As the Holidays fast approach, I’m reminded that turkey breast pack more nutrition and “uumph” than the bodybuilding staple of chicken breast (albeit more expensive).
Ko…any recipes and/or tips for a yummy and moist piece of turkey breast, or in cooking the white meat of turkey in general without it drying out?
(Patricia…as I remember, the Selin’s really liked turkey breast and were some of the first to advocate it in the mags. As I’ve said before, Hannu was WAY ahead of his time in getting bodybuilders away from plain rice and dried chicken breast).
Several months ago, we had a pretty good thread going called “Turkey.” It turned out to be a great discussion on how to make it healthy, and since then, I’ve been cooking a 6-7 lb. bird every weekend. I just buy the turkey breast, not the entire bird. Then, I pull off the skin (it’s easy-comes off in about 30 seconds). It’s been a big help for eating on the go and it’s a LOT better than my bone dry chicken. Note to Steve Coppola: Out of respect for you, I did not use my chicken analogy:)
Mufasa: well, we had to go to show our support for a competitor (Open Men, Middleweight). He’s pretty cool, trains at our gym. He’s going to begin the 5x5 program as soon as he’s ready to hit the gym. We had printed out that program as well as a variety of John Berardi articles for him to read. We’ve converted him to the gospels of T-Mag, so to speak.
Anyways, the contest was the Northwest Championships - www.northwestbodybuilding.com. A show promoted by Frank Bohm (I had competed in his Vancouver Natural Championships 2001). Oh as most who have attended these shows know: there's the usual array of big guys waddling about and big women, with big hair, with deep voices in tight clothing. Yup, the circus was in town. hee hee. What was REALLY wierd was the posing routines of most of the women competitors. They were really bad. Embarassingly bad. "Hold back your laughter since you could be sitting behind their (competitor's), husband or mother" bad. And there was one guy who posed to "Kung Fu Fighting" and actually tried to act like he was "kung fu fighting" during his routine. Uh huh. Folks, this is a National Qualifying contest -please, please treat it as such! And Ko and I always try to see just when we'll hear such BB contest posing music classics as ACDC's Back in Black, Def Leppard's Rock of Ages or ANY Janet Jackson. And we did not have long to wait! As a matter of fact, all of these and MORE famous tunes from the 80's and 70's were used. WHAT a treat.
The men were in REALLY good shape - however, that was not the same case for the women. There's always that one competitor with NO tan, who's like *ahem* soft, fat or just should NOT have been on the stage - 'cept there were at least four of them here. Stella asked me "why DO these people compete?" My answer? "They have NO friends." Because, in my mind, any REAL friend would say, "you know, why don't you pass this show and compete when YOUR READY." Craig Titus, his big belly and his wife, Kelly Ryan were the guess posers. Kelly was amazing and Craig was big and white(and four weeks away from the Olympia). I very rarely attend contests anymore, only if I'm a competitor do I go. While it is refreshing to know that some of these people (involved in BB here) are pretty cool and well rounded - they are the exceptions and not the rule. Yup, BB is pretty much entrenched into that "subculture". One cool hightlight: a booth handed Stella and I each free copies of Testosterone magazine and another booth was selling Biotest products. And our competitor friend was ripped and hard(although a tad flat), had a good showing.
One thing you could do is cut it into steaks. and gill them using your favorite spice blend. Do not cut them thick, shoot for 1/2inch slices. This way they will cook quickly and evenly. Eric mentioned the “dry chicken breast syndrome”. The reason people have this problem is because you have to cook chicken well done. By the time the inner part is completely cooked, the outer meat is completely dry. To solve this, “butter fly” your breast. They will cook faster and evenly. Another method for a moist turkey or chicken breast is poaching. I like to do it in the oven.Salt and pepper your turkey breast, and let it set for an few minutes. Then place it in an oven proof pan (it should be deep enough that you can almost cover the breast with liquid). Add the following: 1 shallot (small onion will work)sliced, 2 clove of garlic minced, 2 bay leaves, juice of one lemon, cup of white wine, 1/4 cup of olive oil, and enough chicken stock to cover (water if you do not have stock). A couple of optional ingredients: a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary, thyme, and parsley. Cover the pan with foil, and put into a 350 oven for 45-minutes to an hour (this may vary depending on your oven and the size of the breast). You can slice it up for sandwiches or cut into chunks for salads etc.
O, Patricia! You make me laugh with your descriptions of the event.
I still wonder why fat people want to pose on the stage. I'd be so embarrassed. Cottage thighs + thongs = "Ack! Somebody make me blind!!!!"
Oh BTW -- Ko makes the meanest and bestest omelete. Yum...... I think I need to relocate to Portland just so that I can eat the omelete every day. Ko also makes great guacamole.
ko: I like the “tanginess” of vinegar in recipes (guess it comes from mom’s Southern Cooking…she never really used wine).
Is vinegar a viable substitute for wine in the above recipe? If so, what is the best vinegar to cook with? (My understanding is that you use 1/2 the vinegar with the other 1/2 water to substitute for the same total volume of wine?). THANKS!
I personally think that the vinegar would be a little too harsh, but since I have never tried it, I cannot be sure. I personally would up the lemon juice a little, but if you decide try the vinegar, use white wine vinegar, and maybe a 1/4 cup.