Lazy Turkey & Red Pepper Coulis

It’s not the turkey that is lazy, but the cook. Ottomanelli* daily sells a marinated Turkey London Broil. All I had to do is pop it into the oven, put the timer on 30 minutes, and voilà, a tender, perfectly cooked, skinless, boneless turkey breast. It wasn’t a Cordon Bleu masterpiece, but a good contribution to our Sunday evening dinner. At $7.95 a pound, it was a bargain. If you want to be ultra lazy, you can buy Ottomanelli’s fully cooked version every Thursday after 11 AM.

Now that local peppers are plentiful, red pepper coulis is one of my summer staples. Properly stored, it will keep in the refrigerator for about a month. I have never been able to keep the coulis for that length of time because, before I know it, I’ve depleted my stock

Menu

Roast Turkey Breast
Red Pepper Coulis**
Wine: Moulin-e-Vent Georges Duboeuf
Dessert: Häagendasz Chocolate Ice Cream

Recipe Red Pepper Coulis

4 red peppers
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and black pepper
Pinch of sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Rub the peppers with olive oil. Bake them in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Transfer the peppers to a metal bowl. Seal with plastic wrap and set aside for 10 minutes. When they are cool enough to handle, remove the skin and seeds from the peppers. Purée the peppers in a blender, together with the oil. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar.

I thought a Beaujolais Village would go well with the meal and had gone to our local wine store to buy a bottle. All their Beaujolais were by Georges Duboeuf of whom I never had a high opinion. Still, I thought this was a bit of snobbism and bought the Moulin-A-Vent. I disliked it thoroughly.

*Chef Frank
Ottomanelli (212) 772-7900
York Ave. & 82nd St.

**The recipe comes from my book, "Life of a Restaurant." It is available at Kitchen Arts & Letters.