In this video, Chef John shows you how to make a flavorful Shawarma-Spiced Roast Turkey Breast that's perfect for your holiday table or any special occasion. Flavored with a blend of aromatic Middle Eastern spices, this tender turkey breast is roasted to golden perfection, and it might be a nice change of pace if you are tired of honey-roasted or mesquite flavors.
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with Shwarma Spice Roast Turkey.
00:09That's right!
00:10Since people love these spices on chicken in a wrap, I figured they would work great
00:13on a roast turkey breast.
00:14And while I'm very proud of the turkey, I think I'm even more proud of the pan sauce
00:19I'm going to teach you at the end, which made this even more special, as they tend to do.
00:24But anyway, first things first, and to get started we will mix up our Shwarma spice blend,
00:29which includes smoked paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander, some cinnamon, some ground
00:37ginger, some garlic powder, some freshly ground black pepper, as well as some turmeric, some
00:43cardamom, a few shakes of cayenne, and then last but not least, a generous amount of kosher
00:49salt.
00:51And as usual, I like to use about a teaspoon per pound of meat.
00:54And what we'll do is give everything a nice mix until it's evenly combined, at which point
00:59we'll set that aside, and we'll move on to the prepping of the turkey.
01:02And what I have here is about a three pound boneless turkey breast, which as you can see
01:07still has the skin on.
01:09And the reason it has that kind of alligator skin appearance is because it was packaged
01:12in this stretched over net.
01:15And I would have showed you me removing that, but it had come off in the package.
01:19And what we'll do is place that on a cutting board with the meat side up, and we'll position
01:24that with the thickest part of the breast facing to our right, if we're right handed.
01:28And then we'll make one nice deep cut, about two thirds of the way in, at a 45 degree angle,
01:34to basically butterfly that breast open, at which point we'll make a few more slashes
01:38on either side, plus two or three shallow cuts straight down, about a half inch or so.
01:44And all we're doing here is creating lots of surface area for our shawarma spice to
01:48stick to.
01:50And even though I did those atypically asymmetrical, as you'll see when we slice open the final
01:55product, it's not going to matter.
01:57So do not overthink this step.
02:00Just butterfly it open, make a few more slashes, at which point we can take about three quarters
02:04of our spice blend, and we can massage and rub that all over the exposed areas.
02:09And we really do want to do this thoroughly and thoughtfully, making sure we're rubbing
02:13and pushing that into every nook and cranny.
02:16In fact, if someone's watching you do this, it should be a little awkward.
02:20But do not let that deter you.
02:22We need to get those spices in there, and we need to get them in there deep.
02:26And once the inside's set, we will also apply that to any exposed meat on the outside, before
02:31we gather everything up together, picking up any excess spice that might have fallen
02:35on the board.
02:37And once we have that all pushed back together, and the skin side is up, we will take three
02:41pieces of kitchen twine, and we will tie this up.
02:45And we want to make sure we twist that string through at least three or four times, so that
02:49we're able to finish with a nice tight knot.
02:52So we'll do one tie there, and then snip off the excess, and then we'll do that one
02:56more time right in the middle.
02:58And once that's completed, we'll do a third and final tie at the other end, the same distance
03:03in from the one we started with.
03:05And once we do get that tied up, or trussed, as we say in the business, we can finish picking
03:10up any loose spice.
03:12And then if any of our skin has gotten pinched underneath the string, we should probably
03:16tug and pull that down towards the bottom, since we like to end up with a nice tight
03:20package.
03:21And once that's been accomplished, we can transfer our turkey back into the bowl.
03:25And then we'll drizzle over about a tablespoon of olive oil.
03:29And then we'll go ahead and sprinkle over the rest of our spice blend.
03:32And we will give this one more massage before we wrap it, and pop it in the fridge anywhere
03:37between a couple hours and overnight.
03:40And yes, overnight is better, but two or three hours is also great, which is what I did here.
03:46And it's still going to come out very flavorful.
03:48So we'll go ahead and pop that in the fridge for up to a day.
03:52And once we're ready to roast, we will add some thickly sliced onions to a pan.
03:56And we will quickly arrange those in an even layer.
03:59And then before we place our meat on, I like to pour in about a cup and a half of chicken
04:03broth, or turkey broth if you have it, which is going to make for a nice moist cooking
04:08environment, as well as give us a head start on that incredible pan sauce we're going to
04:12make.
04:13And that's it.
04:14We can place our turkey on top.
04:16And if we want, sprinkle a little more salt over the skin, which I almost always want
04:20to do.
04:21And that's it.
04:22This is now ready to transfer into the center of a 475 degree oven for just 20 minutes,
04:28at which point we'll reduce our heat down to 300, and continue roasting low and slow
04:33for about an hour or so more, or until it looks like this.
04:38And I generally shoot for an internal temp of about 145 to 150, although that's an unofficial
04:43recommendation.
04:45And the legal department would like you to do your own research to determine a safe internal
04:49temp.
04:50And what we'll do is remove that turkey to a plate, and we will loosely cover it in foil.
04:55And we will let that rest for about 10 to 15 minutes, while we make one of the best
05:00pan sauces I've had in a long time.
05:03And for that, we will place our pan on medium high heat, and we'll bring our pan drippings
05:07up to a boil.
05:09And if we want, we can give it a stir, even though that doesn't do anything.
05:13It's just for fun.
05:15And what we're trying to do here is reduce and dry out all that moisture in the pan.
05:19Because while liquid will evaporate, fat will not.
05:22And it's that fat we're going to use to make a quick roux before we finish the sauce.
05:27So once that liquid's gone, we'll reduce our heat to medium low, and we'll check how much
05:31rendered fat's in the pan, which for me really wasn't that much.
05:36So I'm going to go ahead and drizzle in some olive oil here, so we have enough fat to make
05:39the roux.
05:40Which is simply done by sprinkling some flour into the pan, and then stirring that around
05:45until it disappears.
05:47And once that happens, it's going to very quickly want to stick to the bottom of the
05:49pan.
05:51Which is perfect, because what we'll do is let it toast for about 30 seconds, at which
05:55point we will deglaze with the juice from one lemon, that I'm just squeezing through
05:59this small strainer to catch the seeds.
06:01And then after that, we'll transfer in some more chicken broth, and we'll raise our heat
06:06back up to medium high, and we'll give everything a stir.
06:10And if everything goes according to plan, this is going to thicken up very quickly,
06:14and very, very beautifully.
06:16And that's it, our pan sauce is pretty much ready.
06:19And if it seems a little too thin, we'll let it reduce more.
06:22And if it seems a little too thick, we can add a little more broth, which I did here,
06:27just to thin it out a bit.
06:28And other than giving this a taste for seasoning, our sauce is done, and we can just keep that
06:33on low heat until we need it.
06:35And by the way, we can use it just like this, or we can strain it, which is what I prefer
06:40to do.
06:41But that's up to you.
06:42And that's it, once our turkey is rested, we'll cut off the strings, and we'll go ahead
06:47and slice in to see how we did.
06:49And you know what?
06:50It looks like we did pretty good.
06:51Right?
06:52That turkey felt very tender, and looked very moist.
06:55And we've achieved some very beautiful and provocative veins of spicing.
07:00And I really wanted to start slicing and eating, but I had to take some contractually obligated
07:03pictures.
07:05So I quickly cut off this dry tip from the end, and went in for a little chef snack.
07:10And you know my theory.
07:11If a little dry piece off the end's good, the rest is going to be amazing.
07:16Which it was.
07:17But anyway, I went ahead and took way too many pictures, before slicing off a nice big
07:21piece, so I could serve it up properly.
07:24And by properly, I mean on a big ol' pile of our famous Tres Leches mashed potatoes,
07:30which we just did a video for, so be sure to check that out.
07:34And then we'll top that with our sauce, which as I mentioned, I do like to strain.
07:38But if you like to look and feel those onions, and don't want to bother, just put it over
07:42as is, I mean you are after all the boss of your shawarma spice roast turkey pan sauce.
07:48But either way, make sure you put on too much.
07:51And that's it.
07:52I finished up with a small piece of flowering rosemary, which I'd used in the aforementioned
07:56pictures, and then grabbed a fork and knife to go in for the official taste, starting
08:01with those incredible mashed potatoes.
08:04And to be honest, I only roasted a turkey, so I could eat these.
08:07But anyway, I've already raved about the potatoes.
08:09Let's move on to the turkey, which as I suspected, was very moist and tender, and extremely flavorful.
08:17And as well as all those spices work with chicken, I think they work even better with
08:20the meatier taste of turkey.
08:22And while we could have just spooned those pan drippings over the turkey, and not even
08:26made a pan sauce, when you consider how easy it was, especially since we have to wait for
08:31our turkey to rest anyway, I don't know why someone wouldn't want to make this sauce also.
08:36Since it really does elevate the plate, not to mention it's one of the most gorgeously
08:40colored sauces you'll ever see.
08:42But no matter how you finish yours, this truly was some incredible roast turkey, and I really
08:48do hope you give it a try soon.
08:50So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much
08:55more info as usual.
08:58And as always, enjoy!