Sasha's Kitchen: Turkey Paillards with Cranberry Piccata Sauce

This dish reminded me of an offbeat Thanksgiving dinner, but its really perfect anytime of year.  I bought thinly sliced turkey paillards from FreshDirect, so I really did not need to pound them.  The flavors for this recipe combined quite nicely together and it was a perfect weekend meal.  It's another recipe from my Sam Talbot cookbook that I have previously written about and have enjoyed.  His shirataki noodle recipes are really my favorite and I plan on trying another one of his shirataki recipes next week.  Even my pug Dakota wanted a taste of this one.  Just a note - I left out the capers from this one.  Feel free to add them in if you prefer.  There's a few foods I won't touch with a ten foot pole and capers are one of them.

Turkey Paillards with Cranberry Piccata Sauce (from Sam Talbot)
Cranberry piccata sauce
1 medium bulb pennel cored and sliced with stalks discarded
3 T olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1/2 bunch of celery, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tsp pennel seeds
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup fresh cranberries (I used 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup hand-torn flat leaf parsley
1 to 2 T stevia extract or agave nectar
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground pink peppercorns
2 T unsalted butter

Turkey paillards
1/2 cup soy milk (I used soy milk rather than whole milk as the recipe called for)
2 organic eggs
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup almond flour
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
6 oz slices turkey breasts (I used about a pound and a half)

To make the sauce, preheat the oven to 450.  Spread the fennel on a baking sheet and drizzle with one tablespoon of the olive oil.  Bake about six minutes until browned on all sides.

In a large skillet, heat the remaining tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the onions, celery and fennel seeds and cook until the onions and celery are translucent, about two minutes.  Add the white wine and cook for two minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. This deglazes the pan.  Add the toasted fennel, cranberries sweetener, (I used agave nectar) pink pepper and butter and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Remove from pan and heat and set aside.

To cook the paillards, in a large bowl, whisk together the soy moil and eggs to make a wash.  In a second bowl, combine the almond flour, panko and cheese.  Dip the turkey in the egg mixture and then into the breading mixture.  In a large skillet, heat the canola oil over medium high heat.  Add the turkey and pan fry until golden brown about two to three minutes on each side.  Then place in the oven at 350 and cook for a bit longer to make sure the turkey is cooked through.

Serve the turkey paillards topped with the cranberry piccata sauce.