Friday, September 28, 2012

Gluten-Free Recipe: Turkey Crumbles

This is a low-fat, low-sodium alternative to sausage or processed meat when recipes call for those things. It's also a passable topping for rice or salad, filling for omelets or sandwiches, or addition to beans, greens, or vegetable soups.

Ingredients for Turkey Crumbles

1 to 2 pounds ground turkey. Since most of the fat cooks out, the leaner the turkey you buy, the more you actually have after cooking. Organically grown turkey, or organically grown chicken, or even game is preferable to fatty, pre-salted commercial turkey; however, what you're doing to the turkey in this recipe is removing fat and any added salt.

Lots of water

1 teaspoon (or more) garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon (or less) red pepper

Up to 1/2 teaspoon total of other spice(s). Turkey Crumbles are bland enough to be a good test recipe for all kinds of spice mixtures, but the key to successfully mixing spices is to use only a reasonable total amount of dried herbs. A small amount of mixed spices will produce an exotically seasoned meat dish. A lot of mixed spices will make people wonder whether your spice rack fell on top of the stove. If you want a substitute for Jimmy Dean or Tennessee Pride sausages or Morningstar Farms Breakfast Patties, use 1/2 teaspoon of sage. If you want a substitute for Italian-type sausage, use 1/2 teaspoon of basil and three rosemary leaves, or a pre-purchased mix of basil, rosemary, and marjoram.

Method for Turkey Crumbles

1. Put the ground turkey in a saucepan with enough water to float comfortably. Set it on high heat. Don't cover, don't stir, and don't leave it alone after it begins to simmer. The minute it boils, snatch it off the heat, clap a lid on it, and let it cool for at least half an hour.

2. Skim off the fat. (Add it to a bowl of dry bread or kibble for a cat or dog treat.) Drain the water. Rinse the meat with fresh warm water.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 again.

4. After boiling out and skimming off fat the second time, turkey may be browned and seasoned by itself, or added to other ingredients to finish cooking. To brown it by itself, add just enough water to film the pan, add turkey, season, and stir it about until the water steams off. It should be light brown in spots, almost completely free from fat, and very tender.

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