Nurturing my inner... when the past meets the present, pt 2

Up next is the big guy.  Because he takes the longest in the oven.  My timing wasn't perfect to have everything piping hot at the exact same time, but I think I did pretty well for my first attempt.  I'm sure you'll be even better at it than I was.

Part 2: Sage and Rosemary Roasted Turkey Breast with Gravy

3 lb turkey breast, with the skin
2 tbsps butter, room temp
dash of salt
sprinkle of pepper
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, whole
2 sprigs of fresh sage, whole
2 cups of turkey stock
2 tsps flour

Gratuitous shot of my holiday kitchen towels.  Might as well be festive while you're in a cooking frenzy.

Mom buys me these. They come in super
handy with the messes I make.

I don't own a roasting pan... yet.  Which nearly caused me to freak out that day because I thought, well, what the heck was I going to cook the turkey in?  Good thing I bought this 3 1/2 quart Le Creuset buffet casserole pan.

The perfect size for my purposes.

No way was I going to make a huge turkey all for me.  I already had the plan to make just a turkey breast.  I am mostly a white meat eater anyway, so this cut was going to be just enough to step up to my task.

Such a manageable size for a small group.
And very affordable.

Into a bowl went the butter, salt and pepper.  I mushed it up to make a paste.

The vehicle for the flavor you're about to add.

Peel back the skin and create space underneath.

Icky, but necessary.

Spread most of the butter on the flesh under the skin. 

Turkey masseuse.

I just went with two common fresh herbs that work extremely well with turkey: Sage & Rosemary.

Can't use dried today. Sorry, no substitutes.

Take out a couple/few sprigs of each.

So woodsy and strong.

Tuck the whole sprigs on top of the butter, but under the skin.

Will infuse the meat with flavor.

Boxed turkey broth was easy enough to use here.

No need to make your own.

Pull the skin over the herbs and use the remaining butter on the top so it will assist with browning.  That will help create the crispiness too.  Then add a couple cups of broth to the bottom of the pan.  I used that to baste the turkey about every 15 minutes with a spoon.  Covered that up and into a 375 degree oven it went.

Moisture is your friend today.

After an hour or so, I wanted to see how the old boy was doing.  I took him out and put in the meat thermometer.  Not even 120, so certainly not done yet.  Back in he went, but with the lid off.  You can add more broth to the bottom if you need it.

Handy meat thermometer.

About 2 - 2 1/2 hours (total time from the start) later, and after your meat thermometer comes up to 170, you're in business.  These things definitely take time and everyone's oven is different.  Don't rush the process, just plan for it to take a while.

Wow.  Look mom, I did it!

Take the turkey breast out of the pan, put on a plate and cover with a piece of foil.  Let sit so the juices don't run all over the place when you go to carve it.  10 - 15 minutes should do it.

Tucked away to rest.

What you will have left in your pan is the condensed broth and drippings.  This will become your gravy.

The start to a great gravy.

Take your pan and put on top of your stove, turn up flame until you get it to a simmer.  Add a teaspoon or two of flour while constantly whisking, until it's the viscosity you prefer.  My family likes to use Wondra, a very fine flour, which creates less lumps.  I didn't have that, so I used regular flour.

Add as much flour as you'd like until it's as
thick as you want it.

To make sure I had no lumps, and to rid myself of all bits of left over herbs, I used a small strainer and passed the gravy through it.  To make it easy to pour into the strainer, I used a ladle to take it out of the pan and put it into my two cup measurer that has a handy pour spout.

Lumps are the enemy!

This gravy is going to really complete the turkey experience and add that lovely moisture back in.  But there is more left to do.