Course
Main
Duration
45 minutes
Serves
4
It’s easy to overlook the tenderloins on a bird. They might be small, but these tender pieces of meat live up to their name. I prefer to cook tenderloins separately, despite the size. You can serve them as an appetizer or decide to spoil yourself with dinner for one.
A single tendon runs through each tenderloin. A little tearing is inevitable when you cut it out. For this reason, I keep them in on small birds to avoid mutilating the precious meat before cooking. However, a turkey’s tenderloins can be a substantial amount of meat, especially if you bag a big tom. You will want to remove the tendons before cooking.
This recipe uses a smoky molasses marinade for grilling. Dip each tender in the Romesco sauce, a Spanish condiment made of roasted bell peppers and tomatoes.
Ingredients
- 1/2 – 1 lb. of turkey tenderloins or breast meat
- 1 tbsp. sherry vinegar (substitute with red wine vinegar)
- 1/2 tsp. smoked salt (substitute with sea salt)
- Pinch of black pepper
- 2 tsp. light molasses
- 1 tsp. honey
- 1/4 cup cooking oil
Romesco
- 2 red bell peppers
- 3 vine tomatoes
- 1/4 yellow onion wedge
- 1 head of garlic
- 2 tbsp. sherry vinegar (substitute with red wine vinegar)
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Also works with
Special equipment
Preparation
Romesco Sauce
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Spread the tomatoes and onion wedge across a sheet tray. Drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast the tomatoes and onion in the oven until they’re soft and fragrant, about 25 minutes or longer. Wrap the whole head of garlic in a small piece of foil and place directly in the oven to roast.
- While the tomatoes are roasting, pulse the almonds in a food processor or blender until you reach a fine, granular consistency.
- Towards the end of roasting, rub a small amount of oil on the bell peppers and set directly on the top rack. Change the oven’s setting to broil. Blacken the skin of the bell peppers, use tongs to periodically turn until it’s charred all the way around. It’s a good idea to have foil underneath to catch any liquids that drip so they don’t burn. Remove from oven.
- Allow everything to cool to the touch. Peel back the skin from the tomatoes and bell pepper and discard. Remove the stem, core and seeds from the bell pepper. Try to save the juices. Add the tomatoes and bell pepper to the food processor.
- Cut off the root end of the onion wedge and garlic, squeezing out the cloves. Add both to the food processor.
- Combine the remaining ingredients to the food processor and puree until smooth. This recipe yields about 3 cups worth, so you can freeze portions of it for future use. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Tenderloins
- Remove the tendons from each turkey tenderloin. Using a sharp knife, make a slash where the tendon meets the flesh on both sides to expose the end. Pinch the end of the tendon between your fingers and pull while holding the edge of the blade against it. Allow your knife to naturally slide down the length of the tendon to separate. Be careful not to shred the meat apart, but it’s OK if it separates into two long pieces.
- Make the marinade by whisking the sherry vinegar, salt, pepper, molasses, honey and oil together. Pour this mixture over the tenderloins and allow it to rest in the fridge for at least an hour. The tenderloins are very tender, but need a little time to soak in flavor.
- Pre-heat a grill over very high. Use tongs to lay each piece down, letting the flames kick up and char the outside. Keep the lid open and cook for roughly 2-4 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. If you don’t want to grill, you can also sear in a hot sauté pan.
- Serve with the Romesco sauce.
It’s easy to overlook the tenderloins on a bird. They might be small, but these tender pieces of meat live up to their name. I prefer to cook tenderloins separately, despite the size. You can serve them as an appetizer or decide to spoil yourself with dinner for one.
A single tendon runs through each tenderloin. A little tearing is inevitable when you cut it out. For this reason, I keep them in on small birds to avoid mutilating the precious meat before cooking. However, a turkey’s tenderloins can be a substantial amount of meat, especially if you bag a big tom. You will want to remove the tendons before cooking.
This recipe uses a smoky molasses marinade for grilling. Dip each tender in the Romesco sauce, a Spanish condiment made of roasted bell peppers and tomatoes.
Ingredients
- 1/2 – 1 lb. of turkey tenderloins or breast meat
- 1 tbsp. sherry vinegar (substitute with red wine vinegar)
- 1/2 tsp. smoked salt (substitute with sea salt)
- Pinch of black pepper
- 2 tsp. light molasses
- 1 tsp. honey
- 1/4 cup cooking oil
Romesco
- 2 red bell peppers
- 3 vine tomatoes
- 1/4 yellow onion wedge
- 1 head of garlic
- 2 tbsp. sherry vinegar (substitute with red wine vinegar)
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Also works with
Special equipment
Preparation
Romesco Sauce
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Spread the tomatoes and onion wedge across a sheet tray. Drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast the tomatoes and onion in the oven until they’re soft and fragrant, about 25 minutes or longer. Wrap the whole head of garlic in a small piece of foil and place directly in the oven to roast.
- While the tomatoes are roasting, pulse the almonds in a food processor or blender until you reach a fine, granular consistency.
- Towards the end of roasting, rub a small amount of oil on the bell peppers and set directly on the top rack. Change the oven’s setting to broil. Blacken the skin of the bell peppers, use tongs to periodically turn until it’s charred all the way around. It’s a good idea to have foil underneath to catch any liquids that drip so they don’t burn. Remove from oven.
- Allow everything to cool to the touch. Peel back the skin from the tomatoes and bell pepper and discard. Remove the stem, core and seeds from the bell pepper. Try to save the juices. Add the tomatoes and bell pepper to the food processor.
- Cut off the root end of the onion wedge and garlic, squeezing out the cloves. Add both to the food processor.
- Combine the remaining ingredients to the food processor and puree until smooth. This recipe yields about 3 cups worth, so you can freeze portions of it for future use. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Tenderloins
- Remove the tendons from each turkey tenderloin. Using a sharp knife, make a slash where the tendon meets the flesh on both sides to expose the end. Pinch the end of the tendon between your fingers and pull while holding the edge of the blade against it. Allow your knife to naturally slide down the length of the tendon to separate. Be careful not to shred the meat apart, but it’s OK if it separates into two long pieces.
- Make the marinade by whisking the sherry vinegar, salt, pepper, molasses, honey and oil together. Pour this mixture over the tenderloins and allow it to rest in the fridge for at least an hour. The tenderloins are very tender, but need a little time to soak in flavor.
- Pre-heat a grill over very high. Use tongs to lay each piece down, letting the flames kick up and char the outside. Keep the lid open and cook for roughly 2-4 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. If you don’t want to grill, you can also sear in a hot sauté pan.
- Serve with the Romesco sauce.