Red Marinade
The red comes from tomato paste and two paprikas rather than anything exotic. Everything in it is a hard herb with heat-stable oils, which is what makes it a marinade for searing rather than something you spoon over at the end. It was written for chicken and works exactly the same on turkey, which is what was in the fridge
Building the marinade is this post. The dressing that goes with it and the sear itself are in Sauce and sear
Slice the turkey
A kilo of turkey breast cut into strips and packed into a glass container. Everything else gets weighed into one measuring cup, and the cup does not get washed until the very end
Tomato paste and vinegar
Tomato paste goes in first, then red wine vinegar on top of it. The paste is the colour and most of the body, the vinegar is what keeps it from tasting like a pasta sauce
Oil and salt
Italian olive oil rather than anything neutral. It carries a peppery bite of its own and that came through in the finished meat, so it was the right call
Salt is the one number that does not scale with the rest. Everything else is about coating a surface, but salt is the only thing actually diffusing into the meat, so it tracks the weight of the turkey at roughly 1 to 1.2 percent
Honey
A small amount, enough to help the browning along without turning the pan into caramel. This is the ingredient that decides the pan temperature later
Garlic
Four cloves peeled and minced fine, weighed in on the flat of the knife in two goes
Rosemary, and go light
Rosemary is the one to be careful with. It is resinous and it turns soapy and almost medicinal if you overdo it, so it goes in minced very fine and in a much smaller amount than the other herbs
Oregano
The opposite problem. Oregano is the bulk herb here and takes twice what the rosemary does. Leaves stripped off the stems and chopped
Thyme, left whole
Strip thyme by pinching the top of the sprig and running your fingers down it against the growth direction. The leaves pop off and the woody stem stays in your other hand. They go in whole, not chopped, because the leaves are already small and chopping just bruises them and leaves the oil on the board
Pepper and the paprikas
Black pepper ground fresh in the mortar, then smoked paprika and sweet paprika in equal amounts. The smoked one is doing the heavy lifting, the sweet one is there for colour and to round it out
Whisk and pour
Whisked until it turns into a thick, even, deep red paste, then straight over the turkey and turned until every strip is coated
Recipe
Red marinade, for 1 kg turkey or chicken
| Good Units | Bad Units | Item | Directions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 kg | 2.2 lbs | Turkey breast | Slice into strips, into a container |
| 30 g | 1 tbsp | Tomato paste | Add to cup1 |
| 30 g | Red wine vinegar | Add to cup1 | |
| 80 g | Olive oil | Add to cup1 | |
| 10 - 12 g | Salt | Add to cup1 | |
| 7 g | Honey | Add to cup1 | |
| 20 g | ~ 4 cloves | Garlic | Grate or mince fine, add to cup1 |
| 3 g | Rosemary | Mince very fine, add to cup1 | |
| 6 g | Oregano | Chop, add to cup1 | |
| 2 g | 4 - 5 sprigs | Thyme | Strip off the stem, add whole to cup1 |
| 2 g | Black pepper | Grind, add to cup1 | |
| 5 g | 1 tsp | Smoked paprika | Add to cup1 |
| 5 g | 1 tsp | Sweet paprika | Add to cup1 |
| 2 g | Chili flakes | Optional, add to cup1 | |
| cup1 | Whisk until thick and even | ||
| Sliced turkey | Pour over, turn to coat every strip | ||
| 1 h+ | Coated turkey | Rest in the fridge, overnight is better |
Commentary, extra notes
- Chicken and turkey are interchangeable here, both lean white meat under a marinade thick enough to sit on the surface
- Rosemary and salt are the two easy ways to get this wrong: too much rosemary turns it medicinal, and salt follows the weight of the meat rather than the rest of the recipe
- The sugar in it decides the pan temperature. Searing, and what to do with the dressing and the pan juices, are in Sauce and sear