Turkey Roulade

Do you ever just feel fancy? Like you need a truffle instead of a handful of chocolate chips? Like you want to get dressed up for no good reason and just be fancy? Well, I have the dinner for you. It's called a roulade, and it is the perfect way to take an every day fancy-free meat, and turn it into a show stopper. Basically, you pound it out, stuff it, and roll it up. It's easy to do and looks absolutely marvelous and oh so impressive. So next time your feeling the need to impress, grab your favorite meat mallet and check out this turkey roulade.

Turkey roulade:
1/4 cup of bulgur wheat
1 3/4 cup of chicken stock, divided
Olive oil for cooking
2 medium shallots
1 cup of shitakes
2 tbsp of sherry wine
2 cup of collard greens (or other greens)
1 split turkey breast boneless, with skin
2 tbsp of Parmesan cheese
Salt, pepper

Make the filling: Bring 3/4 cups of chicken stock to a boil in a small pot. Add bulgur and reduce to simmer, cook until liquid has absorbed and bulgur is tender, about 10-12 minutes. In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat the bottom of a skillet in a thin layer of olive oil and heat over medium heat. Chop shallots and add to the pan when hot, cook until shallots begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Chop shitakes and add to the pan, cook until mushrooms soften and brown, about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sherry, and cook until liquid has absoarbed. Chop collard greens and add to the pan, stirring until the greens wilt. Mix in cooked bulgur.

Prep the turkey: Split breast open, removing the rib bone if there is one (after the rib is removed the breast will split naturally). Using a meat mallet pound turkey, on the non-skin side, until flattened and uniform. Season the non-skin side with salt and pepper. Spread the filling over the turkey breast and then sprinkle with cheese. Starting from the end that has less or no skin on the back (the skin is touching the cutting board) roll the turkey breast and the filling jelly roll style. Tie the turkey breast in the roulade shape with kitchen twine (I used 3 pieces to tie the roast).

Cook the turkey: Add a little more oil to the skillet and raise heat to medium high. Sear the turkey, begining with the seam (where the filling looks like it's coming out) side up, for about 2-3 minutes until skin goldens. Repeat on remaining 3 sides, until skin is mostly to all crispied. Fill a small baking dish with the remaining stock and put seared breast in the stock, seam side up. Bake at 350, until a meat thermomater registers 160 degrees in the center, about an hour, but varies depending on the size of the breast and how thick it's rolled. Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing. To serve, remove ties and cut thick slices.

Happy Eating.