Gluten Free Turkey & Stuffin' Braid with Cranberry & Pistachio

Friday, May 31, 2013

Anyonita Nibbles: Turkey and stuffin' braid with cranberry and pistachio

A few weeks ago while going through link parties, I came across a delicious-looking recipe for a cherry braid smothered with icing from The Princess and Her Cowboys. I instantly wanted to devour it and was anxious to try out the concept Britney showed in her post. But instead of sticking with the sweet, I decided to do something savory.

This braid is made using shop-bought puff pastry, filled with a delicious holiday-esque filling of turkey mince, stuffing, cranberry and onion, topped with pistachio pieces and served with creamy homemade mash, steamed carrots and rich gravy. My family devoured this entire thing in one sitting. We all had seconds. Including the toddler. It's such a simple, versatile recipe that I'm sure your family will love too!


Anyonita Nibbles: uncooked turkey & stuffin' braid with cranberry & pistachio

Ingredients: 

For the turkey braid
1/2 pack gluten free sage and onion stuffing
1 large carrot
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsbp sage
1 small onion, diced
1 tbsp mayo
1 egg, scrambled
1 packet gluten free turkey gravy
1 pack gluten free puff pastry
2 tbsp milk
3 tbsp cranberry sauce with cranberries
3 tbsp crushed pistachios
3 large potatoes, peeled and diced
250g turkey mince
salt and pepper
butter

All right, let's braid:

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.

If using shop-bought pastry,take it out of the fridge.

Pour the olive oil into a skillet and brown the mince with salt, pepper and sage.

Make up the stuffing according to the instruction on the pack, while the mince is browning. Remember to just use half of the pack.

Put the potatoes on to boil and the carrots in a bamboo steamer basket on top of the potatoes so that they all cook together. If you do not have a steamer basket, you can put the carrots into a small colander that fits over the saucepan and cook them that way. No matter what you use, cover the bottom of the basket or colander with a piece of greaseproof paper.

The mince should be browned now and the stuffing should be ready as well. If so, mix the both together in a large bowl, along with the cranberry sauce. Set aside and get on with the pastry.

Anyonita Nibbles: uncooked, cut puff pastry, ready for the filling.

Roll out the pastry until it is roughly rectangular. Using clean scissors, cut slits on two opposite sides of the dough. It doesn't really matter what size the slits are and if they're all different sizes, as you can see from mine. Just leave some space uncut in the middle. This is where you'll pile all the filling.
Anyonita Nibbles: cooked turky & stuffin' braid with cranberry & pistachio
Making sure the turkey filling is thoroughly mixed, pile it into the center of the pastry. Next, take a slit of pastry from alternating sides and cross it over the filling like a two-strand braid. If there's a lot of filling you might need to stretch the dough just a bit to properly cover the filling, but take care not to tear it.

When it's all braided, discard any leftover dough (if necessary). I had about two slits of unused dough when I made this. I just trimmed it and tossed it in the bin.

Using a pastry brush, egg wash the braid by brushing the scrambled egg over the tops of the pastry. This helps the dough to go a nice golden color when you're cooking. It will also help the pistachios to stick to the dough and not roll around.

After the egg wash, sprinkle the pistaschio pieces over and bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

While the braid is in the oven, finish off the mashed potatoes, and carrots.

A mouth-watering, simple alternative to a heavy festive meal.Remove the carrots from the steamer basket or colander, fork through a knob of butter and some salt, cover and set aside. Drain the potatoes, and using a fork (for lumpier mash) or a potato masher (for semi-lumpy mash) or a potato ricer (for super smooth mash with no lumps), mash the potatoes.

Add the milk, mayo and butter, salt and pepper to your taste and continue mashing until desired consistency. Once you've reached the consistency you want, incorporate all the ingredients with a wooden spoon.

Next, make the gravy according to the packet's instructions. (You could use homemade gravy if you have some stock piled, otherwise, the lean turkey mince doesn't produce enough jus to be made into a gravy.)

The braid should be ready by now or nearly done. Since the mince is already cooked, you're only cooking the pastry really and bringing it all together. It is done when the pastry is golden brown, like a pie.

Serve wide slices of the braid with the mash and carrots and a bit of gravy.

Cooked turkey and stuffin' braid with cranberry and pistachio


16 comments:

  1. Girlfriend, you need a search button. LOL I'm looking for the Chunky Chicken Noodle soup recipe and I'm having a hard time finding it.

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    1. Hahaha, well, my homepage is my search button. And there's a soup section on there! But, I took your advice & I now have a search button again. (I used to have one but it stopped working!) I hope you found the recipe you were loking for?

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  2. It looks fantastic!!
    It's not for me as I'm a vegetarian, and I had to comment to tell you how beautiful it looks

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    1. Do you eat lentils? I'm thinking puy lentils would work REALLY WELL with this instead of turkey! It could be kind of a nut loaf....!

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  3. This looks amazing! Thanks for sharing at Pinworthy Projects.

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  4. This looks so yummy!!! Thanks for Sharing on Show Me Your Plaid Monday's!

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  5. Anyonita,
    This looks and sounds terrific. I make a Rueben the same way and it's one of our family favorites. I love the cranberries and crushed pistachios in it. I for sure will be giving this a try. Pinned it. Sharing on google+
    Hugs,
    Wanda Ann @ Memories by the Mile

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    1. Oh, what a lovely idea to do this with a Rueben! :) Going to steal that idea! :) Thanks for the pin!

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  6. This Turkey-stuffing braid sounds just amazing. I love to try a new recipe and this incorporates old and new. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop this week; I hope you’ll join us again!


    Cheers,
    Kathy Shea Mormino

    The Chicken Chick

    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

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    1. Thanks, Kathy! :) I can't wait to make it again!

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  7. What a brilliant idea! And very pretty too. Love your flavour combinations and this looks like a really satisfying family meal. Great for a camping trip or picnic dinner. Thanks for entering this into Four Seasons Food!

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  8. Oh this looks like a very tasty and attractive dinner indeed and would be perfect for outdoor dining, thanks so for entering it to the Four Seasons Food challenge!

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