The blackened bits sticking up are the tips of the garlic cloves.
A friend of the family packs her Thanksgiving turkey with pockets of minced garlic mixed with salt. When you eat it, it's like a flavor explosion in your mouth of salty-garlicky goodness. It's sharp, savory, and sweet all at once. It's just delicious. I had a hankering for it this week, so I made my own, much less labor-intensive version. I used a 3-4 pound kosher turkey breast from Trader Joe's and it was moist and juicy all the way through.
In the San Francisco Bay Area you can also find (usually frozen) kosher turkey breast at Mollie Stone's and at Fulton Street (Albertson's) Market or any grocery store that caters to a kosher clientele. If you can't find a kosher turkey breast, no worries, just dry-brine it for at least 12 hours or up to over night before cooking.
GARLIC ROASTED TURKEY BREAST
This would be perfect for Sunday dinner.
- 1 3-4 pound kosher turkey breast (with ribs attached)
- 12 cloves of garlic peeled and halved (24 halves total)
- sea salt
- fresh ground pepper
- a half palmful of dried oregano
Preheat oven to 325º. Starting with the rib side of the turkey, make 3-4 (1/4-in. deep) slits in the meaty part of the turkey and put a garlic half into each slit. Stuff the garlic as far down as you can so most of it is inserted into the turkey. Season that half with salt and pepper. Flip over.
Continue making slits all over the turkey breast and stuff the remaining garlic halves into those slits. My slits ended up being about an inch or two apart. Season with salt, pepper, and oregano.
Place in roasting pan and roast until a thermometer registers 180º. (Takes about an hour and a half.) I take the turkey out at 170º then cover it with foil and let it rest. The temperature will continue to rise another 10 degrees even though it's out of the oven. This helps to prevent an over-cooked, dried-out turkey.
Slice and serve. Serves 6-8. (We have tons left over. Which is a good thing.)
A side view of the sliced turkey with garlic.
