Prep Time: 6 hours
Cook Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
- *** Brine ***
- 1 gal. apple cider
- 1 cup Kosher salt
- 4 sprigs fresh sage or 1 Tbsp. rubbed sage
- 1 sm. onion; chopped
- 5 peppercorns
- *** Turkey ***
- 1/2 bone-in turkey breast*
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 1/4 tsp. rubbed sage
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. ground pepper
Preparation:
Brine:
1. Combine all brine ingredients in a stock pot and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve salt.
2. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
3. Six hours before cooking, submerge the turkey in the brine refrigerate for 6 hours. Alternatively, you can brine the breast a day or two in advance, then remove from the brine, rinse, pat dry, and store in a sealed container until ready to cook.
Cook:
4. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter with sage.
5. Brush breast with butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
6. Cook breast for about 45 minutes until an instant-read thermometer** inserted in the center of the breast reads 160 degrees.
7. Remove from oven and tent with foil. Rest for 15 minutes before slicing.
*Note 1: You may be able to get your butcher to cut the breast in half. Don't use a breast that is self-basting or Kosher as they have already been brined.
**Note 2: I can't emphasize enough the value of an instant-read thermometer (compare prices) when roasting any kind of meat. Oven sensors are notoriously inaccurate and variable, so relying on time to determine doneness is completely undependable - and those pop-up thermometers will always overcook the bird.
