Curry Fried Turkey Sandwich

Spiced sous vide and fried turkey breast on a roll with curried roasted vegetable salad with golden raisins and cilantro, topped with pickled cucumber slices and a spread of cardamom yogurt. 

So now that Thanksgiving is nearly over, will you eat turkey again? Real question: do you eat turkey (the non-deli variety) any other time during the year? Because I'm sitting here wondering why Chris and I don't eat turkey regularly after we made the best turkey I've ever had in my life. Said turkey can also be made into the most fantastic sandwich that's anything but bland. Again: why am I not eating more turkey? Life questions.

I'm really underplaying that sandwich as an introduction by assuming the sandwich you're conjuring in your head uses just whatever you have on hand. Perhaps random bread, stray lettuce and some mustard. Nope. This recipe has strange spices and probably different techniques than you're used to. While that goes against every 'rule' in the book there is for writing a "popular food blog", this was a really important decision for us. 

We're back to using the blog as a playground with a dedicated series of regular posts. Over the past year, we've been neglecting the blog and our own creative time. When you work for yourself and are also a driven workaholic couple (we both find it hard to 'turn off'), it's easy to push aside down time, creative time, vacation time, fun time for clients and work obligations that always seem more important. We've realized that the only way to make the fun happen is to schedule it, just like you would a vacation. So we're back. We're back to dedicating more time to the fun of food. It's not going to always include "normal" ingredients or basic techniques you will automatically know. It's going to push you to try new things and look at food differently. We've learned some amazing things over the past few years and we want to share them. If you want a 'make-picky-eaters-happy-5-ingredient-crock-pot-chicken-dinner', it's not here. Those websites have their place, but that's not what you need from us here. You'll still see some 'normal' recipes that are more simple, so don't panic we're pushing you too far. 

We're really excited to play again for the sake of play. This post series comes in the form of (hopefully) a bi-monthly full menu occurring at the start and end of the month. It's hyper seasonally inspired or is inspired by some weird conceptual shit we thought was AWESOME and couldn't shut up about. We already have 3 full months of menus pre-planned. Each menu will include several dishes that work together throughout a day based on the theme. We'll post the recipes first, followed by an end post with the menu, hyperlinking to the recipes. Those will be stored on a menu achieve gallery page so any time you're trying to find a menu, there it is. 

Which brings us to the first recipe from our Late November menu: the curry fried turkey sandwich.

The turkey itself is mind blowing for two reasons.

1. First is the method of cooking: using a sous vide. Sous vides are becoming more and more common. In fact, I just saw a Black Friday advertisement that they're on sale at Target. It's incredibly precise and is great for meats that can typically turn out tough or dry. It's the reason I cannot order my steak out any more: Chris can make it better at home 90% of the time with this tool. The sous vide in this case makes very moist turkey and also allows us to fry it solely with the purpose of getting a crispy texture later in the recipe. No worrying about whether or not it's cooked all the way through before the crisp burns. It's already cooked. Just get the crispy and you're good. It's streamlined and far less worrisome. And it gives you a solid 1.75 hours of down time instead of hovering over a skillet (like a parent over their moody, slightly weed-y smelling teenager's unattended cell phone, or a buzzard over something delicious and slightly fermented smack down the yellow line on the highway).  I'm just saying: there's less hovering happening. 
2. The second reason this turkey will crush other turkeys you've met in your life is the seasoning. After frying you'll sprinkle a spice mix on top that includes cinnamon, sumac (it's a citrusy-spice!) and garlic salt. I want to put it on everything now. We briefly contemplated whether or not we would be disowned from the family if we brought a small baggie of said spices to Thanksgiving. 

Curry Fried Turkey Sandwich Recipe

Makes enough for 2 sandwiches, plus extra turkey

Turkey Ingredients:

• 1 turkey breast with skin
• salt and pepper (we used grey sea salt)
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, ground
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander 
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 tablespoon sumac 
• canola oil
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 C + 2 T water

Directions: To prepare the turkey, take turkey breast and remove from bone (if contains bone). Use a sharp knife and remove the skin in a single piece. Set aside for later in the recipe.  Salt and pepper both sides of the turkey. Set sous vide for 150 F for traditional roast texture. When sous vide reaches temperature. add turkey (without skin) to a large ziplock bag and seal (remove all air by partially submerging the bag in the water bath and sealing. The water will push the air out). Clip the bag to the side of the water vessel and cook for an hour and 45 minutes.

Heat the oven for the turkey skin to 400 F. Place a piece of parchment on a baking sheet. Spread in a single layer. Season with salt and pepper. Cut a second piece of parchment and place on top of turkey skin. Use a second flat baking sheet to weigh down the top of the parchment during baking. Bake about 30 minutes until completely crisp (you should be able to pick it up and it should feel like a chip). 

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Cardamom Yogurt Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup 0% Siggi's Plain Yogurt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

• 2 teaspoon EVOO

Directions: Mix and refrigerate. 

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Pickled Cucumber Ingredients:

• 2 small English cucumbers
• 1/2 cup coconut vinegar

Directions: While the turkey is cooking: Make your pickles by slicing a baby english cucumber thinly into rounds. Toss in coconut vinegar and store in the fridge. 

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Roasted Veggie Ingredients

• 1 medium carrot
• 1 cup small cauliflower florets 
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 Tablespoon EVOO
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/8 teaspoon turmeric 
• 2 Tablespoons golden raisins
• 2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves 

Directions: Peel a medium carrot. Chop into thin obliques. Cut 1 cup of cauliflower florettes (small-you'll be stacking in a sandwich). Mince 1 clove of garlic and sprinkle with olive oil and spices. Toss. Roast at 400 F for 20-25 minutes until slightly browned and you can pierce carrots with a fork. Add golden raisins and fresh cilantro.

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Once the turkey is done, prepare the batter for frying and spice mix. 

To make batter: mix flour, corn starch and water in a bowl. Stir to mix completely. Heat a cast iron skillet with 2 inches of canola oil. Heat until at least 325 F. Slice turkey breast agains the grain into desired thickness for sandwich. Batter and drip off extra. Place in hot oil until golden brown on each side and place on baking rack. Top with spice blend on each side. 

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To build sandwich: spread each side of the roll with cardamom yogurt. Add turkey skin chip, fried turkey, vegetables, pickled cucumber together.