Breaded Turkey ‘Chops’ with Guava Sauce

At home I am always searching for “the next great dish”, that one that we like so much it becomes part of our family tradition. There’s 99 reasons why turkey has never been in that category. To give you only two: Turkey is not a very juicy meat, and it doesn’t belong in either of our cultures (husband’s and mine).

These Breaded Turkey “Chops” with Guava Sauce may very well change all that.

It’s not that we Dominicans don’t eat turkey, after all I remember that my grandfather used to keep turkeys in his farm (along with chicken, guinea hens and pigeons). Those turkeys were clearly for food, because nobody keeps turkeys for their beauty, disposition or sweet songs. I wonder if consumption of turkey locally went down with the decrease in the rural population that used to keep animals for food. Today turkey is a relatively expensive meat, more complex in cooking than other meats, and that hasn’t helped either.

What turkey does offer is a flavor and texture similar to red meat, and the nutritional properties of white meat. The best of two worlds. Now it’s just a matter of finding a good way to cook it.

I want to clarify that these are not technically “chops”, they’re actually sliced turkey legs, which once in a while turn up discounted in our neighborhood supermarket, which makes it an interesting option to add variety to our menus.

A piece of advice I should give you is that, as I repeat further down, you should make sure to get rid of small bones and cartilage before starting to cook. Finding one of those when you’re eating is sure to break the mood.

Give it a try, you may find yourself daydreaming about it soon after.

Buen provecho!

Aunt Clara

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Breaded Turkey 'Chops' with Guava Sauce Recipe

Breaded Turkey 'Chops' with Guava Sauce Recipe: Served on a bed of fluffy mashed potatoes, they are glorious, and made better with the guava sauce.

Servings: 6 porciones

Author: Clara González

Ingredients

For the sauce

• 3 tablespoons of guava candy paste
• 3 tablespoons of low-sugar ketchup
• 2 tablespoons of water
• 1 tablespoon of lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt , or to taste
• A pinch of pepper
• A pinch of cayenne pepper

For the turkey

• 6 slices of day-old white bread
• 1/2 tablespoon of salt
• 1/4 tablespoon of pepper
• 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
• 12 slices of turkey legs , clean of small bones (see notes)
• 4 eggs , whipped
• 1/4 cup of vegetable oil (soy, canola or peanut)

Instructions

To make the sauce

1. Mix all the ingredients until there are no clumps.

For the turkey

1. Place bread, salt, pepper and garlic powder in the food processor vase. Pulse until it turns into the bread turns into fine breadcrumb.
2. Soak each turkey chop in the egg. Cover with the breadcrumbs.
   
   
   
3. Heat 4 tablespoons of oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet. Place four chops and cook until they turn golden brown on the cooking side, flip and cook the other side.
4. Remove the turkey from the pan, add half of the remaining oil and pan-fry 4 more chops per instructions above. Repeat process with remaining oil and chops.
5. Serve on mashed potatoes and garnish with the guava sauce.

Notes & Nutrition Facts

Once you thawed the chops, press on them with your fingers to find and remove any pieces of bone or cartilage.