Hey y'all!
So, because I am a good sport, I decided to auction myself off on a date for one of the student organizations I am in. SOOOO, my friend and her friend actually won me. My date was that we were going to cook a meal together. My friend, the crazy person she is (she's actually sane and a psych major) said, "You have to make us Turducken!"
What is Turducken you ask? It's a turkey, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken - thus - TURDUCKEN.
Now, I have been dreading doing this, not because it would be expensive (it was), but because I have to debone a bird -- and not just ONE bird, or even TWO birds, but THREE birds. (I sound like Julie Powell from Julie and Julia right now, huh?? xD)
So, yeah. Deboning a bird.... NOT COOL. xD It was okay. It was better than I thought. I actually asked my dad how to debone a bird. He showed me how, and so I used his technique on it. (My dad went to restaurant school, so he knows his stuff.)
I decided to do the turkey first. I did that because it was the biggest, so therefore I could make more mistakes. All in all, it was a 1 1/2 hour experience - the three birds. After the first two, I got a lot better, though!
ACTUALLY, the worst thing about the experience was getting the smell of raw meat stuck on my hands. Let me tell you, it's gross!!!! I actually felt a little queasy when I smelled my hands. THEREFORE, it's always nice to have a bottle of perfume or fabreeze or scent to spray on your hands and shirt when you are done. That way, when you finish, you don't throw up from the smell! :D (I didn't).
OKAY, so the taste was actually very nice. I don't really care for turkey, but it is really nice, with the chicken and the duck. They sort of melt together and make this really savory, rich smell and taste. I actually fell asleep to the smell of turducken, which is almost like a pot pie sort of scent. Also, surprisingly, it was pretty moist. It felt really hard, but actually, it was very moist.
I made three sides - stuffing, butter vinegar broccoli, and scallion mashed potatoes.
They were all delicious - especially the butter vinegar broccoli. I got the idea to do that from
Mastering the Art of French Cooking - and I adapted it for broccoli and for fast cooking, so therefore, I won't take full credit for it. It was, however very good. Everything was very rich, so the acidity in the broccoli, mixed with the rich meat and rich mashed potatoes was a very nice pairing.
Dessert was simply fruit (strawberries and sliced apples) and homemade whipped cream. It's simple and fresh, which is good. It's a nice, light end to a super heavy turducken meal. I made it so people could take the fruit and dip it into the whipped cream or spoon it onto the fruit. I think it's more fun that way, don't you? Or rather, it's more interactive.
SO YES - here is a turducken recipe:
http://southerncuisine.suite101.com/article.cfm/southern_turducken___directions
Actually, this is not the recipe I used -- I WINGED IT. However, this is a good recipe. It had the boning directions and the trussing directions, which are difficult to put into words.
One trick I used was putting seasoning and herbs and some pads of butter in between the layers of birds. That makes sure that it all has flavor and it is moist inside. ALSO, I gave the outside bird, a "butter massage," as Julia Child calls it. What that is, is room temperature butter, smeared and massaged into the skin of the whole bird. It gives the bird a nice taste and an equally nice skin.
Here is the recipe I used for the butter vinegar broccoli and the stuffing:
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BUTTER VINEGAR BROCCOLI...!
Ingredients:
1) 1 1/2 pounds of fresh broccoli
2) 1 cup red wine vinegar (regular white vinegar works fine as well)
3) 1/2 cup sugar
4) 1 teaspoon salt
5) 1/2 stick of butter
6) Water, for blanching
7) 1/3 cup dill
8) 1/2 cup chopped scallions
9) Extra salt/pepper for taste
Insructions:
First, cup up the broccoli into long sticks, almost like thick french fries. Then, blanch them, throwing them into boiling water for 3-4 minutes and then quickly draining them, and running cold water over them until they have fully cooled.
Then, mix your sugar and 1 teaspoon salt and vinegar in a large bowl. Add the blanched broccoli into this for about 1 -2 hours. Then, drain it.
Cut your half a stick of butter in half. Heat it up in a frying pan until bubbling, then add in your broccoli, dill, and scallions. After they have cooked for about 2 minutes, add in the other half of the butter and cook for about 3 more minutes, or until the broccoli tastes less acidy and, but still contains that vinegary kick!
Serve and enjoy! :D
THE STUFFING:
NOTE: The giblets aspect of this might be a little out of ordinary for some. This does not actually taste of giblets at all! However, if you, or the person(s) you are cooking for are very much against giblets, then I suggest swapping out giblets for finely chopped mushrooms and chorizo (mexican sausage) or even mushrooms and regular breakfast sausage.
Ingredients:
1) 1/2 cup giblets from the birds (liver, hearts, gizzards, etc.)
2) 1/4 cup diced apples
3) 1/2 cup sliced, diced, or crushed almonds
4) 3/4 cup cream cheese
5) 1 tablespoon butter
6) 1/2 - 1 cup prociutto bread cubes (or even sourdough would be nice here)
7) 1/3 cup chicken stock
8) 1/4 cup grated, fresh, parmesian cheese
9) 1 shallot, minced
10) 1 teaspoon thyme, oregano, and tarragon
Instructions:
Chop up the giblets very finely, and then sautee them in butter until they are cooked through. Then, add the minced shallots and sautee until the shallots are semi-clear. Then, chill this until it is at least room temperature.
Then, add in all the other ingredients, starting with the cream cheese.
Stuff into the chicken of the the turducken and then, when the turducken is finished, take it out and put it into a serving bowl.
Enjoy! :D
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SO, yeah... Turducken. It's challenging and time consuming. (Mine took about 9 hours alone to cook.) It's still a lovely thing to have, especially for the holidays or a large get-together.
If you do do it, prepare to spend at least 14 hours on it!
Good luck!
LOVE AND BAKING AND TURDUCKEN!! <3
--Ian
TURDUCKEN!!! Right out of the oven. May I remind you that if you want to see a close up, just click on the images!
Straight out of the oven, it had a really nice color and a super -cripsy skin! Delish! :9