Best Salvadoran Turkey Sandwiches Recipes

SALVADORAN TURKEY SANDWICHES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Purée beer, oil, peppercorns, sesame seeds, pepitas, oregano, annatto, garlic, bay leaves, and 1 cup water in a blender. Combine purée and turkey in a dutch oven; season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil on the stove, cover, and bake until turkey is very tender, about 2 hours.
• Purée tomatoes, chopped onions, peppers, and 1 cup water in blender. Transfer turkey to a plate (leave sauce in pot); let cool. Add purée to pot; boil over medium-high heat, stirring often, until thickened, about 45 minutes. Discard skin and bones from turkey; tear meat into thick pieces. Stir turkey into sauce, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Divide stew between loaves; garnish with sliced onions and watercress.

PANES CON PAVO (PAN CON CHUMPE)

Steps:

• Boil a large amount of salt water in a pot.
• When the water begins to boil, add the cabbage, onion, carrot and blanch for just 30 seconds.
• Immediately drain and place the vegetables in a large bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water to stop the cooking.
• When the vegetables are cold, drain again and place in a jar. Add the vinegar, water, bell pepper, hot pepper and oregano. Season with salt and pepper.
• Refrigerate for 6 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 250 F / 120 C.
• On the baking sheet, place the tomatoes, green bell pepper, onion and garlic with their skin.
• Roast in the oven until the skin of the tomatoes and green pepper is blistered. This can take about an hour.
• Remove from the oven and let cool.
• Peel the garlic and the onion.
• Peel and seed the tomatoes and green pepper.
• Mix everything with the tomato paste until obtaining a homogeneous mixture.
• Pour this sauce into a large saucepan and mix with the chicken broth.
• Add the Salvadoreño relajo (Salvadoran spice blend) and corn starch dissolved in the hot melted butter. Season with black pepper and mix well.
• Cook the sauce over low heat for 15 minutes. Set aside.
• Wash the turkey well with clean water. Then, pat dry with a cloth or paper towel and sprinkle it with lime juice, making sure to cover the whole turkey.
• Spread the lime juice all over the turkey with both hands.
• Wait 2 minutes and pat dry the turkey again.
• Mix the mustard, Worcestershire sauce and butter and spread with a brush over the entire turkey, inside and out. Season with pepper.
• To cook the turkey in the oven, the ideal is to use a "chompipera", a special oven pot with a rack at the bottom typical in El Salvador. If you do not have one, you can use an oval roasting pot with a lid.
• Pour 2 ladles of sauce at the bottom of the pot.
• Place the turkey on the rack and pour two more ladles on the turkey.
• Marinate for 30 minutes.
• Turn on the oven at 350 F / 175 C (without preheating).
• Bake the turkey for 2h30, drizzling with the remaining sauce every 30 to 40 minutes, until the turkey is tender.
• If the sauce reduces too much, add boiling water during cooking if necessary. There must be some remaining sauce at the end of cooking.
• Cut the rolls.
• Slice the turkey into medium sized pieces and place some pieces inside the bun.
• Pour a tablespoon of sauce over the turkey and add the lettuce, watercress, gherkin, radish, and tomato. Also add a few pickled vegetables.
• Add a tablespoon of sauce again on top.

SALVADORIAN ROASTED TURKEY

Steps:

• Place an oven rack in the topmost position and preheat oven on the broil setting. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Place tomatoes and bell pepper onto the baking sheet, cut-side down. Broil on top rack of preheated oven until the skins begin to blacken, about 5 minutes. Place charred vegetables into a bowl and seal with plastic wrap to steam until their skins loosen. Lower oven rack to accommodate a roasting pan, and turn oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Meanwhile, pour vegetable oil into a roasting pan (or skillet large enough to fit the turkey), and place over medium-high heat. When hot, add the turkey and sear on all sides until browned, about 10 minutes. Once the turkey has been browned, place breast side up into the roasting pan, and stuff with quartered apples and olives. Set aside.
• Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ancho chiles, pumpkin seeds, and bay leaves. Cook and stir until the pumpkin seeds begin to smell toasted, about 5 minutes, then pour the mixture into a blender.
• Once the tomatoes and peppers have steamed enough that the skins have loosened, remove and discard the skins. Place tomatoes, green peppers, and onion into the blender with the pumpkin seeds. Blend until you have a thick, smooth sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste, adding a little liquid from the olives if desired.
• Brush the sauce onto the turkey, and place into preheated oven. Cook until a meat thermometer inserted in the meaty part of the thigh reads 180 degrees F (80 degrees C), about 3 hours, basting occasionally.

PAVO SALVADOREñO (SALVADORAN ROAST TURKEY WITH SAUCE)

Steps:

• The day before roasting the turkey, remove and reserve the giblets and wash the turkey well with cold water. Pat it dry with paper towels and tuck the wings under the body to keep them from burning. Season the inside and outside of the bird with salt and pepper.
• Mix the mustard and Worcestershire sauce together in a bowl, and spread the mixture liberally all over the outside of the turkey. Refrigerate uncovered overnight.
• Remove the turkey from the refrigerator about 45 minutes before you put it in the oven to let it come to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Set the turkey, breast side down, on a rack in a roasting pan.
• Place the roasting pan in the lowest rack of the oven and roast the turkey for about 1 hour.
• Remove the roasting pan from the oven. Carefully turn the turkey over so it is breast side up.
• Add the tomatoes, onions, peppers, carrots, prunes, olives, capers, garlic, and the wine or water to the roasting pan around the turkey.
• Return the pan to the oven and roast for another 1 1/2 to 2 hours, basting the turkey periodically with any juices that form in the pan.
• The turkey is done when the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh measures between 165°F and 175°F (use a meat thermometer). If the breast begins to brown too much, cover it loosely with foil.
• Remove the turkey to a cutting board or baking sheet. Tent with foil and let it rest while you finish the sauce.
• Sauce:
• Remove any excess fat from the roasting pan. Add the turkey giblets (except for the liver) and the ingredients and juices from the roasting pan to a blender or food processor and puree.
• Add the puree to a large saucepan along with the 3 cups of water or stock Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until lightly thickened Strain through a sieve, discarding any solids.
• Return the strained sauce to the saucepan, reheat and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
• Once the turkey has cooled somewhat, slice and serve with the warm sauce.
• *Variations.
• Relajo Spice Mixture: Many Salvadoran cooks add a mixture of spices, peppers and seeds called a relajo to their sauce. If you use a relajo, you can omit the giblets from the sauce.
• â-¦1/3 cup sesame seeds.
• â-¦1/4 cup unsalted peanuts.
• â-¦1/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas).
• â-¦1 chile guaque or other dried chile, destemmed and deseeded.
• â-¦10 bay leaves.
• â-¦2 teaspoons dred thyme, or 1 sprig fresh.
• Add the spice mixture when you add the vegetables to the roasting pan. Puree and strain the sauce as directed above.