indirect cooking.
While grill is pre-heating, make a bacon weave like you
would a pie lattice top. Place pounded out turkey breast on top. Add half of the stuffing (bake the other half of stuffing to accompany meal) and roll breast. Tuck in sides and pin closed with trussing lacers. Roll bacon weave around breast, tucking in sides and errant bacon slices. Sprinkle lightly again with rub. Tie with food twine as needed to keep turkey breast together.
Finished Turkey Roast
With grill at 230°-300°F smoke-roast breast on indirect heat for approximately 1 hour, or until it reads 160 degrees in the thickest part of the breast. It will continue to cook while it rests and the temperature will rise 5 degrees to the recommended 165 degrees. It is important not to overcook the breast! Low fat equals less forgiving.
The Final Glaze: 30 minutes into the cook time, heat maple syrup and orange marmalade together and stir until fully incorporated. Brush on breast about 20 minutes before done. You may brush again right after you take it off the grill.
Let breast rest for at least 10 minutes. Remove twine and lacers. Slice and serve with more glaze or with turkey gravy and all the trimmings.
