Smoked Turkey Breast Cognac Casserole

[Henrik]

Hey pit masters, here's a dish I've made many times. There's a good reason, it's so darn savory, rich and flavorful!

Smoke turkey breast, and then let it simmer with pickled onions, prunes, cognac, apples and double cream. What's not to like? Dang dang good. And easy to make :-)

Here's the lowdown:

Ingredients

2.2 lb turkey breast
2 tsp salt
2.5 cups double cream
7 tbsp cognac
10 prunes
30 pickled onions
3 apples Granny Smith
white pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar

Instructions
Dry brine the meat with 1 tsp salt overnight.

Smoke the meat in your favorite grill with your favorite smoke wood. I used a Big Green Eggg and hickory. Smoke it for 30-40 minutes until inner temp is 55° C / 131° F, i.e. not quite done.

Let the chopped prunes and the pickled onions simmer in a frying pan with the cognac for 2-3 minutes. Then slice the turkey in 1/2 inch slices and add to the pan. Then add the cream and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Now add the apples (roughly chopped), with the other tsp of salt, the sugar, and white pepper to taste. Let it simmer 3-5 minutes, and then it's ready to serve.

I usually serve this with a bowl of rice. It has great flavor, and I've served many guests, and they all really like it. The cognac and prunes add a real nice natural sweetness. And smoked turkey is the dot over the I.

Raw turkey




Let's get that fire started




Turkey with a nice smoke color




The main ingredient line-up (mice en place)




Simmering the onion and prunes in cognac




Adding the turkey




And here's the final result. Good stuff.



Have an amazing weekend y'all!

[grantgallagher]

That looks awesome! I love those little cocktail onions. I almost always finish the whole jar just as snack food!

[Henrik]

I couldn’t even have guessed that one with a gun to my head, Ahumadora 😄

[treesmacker]

And what to do with the extra Cognac?

[Henrik]

treesmacker - what extra cognac?

[Ahumadora]

Exquiste as always Henrik. A clear win for Sweden!!

[Henrik]

Thank you Craig!

[klflowers]

No double cream around here. I have already started looking for alternatives, or ways to make my own without owning a cow lol.

[grantgallagher]

Double cream is just the UK/european term for heavy or whipping cream. You must be able to get that around you.

To be fair it is a little thicker, more butterfat, but im pretty sure subbing in heavy cream would be fine. Or if you get clotted cream then you could even thin that out a little.

Or, you could whip a few egg yolks into the heavy cream before adding and that will help thicken it up a bit more.

[klflowers]

Thanks, grantgallagher. I had already looked it up and found that heavy cream might be a good alternative, but since I am so anal, I want to see if I can get closer to that higher fat content. Cause that's exactly what I need, cream with a higher fat content lol.

[Spinaker]

Wow, this looks really good. That sauce is the stuff that dreams are made of. Heavy Whipping cream sauce to boot, sign me up.

[Henrik]

Yup, cream does the trick. Plus the cognac of course. I simmer it to get rid of the alcohol, the flavor the cognac adds is an instant hit.

[Chuck in Charlotte]

Wow, that looks awesome Henrik. Do you think it would work with duck instead of turkey?

[Henrik]

Thanks! Yes, if you watch temps closely. Duck turns tough/chewy fast if you overshoot temp.

[Elton's BBQ]

This looks really good Henrik
Have to be tried..

[ShellandSwine]

Going to try it this weekend, looks good! I don't have cognac; but I do have some Paul Masson grande amber brandy. Any comments on the substitution?

[Henrik]

Cool! No, brandy should work too :-)

[ShellandSwine]

Made it today and oh man that was good!! Thanks for the recipe!

[Henrik]

Nice, great to hear!!