Turducken

[azlee]

There is a recipe for Turducken in "The Prudhomme Family Cookbook" along with some history about the dish. I've never tried to cook one, but the recipes in that cookbook are fairly straightforward. Keep in mind that a Turducken takes about 12 hours to cook and the prep is probaly almost as time consuming. Good luck.

[awbrig]

I want to eat this for St. Pat's instead of corned beef and cabbage! Help me out, please?

You're not Irish are you?

Even if you're not, thats ok, this is the day you get to pretend you're Irish! So drink up, eat corned beef and cabbage - maybe some Irish stew - but be careful on that one- and forget all about that turkductenwhatever!

[Jason Perlow]

There's a Turducken recipe on the eGullet Recipe Archive, now in Alpha testing:

http://recipes.egullet.com/showrecipe.php?r_id=192

[col klink]

I'f you'd like a link to the pictures I took throughout the process, pm me. Here's the final product:

[NeroW]

This is very enlightening. I wonder why this thread didn't come up when I searched on "turducken?"

I've been sitting here at work thinking, "payables . . . turkey duck chicken . . . phone ringing . . . turkey duck chicken . . . coffee burning . . . tuckey duck chicken . . . " I recognize that as a sure sign of impending turducken. It intrigues me.

[Fritz Brenner]

I want to eat this for St. Pat's instead of corned beef and cabbage! Help me out, please?

NeroW, I must compell you not to attempt the turducken, with or without help. Let's just make something else, and tell everyone it's a turducken, because the name is so cool, and they will believe us anyway(remeber the "broken cake?")...

Awbrig is right on. And we are Irish, a bit, so the turducken would be something like sacrilege.

[jackal10]

This is but part of an ancient tradition. See for example (from http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-MEAT...uffed-msg.html)

The following appears in the 13th-century Arabo-

Andalusian _Manuscrito Anonimo_, and is reprinted in Cariadoc's

Collection, volume II:

Roast Calf, which was made for the Sayyid Abu-L-'Ala in Ceuta

Take a young, plump ram, skinned and cleaned; open it deeply between

the thighs and carefully take out all the entrails that are in its

belly. Then put in the interior a stuffed goose and into its belly a

stuffed hen and in the belly of the hen a stuffed pigeon and in the

belly of the pigeon a stuffed thrush and in the belly of this a small

bird, stuffed or fried, all this stuffed and sprinkled with the sauce

described for stuffing; sew up this opening and place the ram in a hot

tannur and leave it until it is browned and ready; sprinkle it with

that sauce and then place it in the body cavity of a calf which has

been prepared clean; sew it up and place it in the hot tannur and

leave it until it is done and browned; then take it out and present

it.

Others stuff the calf into a camel...

Personally I have stuffed a turkey with a chicken with a duck with a pheasant stuffed with quails The quails were stuffed with an egg which was stuffed with an olive, stuffed, of course. Each layer seperated with a contrasting clour forcemeat.

There are several important factors:

Bone all the meats, make all the forcemeats leave the leg and wing bones in only the outer bird to give a natural shape. For the duck and smaller birds don't bother with the full boning - just take off the brests/supremes.

Keep everything very cold and scrupulously claen while assembling, which can take a time. Don't worry too much about neatness, except for the outer animal.

Cheat by putting in lots of the stuffed eggs and olives, so that your kniofe will hit at least one when you cut the result.

Long slow cooking. You have a large depth of meat to transmit the heat through to cook the inside. You need to get the inside cooked before the outside overcooks, and before the inside ferments or goes bad. It helps to put a conductive metal fork or skewer (or several) to conduct the heat to the inside. Use a meat themometer - 50C inside. It will go on cooking after you take it out of the oven or cooking medium.

If you don't have an oven that can be held at 75C for a long time, consider simmering the beast instead. Yoi also get a wonderful stock. You can finish with a blowtorch, or in a hot oven to crisp the outside.

Equally you need food hygine during any cooling period. Eat within 3 hours of cooking, or actively cool - you have a large lump of meat insulating the bugs in the middle! Don't leave it lying around at room temperature.

This is a big party dish. A fully stuffed big turkey will feed 50, with the trimmings, allowing for the usual number of picky eaters and vegetarians. More if its the centre peice of a buffet. Its also heavy -care when handling.

Edited February 20, 2003 by jackal10 (log)

[col klink]

Howdy folks, here's a link to my photo album on imagestation of the turducken process:

Turducken album.

Have fun!

Here's my favorite pic:

[awbrig]

Sorry Col, that looks disgusting.

[col klink]

That's why it's my favorite!

[g.johnson]

There are photos of my lazy man's gooducken on this thread.

[Rachel Perlow]

Are you leaving the skin on the internal birds? If so, what is the texture of the internally cooked skins?

[col klink]

The only recognizable texture was the duck skin. It was juicy and it wasn't chewy. I have to admit that kind of surprised me, for I thought the temp wasn't high enough to render the fat. The chicken skin wasn't noticable.

[jackal10]

The internal skins are OK - like boiled chicken. Internally it is a long slow moist cooking environment.

For the internal birds its much easier just to slice off the breasts. The rest of the bird dosn't add much except gristle and hassle Its also easier to assemble, and means that the smaller birds end up in the middle, rather than sunk to the bottom.

The pictures show the birds being boned out by slicing along the backbone. I find it easier to bone out by not breaking the skin. Much less to sew up as well. Roll it back from the neck end like a sock, cutting though/ dislocating the joints between the thigh and the body. Roll back more skin, eashing the flesh away from the body and cut through the joints betwen the wing and the body.

[Fat Guy]

I will be eating my first turducken on Saturday night.

[eatingwitheddie]

I was in the Philadelphia outdoor Italian market this past weekend and went into the famous butcher there (don't recollect the name) that specializes in game. A pretty amazing place. In any event he regularly makes turduckens. He was selling freshly made ones for $4.95/lb. They averaged 12-14 lbs. each. The inner birds had their skin removed.

[swissmiss]

I will be eating my first turducken on Saturday night.

Steven, will you be preparing it yourself? I may have a few questions for you for an article I'm writing, so I hope that you give us some feedback here.

[Blue Heron]

I'f you'd like a link to the pictures I took throughout the process, pm me. Here's the final product:

I was lucky enough to get to taste some of klink's smoked turducken and just like everything that klink smokes, it turned out delicious. I've never had roasted, but I can say smoked is very good.

[Fat Guy]

I will be eating my first turducken on Saturday night.

Steven, will you be preparing it yourself? I may have a few questions for you for an article I'm writing, so I hope that you give us some feedback here.

This will be at a friend's house and will be the one prepared by cajungrocer.com. But I'm always happy to answer questions even about subjects with which I'm totally unfamiliar.

[Fat Guy]

What can I say about the turducken? It was a turkey, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken. I'm not sure I'm even able to process the experience. It may take years for me to grasp the significance of the event.

[NeroW]

Aargh, just when I think I'm over turducken, it pops up again.

[col klink]

What can I say about the turducken? It was a turkey, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken. I'm not sure I'm even able to process the experience. It may take years for me to grasp the significance of the event.

Welcome to the club Steven.

Was it roasted? What kind of sauce?

[johnjohn]

Any noticable differences between one freshly made and a frozen one bought off the internet?

If you were to make one at home - could you remove the duck and chicken skin or are they needed to keep the interior moist. I think soft flabby poultry skin is gross.

johnjohn

[elyse]

I have never had turducken and don't think I ever shall. What is the point of eating these delicious birds with no crisp skin? Seriously, somebody please tell me the point. Flaccid, wet, sticky skin? Ewww.

[Fat Guy]

Was it roasted? What kind of sauce?

It was roasted. That is to say, it arrived raw and frozen from the supplier and it was defrosted and roasted in my friend's kitchen.

The only sauce was a basic American gravy made from pan drippings, though the cajun spices from the bird were apparent in the gravy.

The turducken contained two kinds of stuffing. The turkey was stuffed with a creole stuffing (pork, onions, green onions, green bell pepper, salt, paprika, red pepper, white pepper, black pepper). The chicken and duck were stuffed with standard cornbread stuffing.

Because it was a heavily seasoned bird, it didn't suffer much from having been frozen. The texture of a fresh bird is always better, but this one was quite good.