In the Kitchen with Krause #12
Several winters ago as a stocking-stuffer my step-mother got me one of those slender Betty Crocker recipe magazines, in particular one for simple winter meals (photo with every recipe!) and what is nice about them is that most only take a few minutes to prepare (generally ten to twenty minutes) and cook (ten minutes to an hour, for example). I decided to return to and document one that I had made before, Turkey Smothered with Maple Sweet Potatoes.
Turkey Smothered with Maple Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients:
- 1 pound turkey breast tenderloins
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/3 cup cup maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp. butter
- 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 can (23 ounces) sweet potatoes in light syrup, drained
Directions:
- Cook turkey in skillet about 5 minutes, turning once, until brown (use either a little oil, or spray first with cooking spray)
- While turkey is cooking, heat cranberries, orange juice, maple syrup, butter and cinnamon to boiling in a saucepan. Arrange sweet potatoes around turkey. Pour orange juice mixture over turkey and potatoes.
- Cover and cook over low heat 10 minutes. Uncover and cook about 5 minutes longer or until juice of turkey is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut and sauce is slightly thickened.
Play-by-Play:
My version this time was modified slightly: I had 20 ounces, not 16, of turkey, and about 29 rather than 23 of sweet potatoes, so in each case about 25% more. Feel free to adjust the sauce ingredients accordingly, though it's not really necessary, since there is still sauce left in the pan once it's all said and done.
The Betty Crocker original says butter or margarine—I just use butter these days. They asked for cooking spray; I do not have any right now, so I used a dash of oil in the pan instead.
I cut my tenderloins into slightly smaller pieces, in this case just halving them. The recipe says it makes four servings; in this case mine was six small servings.
I do not keep orange juice around, so I picked up a little tube of frozen stuff a couple days ago at the grocery store. It seems TJ Farms is distributed out of Boise, Idaho. Cranberries are always in my pantry. They go well in salads, as well, and are just enjoyable to eat. They puff up a great deal when used in this recipe.
Our friends at Betty Crocker also said “maple-flavored syrup” but I only keep the real thing around, and you might as well, too.
It really is just a matter of putting the turkey in a hot skillet and while it is browning bringing the other non-sweeet-potato ingredients to a quick boil in your smallest saucepan. The sweet potatoes are already rather tender and only need to be heated.
As our friends at Betty Crocker remind us, “Turkey tenderloins are very lean and should be prepared using a sauce or glaze so they don't become too dry during cooking.”
I'm not a huge sweet potato fan; as a kid I hated them the few times I was forced to eat them during Thanksgiving of Christmas dinner with the relatives. In the past few years I've had some tasty sweet potatoes pies, and this simple meal is also a good use for them.
—January 14 2007