I dusted my slow cooker off. Will try to be using it more often. It is so easy: just put all the ingredients in, turn on, walk away for 6-8hrs and then dinner is ready! I bought a cookbook recently from Costco on healthy slow cooker recipes, so expect more recipes to come. Around Thanksgiving, I took on the task of trying to roast a whole turkey. Marinated for 3 days, read every blog and tip from different cooking websites. And needless to say, my turkey was delicious and moist. But my husband and I only like the white meat, glad other family members where over to eat the rest! So I figured, instead of going through the hassle of that, I bought a small bone-in, skin-on turkey breast...a little guy just 1.5Ibs. and looked up recipes to roast it in the slow cooker.
I marinated it overnight in (sorry no measurements just drizzle and sprinkle, it depends on the size of your turkey breast). The turkey breast is not supposed to be fully submerged in the marinade, just coated:
-Italian dressing
-soy sauce
-mayo (reduced-fat kind or they started making an olive oil kind)
-Italian herb seasoning mix (oregano, parsley, rosemary, basil, mint, sage, thyme, sea salt)
**I have this in a mix, you can use a combination of what you have in your spice pantry
-seasoning salt
-coarse ground black pepper
-3-5 cloves garlic, minced (I used 3 for my little piece of turkey)
~Mix all the together in the bowl you will be using to marinate your turkey in. Rub the spices into the flesh all around. I left the skin on, so that when it roasts it will be moist. Some recipes call to stuff a stick of butter under the skin....um I would like my arteries to stay unclogged, thanks! Anyways, let that marinated for about 24hrs or overnight. The longer the better.
-It will take about 6-8hrs for this thing to cook, so calculate when you want dinner done.
-Take about 3-6 slices of bacon. Gasp...bacon!? Yes its okay. Just pat the death out of it after you finish frying it on the pan, it will be okay. I freeze my bacon, this way it is easier to handle. That way it is not so slimy and hard to manage. I take a sharp serrated knife and cut off all the excess yucky white lard off it. Then slice it thinly, throw it on the frying pan, allow all the fat to melt off it. Put it on a paper towel and another one on top and soak all the excess saturated fat off. All better now :)
Ingredients you will need for the slow cooker:
3-6 slices of bacon, cooked & crumbled
1-2 cups of chicken broth
1/4 - 1/2 cup of dry white wine
1 onion, thinly sliced
2-3 bay leaves
some more Italian seasoning mix
ground pepper & sea salt, a few sprinkles
While the bacon is frying, prepare the other ingredients and put them into the slow cooker. Then add the crumbled bacon. Don't forget to put the turkey breast in, BREAST down. Turn the slow cooker on HIGH for the first hour and then decrease the heat to LOW for 5-7 hours or until turkey is tender and meat thermometer registers 170 degrees.
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| Just finished cooking (not the best picture quality) |
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| All done, ready to EAT! |
The turkey was so moist it was falling apart, I tried to illustrate that by separating the strands of turkey, on the right side. Made some mashed potatoes & portabello mushroom gravy...this is the 2nd time I have ever made mashed potatoes since we have been married. Not too much of a potato person, but it was delicious!
But the best part.....LEFTOVERS for dinner the next day:
CHEESY ENCHILADAS!! The recipe I always use is from a Cooking Light is quick & easy. They call for rotisserie chicken, but my turkey was so moist that I was able to pull it apart the same way I would the chicken! I make a side of white rice spiked with lime and chopped cilantro.....Chipotle I've got you beat!! Here is the link to the recipe:
