One skill that I work on constantly is grilling.  Almost every meat I make comes off the grill.  My mom had a gas grill just outside our back kitchen door and she was my mentor.  I find grilling almost a necessity.  For example, if an oven is cooking a turkey, how do you handle the side dishes?  Grilling frees up your oven!  Hosting a large dinner party becomes a breeze.  Ha!

I encourage you to try turkey breasts on the grill.  Two large turkey breast will feed 16 guests.  Rule of thumb is one pound per person.  Perhaps try this for Christmas?

Rinse and dry completely the well-thawed turkey breasts and set in DEEP aluminum baking pans.  Use two pans per turkey to protect the bottom.  Salt and pepper the inside and outside of the turkeys.  I stuff the cavities with a carrot, a celery stalk, half an onion, and a garlic bulb cut in half.  You can’t ruin the turkey at this point so just shove those veggies in.  For each turkey, smear the skin, and under the skin, with one stick of soft butter mixed with fresh chopped sage, rosemary, thyme, and garlic – say a tablespoon of each herb.  Pour a quarter inch of chicken stock in the bottom of each pan.  Insert a meat thermometer in thickest part of one breast.  So far your turkeys will look like this:

Place on the grill and cook on low.  You are shooting for 325-350 degrees on the grill.  Check every so often that the grill temperature stays within range and the bottoms of the pans have liquid.  Baste every 15 minutes.  The turkeys takes about an hour and a half or so, but it is mandatory that you watch the thermometer!  Take turkeys off the grill at 160 degrees internal temperature and they will cook another five degrees on the counter while resting.  Turkey breast will overcook and dry out quickly so your most important task is to watch the thermometer!  They will look like this:

Take off grill and rest for a half hour.  Empty the juices in each pan into a gravy separator.  You will have caught all the juices and the fat rests on top:

Pour the turkey juice in a sauce pan and stop pouring when you get to the fat.  Add four cups of chicken broth to the juices and heat and whisk to almost boiling.  In a small cup with a lid, add a half cup of cold water and four tablespoons of corn starch.  Shake briskly until the water and cornstarch mix without lumps.  Wisk the corn starch slurry into the sauce pan.  In a few minutes the gravy should thicken to awesome wonderfulness.  If too thin, add more slurry, if too thick, add more chicken broth.  Salt to taste.  It should look like this:

I have learned to cut each breast off the turkey bone in its entirety, and then slice vertically.  It will look like this:

Grilling turkey is very easy!  I look forward to making it again and I will not be waiting until next Thanksgiving.  The turkey was so moist and the leftovers made great sandwiches.  You can get really frugal and use the breast bones to make turkey soup!  Ha!

Oh!  Did I mention that the clean-up is a snap?  Just throw away the top pans.  My bottom pans were still useful for next time!

Grilling turkey breast is a pearl you must add to your box.  You can feed a crowd, have room in your oven for side dishes, and dazzle your guests with moist and fragrant turkey!  Good luck and keep me posted!