Lonely Boss Turkey For One


 Ingredients:

  • 1 turkey breast
  • 1 cup cranberries
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 1 packet of onion soup mix
Directions:
  1. In a saucepan, add 1 cup cranberries, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup orange juice, and enough water to just cover the cranberries (If you are using canned cranberries, omit sugar and water, stir together cranberries, orange juice and 1 packet onion soup mix and skip to step 6)
  2. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until the cranberries burst
  3. Add 1 packet of onion soup mix, stirring until combined
  4. Cook for another five minutes
  5. Put sauce into fridge for two hours to set
  6. Set slow cooker to slow. Put in 1 chicken breast and the sauce
  7. Cook for 6 hours
  8. Serve with sides, ladle sauce over the meat when plating
Special Equipment: A slow cooker

Source: My old boss for the turkey. My mother-in-law for the cranberry sauce

Yield: Enough for one lonely boss

Tips:

I mentioned it in the instructions, but the original recipe called for canned cranberries. I couldn't find them at this time of year, so I bought frozen and my mother-in-law advised me on how to turn it into a sauce. If it were standard, it would not include the onion soup mix, which is specific to this recipe. 

It does feel a little weird to combine a more manual version of something commonly pre-made, like the cranberry sauce, and then just using the pre-made version of something that could be done manually, like the soup mix. But the cranberry sauce was a move made out of necessity and I didn't bother to edit further

In other cranberry sauce recipes, they advise to bring the liquids to a boil before putting in the cranberries, but I was aready partway in when I read this. I don't feel like instructing in a way that I haven't practiced, so I'll leave this recipe the way that I did it.

Also, if using orange juice, you may not need to cover the cranberries with water as it might be a sufficient amount of liquid. But I started by covering the cranberries with water and adding the orange juice after. It turned out okay.

I couldn't find turkey breast this time of year, so I used legs and wings. If that seems like it would come to more than the single piece of meat suggested in the instructions, that's because it is. I actually made enough for Lee-Anne, my mom and brother. I was tempted to call this the Lonely Boss Turkey For One (x4) which would have been funny as a post, but I thought it simplest to put the single serving instructions with the option to multiply as needed.

If multiplying, use a meat thermometer to make sure it's at 165 F. Since I had four pieces of meat, I staggered between the high and low setting and cooked it a little longer. It was cooked through and tender.

Description:

I recently made my 1000th post on the main blog, which was a summary of every year that I've been publishing. To do this, I had to read the 999 entries that preceded it. This was a real trip down memory lane and I found some things that I've thought about on occasion but have been lost to time. This includes the transcription of the Friends of the Forest theme song, and this recipe from my old boss that I made once.

Despite Gryphood existing, and me making the dish and posting the recipe, I opted not to put it here because I thought it was too much of a gimmick. At this stage, I am not so discerning.

It was in 2020, early in the pandemic. I don't remember why, but my boss' wife wasn't at home for the holidays so he had a desire to make a quality but smaller-scale dinner for himself. I was in a relationship with Lee-Anne at the time, but it was during lockdown and she was in Brampton while I was in kitchener. So I made it with the intended purpose of being alone over the holidays. Unlike the example of this post, where I turned it into a whole family dinner.

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