Chipotle Turkey Cutlets with Charred Corn Salsa

While Alex and I have hundreds of chicken recipes, we have very few turkey recipes.  Just looking at the blog, we have 50+ chicken recipes and only 9 turkey recipes.  And I would say that is a fair representation of our overall repertoire.  And out of the 9 turkey recipes, only 1 other recipe uses anything but ground turkey or turkey sausage.  All of our other recipes are for turkey meatballs, turkey burgers, turkey meatloaf and various other applications using ground turkey.  But I guess that isn't very surprising considering that the only time you can reliably find turkey breasts or cutlets in your average grocery store is around Thanksgiving.  Otherwise you might find turkey breasts or you might not.  The same goes for whole turkeys.  But our farmers' market has a great turkey farm called DiPaolo Turkeys that I love.  I typically buy their spicy turkey sausage (which I know I have referenced several times on the blog before), but I have been thinking about buying turkey breasts from them for a long time now.  I was initially looking for bone-in, skin-on turkey breasts for a recipe called Turkey with Mint and Hot Chilis from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet, but ended up with boneless turkey breasts instead.  Boneless turkey breasts happened to be all they had that day.  But it was surprisingly easy to come up with other recipes that I was interested in making with the turkey breasts I picked up.  This was one of them.  I was initially interested in the recipe because it looked easy and sounded tasty.  It's also a different flavor profile and set of ingredients than we typically use.

I thought the dish was delicious and very successful when you ate all of the components of this dish together with a healthy squeeze of fresh lime juice.  It was bright from the lime juice, slightly spicy and smokey from the chipotle chili powder, and sweet from the corn.  The recipe said that the turkey and salsa should be served with tortillas and steamed, buttered summer squash.  We served it with brown rice instead (and omitted the summer squash), which I thought was very successful.  I liked the dish more than Alex did.  He said it was good.  I thought it was really good - something that I will definitely add to our limited repertoire of turkey recipes.  And since this recipe turned out so well, I am heading back to DiPaolo for more turkey breasts and to the internet for some inspiration for more recipes.

Recipe after the jump!

Chipotle Turkey Cutlets with Charred Corn Salsa
Bon Appetit
September 2003

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 1/4 pounds fresh turkey breast fillets
2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder
4 tablespoons corn oil
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 small red onion, diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Lime wedges
 

Char corn in heavy medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, about 4 minutes. Set aside.
 

Sprinkle turkey on both sides with chile powder; sprinkle with salt. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of turkey and sauté until cooked through, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer to plate. Repeat with 1 tablespoon oil and remaining turkey.
 

Add 2 tablespoons oil to drippings in skillet. Add bell pepper and onion; sauté 3 minutes. Increase heat to high and add charred corn. Sauté until peppers begin to brown, about 3 minutes longer. Stir in cilantro and lime juice. Season salsa with salt and pepper; transfer to medium bowl. Return turkey to skillet and reheat, about 1 minute. 

Spoon salsa over turkey and serve with brown rice and lime wedges.