When it comes to lunch meat, in my opinion, none of the commercially available meat compares to what you can do at home. First of all, in your typical deli counter meat or pre-packaged meat, in addition to added nitrates, the turkey breasts are injected with water and carrageenan. And you’re paying for all of that.

I prefer to go the all-natural route, with unprocessed, healthy, and organic ingredients. And with this recipe, the turkey stays very moist and very flavorful. Let’s get going:

Herb Rub

What you need:

• ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I like the organic olive oil from De La Rosa)
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• Fresh Herbs – Basil, Oregano, Sage, Thyme, Rosemary, or any combination.
• ½ to a full head of pealed garlic

What you do:

Combine all of the ingredients in a small food processor. Blend together until you have a nice herb paste. If it’s too dry, add a touch more oil. If it’s too wet, add more herbs. Feel free to mix and match from my suggested herbs. If there’s one you don’t like, don’t use it.

The Turkey

What you need:

• 1 KOL Foods boneless turkey breast.
• 1 large onion (cut into thick rounds)
• 1 small sautéed onion
• ½ head of roasted garlic
• 1- cup of white wine
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup
• Kosher salt
• Granulated garlic
• Butcher‘s Twine (Do NOT use a nylon string)
• Probe thermometer

What You Do:

The key to this is proper preparation. If you prep properly first, I guarantee that this will be one of the best turkey breasts you’ve ever eaten. By the way, if you use all organic ingredients in addition to the KOL Foods turkey, you’ll really be eating healthy.

First get an oven preheated from 225˚f to 250˚f. Then, get an oven-roasting pan ready with sides that are about 2 inches. This is so all of the drippings stay in the pan. On the bottom of the pan, place the thickly cut onions.

For this next step, you can experiment to find the best method for you. Take the KOL Foods turkey breast and place on top of the onions, skin side down. Lightly sprinkle the inside of the breast with kosher salt and granulated garlic. Then smear the inside with the sautéed onions and roasted garlic. If you want to kick it up a bit, add some of the herb rub as well.

Next, tuck the bottom edges into the middle so that the breast is ‘stuffed’ with the onions, garlic and herbs. Now, tie the breast up using your butcher’s twine. Simply put some of the string under the breast and tie a slipknot. If you were a Boy Scout like me, two half hitches is my knot of choice. Then cinch up the string to pull the breast close together. Cut the string from the supply. Repeat this step starting from one end of the breast to the opposite end until the entire breast is tied up. For an average size breast, you will tie about five to six knots.

If you have a KOL Foods turkey breast that is already in a roasting net, you can either cut the net open and proceed as above, or simply skip that step and proceed to the next step.

Flip the breast so that it is on the thickly cut onions, skin side up. Leave any of the herbs etc that may have fallen out of the breast in the pan. As you did with the inside of the breast, sprinkle the outside with the salt and granulated garlic. Then, rub the entire outside with the remaining herb rub. You’ll want to cover as much of the breast as you can. If you don’t have fresh herbs, you can use dried herbs.

Next insert the tip of your probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast. Set an alarm on the thermometer to go off when the breast reaches between 145˚f and 150˚f. I put a small layer of Moscato wine into the bottom of the pan. This will help to keep the breast moist and it combines with the dripping to help form a wonderfully flavorful au-jus.

Put the turkey into your preheated oven, have a glass of wine, and relax. Or, you can make some traditional accompaniments, such as garlic-mashed potatoes, Asian green beans, gingered carrots, bread stuffing or even some of my cranberry cosmopolitan sauce.

Once the thermometer tells you that the breast is up to temperature, take the turkey out of the oven. Put the oven on broil. While it heats up, drizzle the top of the bird with some pure maple syrup. If you don’t have or care for maple syrup you can use your favorite honey. Once the broiler is ready, put the turkey back into the oven to brown the skin. Keep a careful eye on it because the sugars in the maple syrup will caramelize quickly and brown. You do not want to burn the skin.

Once done, take the turkey out. Leave it in the pan and loosely cover with foil. Let it rest about a half an hour. Once rested, you’re ready to slice. Put it on your cutting board; remove the strings and slice from one end.

I like to serve this traditionally over some potatoes or stuffing with the pan drippings drizzled on top. Or open face over some fresh bread or in a sandwich. By the way, I also like to slice up the meat, pre-portion it into vacuum seal bags, and then freeze it. It’s great when you want a healthy sandwich.

Remember the KOL Foods turkey is completely pastured, fed organic feed, and never injected with antibiotics or growth hormones. In my humble opinion, this is likely the healthiest lunchmeat you can serve, especially to your family.

Happy eating and L’Chaim . . .

Avi.