A New Twist on Turkey and Stuffing

Thursday night's dinner was a re-invented Thanksgiving meal minus a lot of the sides.

We grilled a couple of turkey breast tenderloins which were covered in a homemade barbecue sauce made with lots of balsamic vinegar. We also grilled some fresh green beans which were tossed in olive oil with salt and pepper before hitting the grill. The other side dish was tomato dressing (a bread dressing with lots of fresh tomatoes thrown in). It was all delicious.

I started with the dressing by cubing a stale baguette. The bread cubes went in a bowl of chicken broth, a little heavy cream and a couple of eggs and allowed to saturate for 10 minutes. I stirred in lots of halved cherry tomatoes, diced fresh mozzarella, fresh sliced basil leaves and grated Parmesan. It all went into a casserole dish with a sprinkle of more Parmesan on top and into the oven for 1/2 hour. A much lighter twist on a dressing!

Meanwhile the sauce for the tenderloins was made by browning some onions in a little olive oil, then adding lots of balsamic vinegar, some ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire, Dijon mustard and salt and pepper. It was allowed to cook down to a thick syrupy mixture before being brushed on the turkey tenderloins. The tenderloins were cooked over charchoal, turning and glazing periodically.

The tartness of the sauce with the lean turkey was just a burst of flavor and went together beautifully with the green beans with the nice grill marks and the lightness of the dressing.

Gerry and I are both looking forward to having this meal again and again.

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