Grilled Turkey, Banana Cake

DEAR SOS: The Border Grill in Santa Monica makes a wonderful dish of grilled turkey breast with seared greens. I’ve tried to duplicate the flavor but could not. I hope you can get the restaurant to release their flavor secret.

--JUDY

DEAR JUDY: Chef-owners Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken sent their popular recipe. The secret flavor is vinegar. Many readers will love having this new way to serve turkey.

BORDER GRILL VINEGAR TURKEY BREAST 2 1/4 pounds boneless turkey breast, cut into thin scallops Salt, pepper Olive oil 7 1/2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter 2 medium red onions, diced 1 cup white vinegar 2 cups turkey or chicken stock or broth 3 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper Seared Greens

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Cover turkey slices with plastic wrap and pound to flatten. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brush lightly with olive oil. Set aside.

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in medium skillet over low heat. Add onions and saute with salt to taste, tossing and shaking pan frequently, until onions are golden, about 15 minutes. Add vinegar. Turn up heat to high and reduce liquid by half. Add turkey stock and reduce by half again.

Thinly slice remaining cold butter. Reduce heat to low and whisk butter into sauce, bit at time. Remove from heat. Stir in cracked pepper.

Grill turkey slices less than 1 minute per side or saute in hot pan with additional butter or olive oil until golden on both sides, but not overdone. Serve over bed of Seared Greens with sauce dribbled over. Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about: 447 calories; 843 mg sodium; 149 mg cholesterol; 29 grams fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 37 grams protein; 1.48 grams fiber.

Seared Greens 3 bunches mustard greens or (red or green) chard 6 tablespoons unsalted butter 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Trim and discard stems of greens. Wash and dry leaves. Stack leaves, roll in cylinder shape and cut across roll into 1-inch strips.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large skillet over medium-high heat until bubbly. Saute 1/4 of greens with 1/4 of salt and pepper, until greens are limp, about 1/2 to 1 minute. If greens begin to color before they wilt, sprinkle few drops of water for steam. Transfer to platter and repeat procedure with remaining 3 batches. Makes 6 servings.

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DEAR SOS: You once published a recipe for banana brunch cake from Trans World Airlines. Would you print it again?

--CHARLENE

DEAR CHARLENE: The recipe goes back to 1974 when the cake was introduced by the TWA flight kitchen. The cake is great served warm.

TWA BANANA BRUNCH CAKE 1/2 cup butter 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 cup mashed banana 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup sour cream 2 cups sifted flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt Nut Topping

Cream butter until light, then gradually add sugar, beating constantly. Beat in eggs, 1 at time. Mix in banana, vanilla and sour cream. Sift together flour, baking powder, soda and salt and fold into creamed mixture, stirring just enough to moisten.

Sprinkle half of Topping over bottom of well-greased 9-inch square pan or 10-inch molded pan. Spoon half of batter over Topping. Sprinkle remaining Topping over batter, then cover with remaining batter. Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Makes 10 servings.

Each serving contains about: 363 calories; 215 mg sodium; 72 mg cholesterol; 16 grams fat; 50 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 0.24 gram fiber.

Nut Topping 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Combine nuts, sugar and cinnamon.