Tackling the Turducken!

Thanksgiving has come and gone and while I was able to spend the holiday with my family and loved ones and enjoy all that I am thankful for, we decided that a celebration with friends was in order to truly kick-off the festive season.  Thus our first “friends’ Thanksgiving,” or Danksgiving, if you will, was born. What is Danksgiving? It’s a term coined by my boyfriend, but more importantly it’s a gathering of friends, clad in orange and denim attire, to eat delicious food and enjoy good company.  (We got a little creative here.)

Our beautiful 28 pound Turducken fresh from the oven!

This new holiday is the reason I came wing to wing with 28 pounds of poultry wondering how I would ever tame these birds into one beautiful entrée… a Turducken! For those of you who have never heard of a Turducken, it is everything American. It is decadent, awe inspiring and a portmanteau at its finest. Oh, and it’s a chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey!

My local and incredible butcher, Captain Pat, thought I was crazy when I came to him and asked if he could help me bone a 22 pound turkey. But he smiled with amusement as I told him my plan to make a Turducken and cleaned up a beautiful bird. I settled on duck breasts for the second layer after reading many reports of whole ducks ruining the texture and overpowering the flavor of the mother of all poultry dishes. I happily took to boning a chicken, but eventually scared my boyfriend out of the kitchen with threats and curses as I struggled to cleanly remove the leg bones. I finally and proudly managed to win the battle with my chicken. Then came the assembly.

To ensure the proper shape for the Turducken, you have to layer good hearty stuffing between each layer of meat. I used an old family favorite stuffing recipe complete with Italian chicken sausage (my favorite version includes bacon instead of sausage). Starting with the turkey spread across multiple cutting boards, I layered almost 2 cups uncooked stuffing over the bird then carefully layered 4 duck breasts (skin on) on top. Next came another layer of stuffing and finally my prized chicken followed by another small layer of stuffing.

Next comes the chicken...

My Mom would be proud to know the sewing skills she taught me came in handy as I stitched all three birds together with a crochet needle. Before sewing up the birds, I tied the wings and legs together with kitchen twine to keep the profusion of poultry from becoming too unwieldy. Tying the wings together also helps bring the wingtips under the birds when roasting and prevents them from burning. I used a 0.5” needle to pierce through the skin and a small layer of flesh of the turkey then hooking a 6 inch piece of cooking twine on the end pulled the string through the flesh so I could tie a knot.

Finally wrestled the birds into a Turducken - onto the herb coating

Herb Roasted Turducken

19-22 lb. Turkey, boned

4 duck breasts

3-4 lb. chicken, boned

1 tbsp salt

½ cup butter, room temperature

2 tbsp olive oil

¼ sage roughly chopped

2 heaping tbsp rosemary, chopped

cracked pepper

Generously salt turkey after patting dry. In a small bowl mix together butter and olive oil.  Evenly coat the turkey with butter and olive oil mixture. Sprinkle herbs over the turkey and press into bird. Crack fresh pepper to cover the turkey generously.

Bake uncovered for 1 hour at 375°. Reduce temperature to 350°, tent with foil bake until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the birds reads at least 160° (usually 12-15 minutes per pound).  After removing the Turducken from the oven make sure the temperature comes up to 165°, as the birds will continue to cook for a short time once removed from the oven. Make sure to baste the Turducken as needed while baking to make sure it stays moist (I basted about every 45 minutes).

 

Enjoy with your favorite side dishes and a nice, hearty cocktail – you’ll deserve one after tackling over 25 pounds of poultry!!! I want to thank all of our wonderful friends for making our first “Danksgiving” such a fun gathering and contributing to the delicious feast!