Slashfood Ate (8): Non-Traditional Turkeys

by Deidre Woollard (Subscribe to Deidre Woollard's posts)
Posted Nov 22nd 2005 1:55PM
Filed under: Dinner, Poultry, Frying, Grilling, Roasting, Slashfood Ate

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While most of us are sticking to the classic turkey in the roaster pan there are those who go beyond the traditional and into the turkey Twilight Zone. Let's take a look at these brave culinary warriors and their unique creations.

1. Deep Fried Turkey--What could make Thanksgiving more decadent? How about a nice hot oil bath for the turkey. This technique is total stunt cooking and fraught with potential peril but it does get the turkey done in record time. Depending on the size, your turkey can be done in under an hour and lots of people rave about the tenderness of the deep-fried bird.

2. Blackened Turkey--Good for freaking out your guests when you bring a visibly-charred bird to the table. The recipes for this are pretty labor-intensive but apparently the blackened crust results in an amazingly juicy bird.

3. Tofurkey--Not a turkey but still worthy of note. Some vegetarians love it, others think it's a total cop-out and it's guaranteed to anger anyone who showed up at your house expecting a real bird.

4. Smoked Turkey--It takes a whole lot of time and specialized equipment but the smoked turkey is a subtle and delicous variant on the classic.

5. Brined Turkey--This isn't entirely avant-garde but still a step that not everyone takes. Soaking the turkey in brine overnight results in a more flavorful and moist bird.

6. Glazed Turkey--The roasting stays the same but what you put on top can vary greatly. Turkeys can be covered with a variety of toppings, including soy sauce, chili powder or a citrus and honey glaze.

7. Grilled Turkey--This is the ideal turkey recipe for Southern Californians and other in warm climates, get that bird out of the house and onto the grill.

8. Turducken--It doesn't get any more elaborate than this. The turducken is a deboned chicken inside a deboned duck inside a deboned turkey and there is stuffing between the layers. It takes a lot of time, energy to pull off this baby but it is bound to impressive absolutely everybody.

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11-22-2005 @ 3:54PM

Jeffrey said...

This is my brothers recipie; Items needed:(1) five gallon steel bucket,(1) spit(big enough to support 12-15 lb.)to hold the bird,(1) ten pound bag of charcoal,some aluminum foiland of course a 12-15 lb. turkey. First you place a few pieces of foil directly on the ground. Then place the turkey on the spit(the spit should have some prongs sticking out near the bottom to keep the bird a couple inches off the foil but still have enough length to stick down in the ground far enough to support the weight of the turkey). Next you place the metal bucket over the turkey.Dont worry if the can fits snug over the bird just make sure that the opening of the can is touching the foil on the ground all the way around. Now pour charcoal around the base, about 1/2 the bag is fine then pour the rest in a mound on the top(actually bottom)of the bucket. Light the charcoal and when it has burned down to ash remove the bucket and you will have a turkey so tender and juicy tht it will pull apart with a fork.One more thing, my brother actually had the spits required to hold the bird made special. What I did my first time was use the rod from my old electric rotissiere.You won't be dissapointed!

11-23-2005 @ 2:30PM

Jeffrey said...

http://www.slashfood.com/2005/11/22/Slashfood-ate-8-non-tradihttp://www.slashfood.com/2005/11/22/Slashfood-ate-8-non-traditional-turkeys/tional-turkeys/#c113258

11-22-2005 @ 4:14PM

twolf1 said...

Has anyone tried a fried turducken? is it even possible? Maybe you would have to fry each piece before stuffing it in to the next one. Any thoughts on this?

11-24-2005 @ 1:21AM

Paula Helm Murray said...

I would think part of the speed of deep frying is that oil gets into the cavity as well as outside the bird (just a guess, we don 't have one.... yet. Even though we seem to have just about every sort of cooking/food assembly-disassembly mechanism in the land).

11-22-2005 @ 4:48PM

Peter said...

The most sinfully delicious part of a deep fried turkey is not the meat, but the skin! We have two turkeys at Thanksgiving - one traditionally roasted (in a Weber grill, no less!) and the other deep fried. When that turkey comes out of the deep fryer and into the kitchen for carving, everyone gathers like buzzards to attack the skin... even the kids! :)

11-22-2005 @ 4:58PM

joe said...

Ditto, I'm doing the 2 turkey thing as well this year. Turkey 1 - brined and roasted. Turkey 2 - injected and deep-fried.

What about the real decadence though: stuffing? Going with roasted peppers, some day old artisan bread, thyme and rosemary. Any other thoughts?

11-22-2005 @ 7:28PM

peggy said...

I second the "real decadance" stuffing idea. My husband and I combined two of our family recipes to make up a savory/slightly sweet/extremely rich stuffing that we love. Try this: 8 or so cups of dry crumbled cornbread made without sugar or sweetener (in a pinch, use a packaged corn bread stuffing mix), 2 cups of chopped white onion, 2 cups of diced red apple with skin on, 2 cups of chopped walnuts or pecans, 2 cups of diced celery, 1 lb of cooked sage breakfast sausage crumbled, 1 bunch of fresh sage snipped into little pieces, 4 cloves of fresh garlic finely minced, 2 cans of diced water chestnuts, 1 cup of apple juice, 1 cup of dried cranberries, 1 or more cups of chicken stock (you don't want to make the mix too wet or it will be sticky and gummy -- keep it slightly dry), 1 cup of melted butter, salt and pepper to taste. Just blend everything, stuff your bird, bake the remaining stuffing in a well-buttered container at 350 for about an hour. Voila! This is so good and so rich that our guests rave about it every year. Even people who don't care for stuffing like this one. Try it this year and let me know how it works for you! WARNING: Not for people on a diet. There's about a zillion calories in every serving. Peggy

11-23-2005 @ 2:20AM

extramsg said...

I'm doing a special 10 course meal for some friends where I'm trying to think outside the box. For the turkey, I'm considering turkey carnitas, essentially slow fried turkey thigh chunks until they get caramelly on the outside and succulent on the inside. Drizzled with a little orange glaze afterwards.

11-23-2005 @ 2:22AM

b. said...

How about Tandoori Turkey? ;) I've heard that our favorite local Indian restuarant offers this during Thanksgiving, but have yet to try it myself. One of these days...

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