National Turkey Federation Celebrates Turkey Lovers’ Month

The National Turkey Federation (NFT) is encouraging consumers to sear, roast, braise and smoke turkey on the grill like never before, with recipes featuring everything from kabobs, sausages and tenderloins to cutlets and turkey burgers. This June is the 28^th annual Turkey Lovers’ Month, and June 18 is the 2^nd annual National Turkey Lovers’ Day, which coincides with Father’s Day.

For those preparing to grill a wide variety of turkey cuts on Father’s Day, NTF offers a Turkey Grilling Tip Sheet as well as an array of inspirational and on-trend grilling recipes from ServeTurkey.org, and @ServeTurkey on Twitter and Facebook. Often, home cooking for the family is inspired from discoveries when dining-out.

“Our guests come to us to discover new and exciting proteins to cook at home, which leads us right to turkey,” says Patrick Cassata, corporate executive chef of Standard Market and member of NTF’s advisory board. “Its versatility and ability to absorb bold flavors is tremendous. My favorite dish, a grilled turkey cutlet marinated with fresh lemon juice, garlic, parsley, sea salt, fresh cracked pepper and olive oil, served over lemon, olive oil and garlic pasta, makes for an extremely lean and flavorful meal that elevates turkey far above other proteins.”

Americans enjoy turkey on Thanksgiving, as well as year-round. Signaling growing interest, 39-percent of consumers are more likely now than two years ago to enjoy turkey in addition to the holiday dinner celebrations, according to Technomic’s 2017 Center of the Plate: Poultry Consumer Trend Report. The report also notes that 38-percent of consumers voiced their preference in asking restaurants to offer turkey as a protein choice in a wider variety of entrees.