Pavochon

I am becoming more and more convinced that the best way to prepare a whole turkey or a turkey breast is to treat it like a pork roast. It all started a few years ago when I decided to prepare a turkey in the style of an arista, which is a way in Tuscany to prepare pork roasts. I prepared the rub - an amazing mixture of rosemary, garlic, fennel seeds, cloves and lemon zest. That arista-style has become my go-to recipe, and, indeed, perhaps one of Chef Bolek's signature recipes. 

There also happens to be more than one way to prepare a pork roast, as this blog readily demonstrates. If you check out My Personal Cookbook or the Recipe Vault, you can find several different types of pork roast recipes.  

Recently, I decided that it was time to try to prepare a whole turkey or turkey breast in another pork roast style. As I noted above, there are a lot of different ways to prepare pork roasts. Ultimately, I decided to try to prepare a turkey in the style of a Puerto Rican lechon or pork roast. 

A few caveats at the outset. I have yet to prepare a pork roast in a lechon style. So, it seems a little presumptuous to skip over the pig and head straight to the turkey. Still, I had a turkey breast in the deep freeze and no pork roast on hand. So practicality won over technicality. A found a recipe for a turkey done in a lechon style -- or pavochon, with el pavo being Spanish for turkey -- on The Spruce Eats and decided to make it. 

The recipe had a bonus: I could make my own adobo spice mix. Adobo is typically made from garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, and oregano; however, there are versions that include turmeric (like this one) and citrus zest. As you may know, the use of turmeric -- the golden spice -- turns everything to a golden yellow color. Everything including the outside of the turkey breast. 

Still, the recipe is relatively easy to make and the end product was good for a first time. To be sure, the next time I want to make lechon, it will be with a pork roast. 

PAVOCHON

Recipe for turkey from The Spruce Eats

Recipe for the adobo spice mix adapted from The Spruce Eats

Serves Several

Ingredients (for the adobo spice mix):

• 3 tablespoons salt
• 3 tablespoons granulated garlic
• 2 tablespoons oregano
• 1 tablespoons black pepper
• 1 tablespoon turmeric
• 1 tablespoon onion powder

Ingredients (for the turkey):

• 1 head of garlic (cloves separated and peeled)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon whole black pepper
• 3 tablespoons adobo
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 turkey (about 14 pounds) or turkey breast

Directions:

1. Prepare the adobo spice mix.  Combine the salt, granulated garlic, oregano, black pepper, turmeric and onion powder. Whisk the ingredients together until well mixed.

2. Prepare the marinade.  Mash the garlic and salt into a paste using a mortar and pestle. Add the peppercorns and adobo. Continue to mash the ingredients into a paste. Stir in the olive oil and apple cider vinegar into the mash. Rub the mixture under the skin and in the cavities, as well as on the skin, covering the entire turkey. Tie the legs together with twine.  Let the turkey rest at room temperature for 2 hours. 

3. Roast the turkey. Heat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Roast the turkey for about three hours or until the breast meat reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit and the thigh meat reaches 175 degrees Fahrenheit. 

4. Finish the dish. Once the turkey reaches the proper temperature, remove from the oven, cover and let rest for about 30 minutes. Carve and serve immediately.

ENJOY!

Chipotle-Garlic Roasted Turkey Thighs with Roasted Potatoes and Turkey Crackling

It has been a while since I tried to create my own recipes, or a recipe that I would deem worthy of being published on this blog. To be sure, I am not a professional chef.  I cannot expect that I will create dishes at a level of many of the chefs that I follow through social media.   That is not really the objective of this blog.  Instead, this blog is about my journey through food.  It is about learning new things about ingredients, cooking techniques, cuisines and much, much more.  

Yet, there are times when I return to things I know and love.  I know how to roast a turkey thigh.  I love the combination of Mexican inspired ingredients, such as chipotle peppers, garlic, cumin, and adobo, in a rub.   That is how this recipe for Chipotle-Garlic Roasted Turkey Thighs developed.  I purchased a couple of bone-in, skin-on turkey thighs and returned home to rifle through my spice drawer to get together all of ingredients for the rub.   

Once I gathered all of the ingredients, I stopped and looked at the thighs, focusing upon the skin.  I could prepare these thighs with the skin, hoping that the skin would crisp up by the time the thighs themselves were cooked.  That had not always happened in the past.  Or, I should say, the skin has not always been as crisp as I would have liked it.    I was halted, at least for the moment.  The question was what to do with the skin.

The answer came in one word.  Crackling.  I have passed bags of pork crackling on the shelves of my local grocery store.  I thought to myself, "why can't I make turkey crackling."  Apparently, that thought had crossed the minds of many others.  There are many different recipes for turkey crackling.  However, they all say the same thing -- stretch the skin out on a non-stick pan or baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, and bake until brown and crispy at about 350 degrees Fahrenheit in the oven.

As one question was answered, another arose.  What to do with the crackling?  One obvious answer was simply to eat it.  I decided that I would break it up and add it to the potatoes that would be roasted with the turkey thighs.   Once that decision was made, the recipe was set and the cooking commenced ....

CHIPOTLE-GARLIC TURKEY THIGHS WITH 

ROASTED POTATOES AND TURKEY CRACKLING
A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
2 turkey thighs, with skin and bones
2-3 large garlic cloves, diced finely
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
1/2 teaspoon toasted, granulated onion
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon adobo powder
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 pound of red skinned potatoes
1 onion, peeled and quartered

Directions:

1.  Make crackling.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Remove turkey skin from thighs.  Spread skin on baking sheet and salt generously.  Bake the skin for 30 minutes until brown and crispy.  Remove from the oven and place turkey skin on a plate.  Set aside.

2.  Prepare marinade.  De-bone thighs.  Combine garlic, chipotle powder, granulated onion, Kosher salt, dried oregano and adobo powder.  Apply marinade to turkey thighs.  Place thighs in the refrigerator to marinate for 1 to 2 hours.

3.  Boil the potatoes.   Clean the potatoes. Slice the potatoes in half.  Bring a pot of water to boiling.  Add the potatoes and boil until almost tender, about 5 to 10 minutes.  Drain and set aside for the moment.

4.  Roast the turkey thighs.  Increase the temperature of the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place the turkey thighs in a roasting pan with the onions and potatoes.  Roast for 15 minutes and then lower the temperature to 375 degrees.  Continue roasting until the temperature of the turkey is 165 degrees Fahrenheit, about 35 to 40 minutes.   

Southwestern Bean Burgers with Jalapeno Guacamole and Chipotle Fries

Recently, I wanted to make black bean burgers for my beautiful Angel.  I soon learned that there are a seemingly endless number of black bean burger recipes on the Internet.  I reviewed several of those recipes, but none of them really stood out to me.  As I began to wonder what to do, I came across a recipe for Southwestern Black Bean Burgers for Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries, which was provided by Katherine Martinelli on her website.  The recipe incorporated chipotle peppers and adobo into the burgers.  I have previously professed my love for chipotle peppers in connection with The Inferno Steak recipe.  So, with the opportunity to use chipotle chiles, I chose Martinelli's black bean burger recipe.  

As I got ready to make the dish, I made a couple of changes to the recipe.  The biggest change was the substitution of sweet potatoes with regular potatoes.  I am not a big fan of sweet potatoes and so I decided that I would use Russet potatoes in their place.  The other major change is that I decided that I would make a guacamole to serve with the bean burgers.  I found a fairly basic recipe for guacamole on the Internet, which was posted by Bargain Briana, and I was ready to make the meal.

There was one curveball.  I bought all of the ingredients that I needed for the black bean burgers, fries and guacamole, except one ... the buns.   Unwilling to head back out to the grocery store, I decided to improvise and used slices of a beefsteak tomato for the "buns."  The tomato slices actually were much better than a bun, the substitution reduced the amount of carbohydrates and lightened the dish. 

SOUTHWESTERN BLACK BEAN BURGERS WITH 

JALAPENO GUACAMOLE AND CHIPOTLE FRIES 

Recipe for the burgers and fries adapted from Katherine Martelli

Recipe for the guacamole adapted from Bargain Briana

Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients (for the burgers):

1 (14 ounce) can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup of corn kernels (defrosted, if frozen)

1 chipotle in adobo (from can, reserve the rest for later)

1/2 teaspoon adobo liquid

1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped

1 egg

1 cup of bread crumbs

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 very large beefs steak tomato

Salt

Ground pepper

Ingredients (for the Chipotle Fries):

2 Russet potatoes, cut into thick matchsticks

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of chipotle powder

Ingredients (for the Jalapeno Guacamole):

2 avocados, ripe

1 red onion, diced

1 lime

1/2 bunch of cilantro

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

1.  Prepare the chipotle fries. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Toss the fries with the olive oil, chipotle powder and salt.  Lay the fries on a baking sheet and bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until tender and starting to get crispy.   Shake the fries halfway through the baking.  

2.  Prepare the bean burgers.  Put the black beans, corn, chipotle, adobo liquid and cilantro in a food processor.  Transfer to a bowl, add the egg, bread crumbs and garlic powder.  Mix all of the ingredients together.  Season with salt and pepper.  Form into two large or four small even patties.  Place the patties on a baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.  

3.  Prepare the jalapeno guacamole.  Add the avocados, red onion, lime juice, jalapeno pepper, cilantro, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Mash the avocados and all of the other ingredients until the desired consistency is reached.  

4.  Cook the burgers.  Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the black bean burgers and cook until browned on both sides, flipping once, about 8 minutes total. 

Overall, this dish impressed me.  I am not a big fan of black bean burgers, but the use of chipotle peppers in the mix really provided the burger with a spicy, smoky kick.  Clare really liked this dish as well, which means that I'll be making it again. 

ENJOY!