Citrusy Poblano Roasted Turkey
Citrusy Poblano Roasted Turkey smells heavenly cooking! This succulent, spicy sauce will rev up your simple Thanksgiving turkey with a Southwestern flair that tickles the taste buds! Loaded with citrus flavor and the delicate taste of poblano chilies, and a dash of cumin, try this at your next holiday gathering!
Citrusy Poblano Roasted Turkey is a very flexible recipe. Use up whatever citrus and peppers you have on hand!
- 1 large poblano chile pepper
- 1 habanero pepper (OPTIONAL - habaneros add a lot of heat!)
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 3 Key limes, juiced
- 1 tangelo or orange, juiced
- 3 tablespoons fresh garlic
- 1 teaspoon cracked pepper
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 whole turkey, about 16 lbs
Blend chilies, citrus juice, garlic and spices in a food processor or Vita-Mix, until well blended, instantly creating a spicy, gourmet, Southwestern style sauce.
Taste sauce with spoon, adjust salt or seasonings if needed.
Prepare turkey by removing neck and bag of innards, then rinse cavities thoroughly. Place rinsed turkey in oven proof cooking bag. Reynolds makes great bags - that make baking and clean up so easy!
Pour Citrusy Poblano sauce over turkey.
Seal cooking bag with fastener, following directions on the bag. POKE HOLES in the top of the bag, with a knife (which helps steam escape the turkey.
Pop in a 350 oven, following basic turkey roasting guidelines on the turkey wrapper. Our 16lb turkey cooked about 4 hours, at 350 and was done.
With the peppy green flavor of the poblano peppers, it would make a fun St. Patrick's Day meal!
This flavorful roasted turkey would be ideal for Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner as well!
Cranberry Jalapeno Salsa
- 2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen, chopped
- 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 orange, zest first, then juice - you are using the WHOLE orange wisely!
- 2 teaspoons ginger, minced
- 1 jalapeno or cayenne pepper, seeded and finely chopped (or two!)
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Optional
- 1-2 Key limes, juiced (or 1 small lime juiced)
Cooking instructions:
Rinse cranberries well, discarding any bad berries. Lightly chop cranberries. Chop onions into small pieces. Peel and mince ginger. Chop pepper into fine pieces.
Zest orange first, collecting zest. Juice orange and lime if using.
Put cranberries, chopped onions, orange zest, orange juice, minced ginger and diced pepper into a medium sized saucepan, over medium heat. Stir well to incorporate flavors, bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes, with a lid on, stirring occassionally.
Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add cilantro. Taste and adjust seasonings, it may need a little more salt or if your cranberries are super tart, a drop or two of stevia to sweeten it up a bit. We love it just like this!
You can make this a day or two ahead, which allows the flavors to meld. Pour cranberry sauce into a container to serve.
Leftover Lunches
Hubby is spoiled. Taking different combinations of the side dishes, we assembled several lunches for him. Varying the veggies instantly turns this into slightly different meals to freeze and reheat. Incidentally, even the Cranberry Jalapeno Salsa froze beautifully!
Am I the only person that prepares all of these gorgeous lunches for hubby, feed the freezer and carefully rotate to make sure he has flavor and variety....then scramble daily for my own lunch!