Grilled Turkey and Vegetables
Cooking is an exploration, on so many levels. In cooking, the eating, the designing. Hot, cold, spicy, sweet, sour, umami, layers of texture. This dish has so much to discover, a different combination every mouthful. I created a crescent of lean, sliced turkey breast, grilled discs of kumara, crispy chickpeas, blanched fresh peas, coriander leaves, poached garlic cloves, fresh raspberries and charred capsicum, all on a lightly spiced Skyr, paprika and fresh oregano sauce. The result? Deliciousness. Recipe below.
Ingredients (for 2)
2 Turkey breast steaks at room temperature
1 Red Capsicum
4 Brown Chestnut Mushrooms, cut in half
1 Medium Size Kumara, peeled and cut into 1cm thick rings
2 Handfuls of Fresh Peas
8 Cloves of Garlic, unpeeled
Raspberries (4-5 per plate)
150g of brined chickpeas, drained
3 Tablespoons of Skyr Icelandic yoghurt, if you can't get it, good quality unsweetened yoghurt is good.
Small Bunch of Fresh Coriander
Small Handful of Fresh Oregano Leaves
Juice of Half a Lemon, the zest of it too
Smoked Paprika
Spicy Pimenton
White Wine Vinegar
Olive Oil
Flaked Sea Salt
Pepper
Method
Put the kumara in a pot with the garlic cloves and bring to a rolling boil. Let it boil for 1 minute, the pull out the kumara with a slotted spoon and allow it to dry/cool. Leave the garlic on to boil away for a further 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, blanch the peas for 1 minute in boiling water. Drain and rinse in cold water.
Char the capsicum on a naked flame until black all over, then under cool running water, rub the charred skin off. Don't worry if you don't get it all! Cut the capsicum into strips
In a small bowl, mix a teaspoon of paprika, a pinch of pimenton, oregano leaves and yoghurt until the yoghurt is a pinky-red colour. Pour in a teaspoon of lemon juice, then add a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well.
Strain the garlic cloves from the pot. Gently peel - they'll be tender! Set them aside for serving. The poaching of the garlic gives a smooth garlicky flavour.
Once cool, brush both sides of the kumara with olive oil. Lightly oil a non-stick pan, then arrange the kumara in the pan, along with the mushrooms, cut side down. Turn to a medium heat and gently the saute the kumara and mushrooms. Keep an eye on the kumara - you want them to caramelize, but not burn and they WILL want to burn. Flip them once they're sufficiently caramelized. Leave the mushrooms cut side down. They can handle a good frying. Flip them after five minutes an cook like that to the end. If you find you get t
In a separate frying pan, pour a generous lug of oil, then on a medium-high heat, fry the chickpeas until they get nice and crispy. Once fried, strain out with a slotted spoon and set aside. You'll use the same pan to fry the turkey.
Prep the turkey by drying it with a paper towel, then lightly salting each side, just as you would a steak. The heat in the pan should be medium high. Fry the turkey about 4-5 minutes a side, depending on thickness or until juices run clear. While that's happening, pour 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon of paprika and two tablespoons of olive oil on a plate. Whisk together lightly with a fork. Once the turkey steaks are done, rest them in the vinegar/paprika mix for two minutes, flipping them at the halfway mark.
By this stage the kumara should be cooked through, the mushrooms both juicy and caramelized and the turkey well rested. Carve the turkey into strips.
Plate up with a run on the yoghurt sauce, then artfully arrange the turkey, mushrooms and kumara with with the peas, chickpeas, capsicum and garlic. Garnish with raspberries and coriander leaves. Sprinkle with cracked pepper and flaky sea salt. Finally, dust with a little extra paprika.
Enjoy!
