Grilled Turkey Breast with Lemon Cherry Butter

I really wanted to cook a turkey breast roast that I had bought a couple of days ago, but the weather is so beautiful that turning the oven on seems wrong. So I opted for cooking it on the grill.

Chai Tea and Dried Sour Cherries

I decided to brine the breast, a great chance to use up some Chai tea I had purchased to make truffles for Christmas. I made up 1 cup of strong tea and combined it with 1 cup of apple juice, 1 1/2 Tablespoons salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper.

  I placed the turkey and brine in a ziploc bag, squeezed out the excess air, and let it sit in the fridge for 6 hours.

I roughly chopped my dried cherries (leftover from making a batch of brownies) and combined them with some lemon zest, chopped fresh thyme, ground black pepper and soft butter.

I tied the roast into a roll using kitchen string.

I used a sharp paring knife to make holes in the roast, and pushed the cherry butter into each hole.



I pre-heated the BBQ to a temperature of 325F, and placed the roast above an unlit burner, so it received indirect heat.




Every 15 minutes I sprayed it with a mixture of apple juice and olive oil to keep it moist, and turned it to promote even cooking.

I served it with corn and zucchini pancakes and grilled asparagus. The pockets of cherry, lemon and herb were yummy, the skin was crispy and brown, but the general consensus was that a sauce would have been a nice addition, or to try using the same butter under the skin of bone-in chicken thighs next time.