We've already told you that Compound Butter Is Sous Vide Cooking's Best Friend. One of our favorite compound butter blends is based on the herb mixture that Gordon Hamersley used on his famous roast chicken.
Here we've used it on a boned turkey breast. Using her copy of Bistro Cooking at Home By Gordon Hamersley, Penny made a compound butter with unsalted butter, herbs de Province, parsley, rosemary, and lemon zest.
She butterflied the turkey breast, slathered the inside with the lovely stuff, rolled it, tied it with butcher string, rolled it in more of the mixture, and popped it into a sous vide bag,
Since this turkey would be sous vide rather than roasted, she added minced shallots and crushed whole cloves of garlic along with a good glug of olive oil to the bag with the turkey. At 145 degrees, the garlic and shallots will add flavor to the bag juices, but they will not cook and would become a raw note in the herb paste.
Our Joule sous vide was set in a pot of water, heated to 145 degrees, and when ready, the turkey was cooked for two and a half hours.
When the Joule announced the turkey was done, Penny took it out, saved the collected juices in the bag, patted the turkey dry (leaving any clinging herbs in place), and seared the outside in more olive oil and a pad of the compound butter.
While the turkey waited on the cutting board, the bag juices were added to the searing pan to deglaze and reduce. One final pat of the compound butter was used to emulsify those juices off-heat for a rich and delicious pan sauce!
And, if you prefer visual instruction, here is a link to Gordon Hamersley's appearance with Julia Child as a part of her Master Chefs series. You can watch him make this herb mixture and then use his measurements to adapt it for a compound butter. (Penny opted not to add the mustard this time, but might try adding it to either the butter or the bag another time.)
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino