Beer-Braised Turkey & Potatoes

Instead of drinking a beer with my turkey dinner, why not cut out my glass as the middle man and cook my turkey dinner in beer? Party time: redefined.

Going into making this dish I was super excited. You can call me lame but I had been looking forward to making dinner all day- and for good reason I was later glad to find out. This was my first time experimenting with beer braising. YUM! On top of that, I busted out my belated birthday gift from my bestie Raquel that has been collecting dust- my very first dutch oven. Before you think, I have 3 younger brothers- and it’s not that kind. It’s the other kind…the big cast iron vessel with a tight lid.

Not only was this dish extremely fun to make, it was super easy and only required the one pot! Easy clean up baby. This dish is perfect for super bowl weekend. The turkey comes out super juicy as do the potatoes, and the beer aroma that your apartment (or house) will have is perfect for game day! Happy Super Bowl dudes. Ladies, make this and run.

Ingredients: 

• 2-3 lb turkey breast 
• spice rub; coriander, hungarian paprika, dried rosemary, salt, pepper and cayenne
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 small yellow onion, minced
• 1 carrot, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 4 oz. shiitake mushrooms, diced
• 2-3 cups chopped potato medley
• 12 oz. beer (I used Blue Moon’s seasonal Valencia beer)

Procedure:

Clean the turkey breast to the best of your ability, leaving on the skin for flavor. Take the spice rub and give that breast a rub down. Too vulgur? Sorry. I’m not sorry.

Now, there are a few simple steps to braising.

#1: Sear the meat on your stovetop. In this case, place the dutch oven over a medium high heat with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot, place the turkey breast in the pot and let each side brown for about 3-4 minutes each.  Now, when both sides have been browned, take out the turkey breast and set it aside.

#2: Sauté your mirepoix in the juices left behind. In this case, put the carrots, onions, celery and shiitake mushrooms in the pot and stir these vegetables for about 8 minutes, until they are lightly browned.  Here I added a little extra salt and white pepper.

#3: Deglaze the pot with the braising liquid. Time for the beer! Pour in the 12 oz bottle of beer, make sure to scrape whatever bits from the mirepoix that might be stuck to the bottom. Those little guys will help to add a lot of flavor.

#4: Finally, braise the meat. Put the turkey back into the liquid now, the meat should not be submerged- more like sitting in a wading pool. Bring the liquid to a simmer.

#5: Throw in  the chopped garlic and the potatoes.  At this point  I added extra dried rosemary on top of the potatoes and also used my MISTO olive oil sprayer to spray some olive oil on the potatoes. Cover the dutch oven and place in the oven to cook for 45-50 minutes on 325. Serves 4-6, enjoy!!!!