San Simon Turkey

San Simon Turkey (Pavo San Simón)

A typical dish from the Yucatecan cuisine, San Simon is a special way to prepare turkey; you will encounter it if you venture to smaller restaurants on your stay in Cancún, the popular tourist destination. San Simon is a community that is part of Santa Elena, a small city in the Yucatan state, close to the fascinating mayan archeological site called Uxmal.

The San Simon Turkey

Ingredients

* 1 turkey, about 7 lb.
* 2 cups cooked peas
* 1 cup bell pepper, in strips
* 4 tablespoons flour
* 1 tablespoon of oregano
* 20 small onions, peeled and roasted
* 18 slices of French baguette bread
* 6 big red tomatoes, roasted
* 5 sour oranges (substitute with fruit vinegar)
* Enough fruit vinegar to marinate the turkey
* 3 plantains, sliced
* 2 garlic heads
* 2 red bell peppers, roasted and peeled
* 2 tablepsoons achiote
* 1 sprig of yerbabuena (mint)
* butter
* salt

The recado

* 1/2 cup fine pepper
* 1 large garlic head, peeled
* 1 tablespoon of cloves
* 1 tablespoon cumin
* 1 tablespoon of oregano
* Pepper 1 tablespoon large
* 1 stick cinnamon

Preparation

1) Wash and cut the turkey into pieces, boil them with a head roasted garlic, oregano, mint and salt, if you want to take advantage of the broth for soup.

2) The day before cooking this dish, marinate the raw turkey pieces in enough fruit vinegar mixed with one tablespoon achiote. Set the turkey pieces to marinate overnight in the refrigerator in a closed container. Also, the day before make the recado: finely blend all ingredients, pour in a container with lid and refrigerate until time to serve.

3) In a big pan with butter, fry the pieces of turkey, put enough water and a roasted garlic head, cover and simmer until the turkey meat is cooked. Reserve separately.

4) Toast the French bread, fry the plantains in oil, then fry the red peppers, peas, whole small onions, quartered tomatoes and sliced peppers. Add the cooked turkey to the pan with all the fried ingredients, with the toasted French bread and fried plantains and simmer 10 minutes.

Making the salsa

5) Fry the flour with five tablespoons of butter, add the recado, season with salt, then boil until the sauce has thickened.

To serve the dish, put the turkey on a big platter with all the ingredients, including bread and fried plantains. Serve the salsa separately in a bowl.