Turkey Cooking Time
The 2007 turkey season is well under way, and hopefully some of you blessed hunters have a bird in the freezer already. I’m going to give you a couple recipe’s, and who knows maybe even “The Luna Pier Cook” will give us his.
BARBECUED WILD TURKEY
1/2 CUP MARGARINE-1/2 CUP CHOPPED GREEN ONION OR CHIVES-1/4 CUP LEMON JUICE-1 THSP. THYME AND SAVORY (MIXED) - 1 CUP BROTH-3 TBSP. PARSLEY. CUT TURKEY INTO PIECES ACROSS THE GRAIN. COOK ONIONS UNTIL TENDER IN BUTTER, AND THEN ADD OTHER INGREDIENTS. BRING TO FULL BOIL. COVER EACH PIECE OF TURKEY WITH THIS MIXTURE. BASTE OFTEN ON GRILL. COOK 45-55 MINUTES OR UNTIL DONE.
CAJUN DEEP FRIED TURKEY
ONE 10-15 POUND WILD TURKEY-5 GALLONS OF PEANUT OIL-2 TABLESPOONS CAJUN SEASONING-1 STICK BUTTER-1 TEASPOON GARLIC POWDER-1 TEASPOON CAYENNE PEPPER. POUR OIL INTO 10 GAL. POT. PLACE POT ONTO PROPANE BURNER. HEAT TO 375 DEGREES. MAKE SURE TURKEY IS COMPLETELY DRY! TIE 2 COTTON STRINGS AROUND TURKEY CARCASS FOR EASE IN LIFTING INTO OIL, CAREFULLY SUBMERGE INTO HOT OIL, AND DEEP FRY 3-4 MINUTES PER POUND. WAIT TILL TURKEY FLOATS TO THE TOP. REMOVE FROM OIL AND DUST WITH THE CAJUN SEASONING. IN A SAUCEPAN, MELT BUTTER WITH GARLIC AND CAYENNE, BRUSHING BIRD WITH MIXTURE BEFORE SERVING.
Hope you turkey hunters are successful and safe. Maybe even I’ll get to try one of these recipe’s on my own bird.
Mike
April 25th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
As a matter of fact, I’ve never cooked wild turkey. Sure I’ve cooked store-bought turkey using Reynolds cooking bags and they’ve come out great. But I’ve never had the time on those days to do anything more. Well, it would also help if I actually had some wild turkey. No, I don’t mean of the booze variety …
Coincidentally, Chef Tad and Catherine of the Frog Leg Inn in Erie went to the West Side Market in Cleveland today and picked up some incredible smoked turkey that we figured had been smoked at least twelve hours! You should have seen Chef Tad in the kitchen back here in Erie with a santoku knife, cutting thin slices off a huge 1-2/3 lb (I weighed the thing) smoked turkey leg, munching on piece after piece, giving it out saying, “You gotta try this!”, then going back for more. Long-term smoking is a definite option for a good turkey.
For something like this though, I defer to Dixie Dave. Up in Birch Run at his Old Dixie Inn at the corner of Birch Run Rd. and Dixie Hwy, Chef Dave Minar serves nothing but game. His cookbook is available over at Cabela’s in Dundee. From that cookbook (which I highly recommend) comes a recipe I’m waiting to try:
Wild Turkey Steaks with Strawberries & Cream
(4 portions)
8 ounces turkey breast per person
1 quart fresh strawberries
2 cups fresh mushrooms, diced
2 cups chicken or turkey stock
2 ounces heavy cream
2 ounces strawberry schnapps
1/3 cup onion, diced fine
1 teaspoon cornstarch
flour
unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste
Slice and pound turkey steaks between plastic wrap to tenderize. Dredge steaks in flour and sauté in melted butter 2 minutes per side. Remove steaks from pan. Sauté onions in butter in the same pan and simmer for 1 minute with schnapps. Add stock and boil to reduce volume by one quarter. Add cream, berries and mushrooms to onions. Mix cornstarch with water and add slowly to mixture until desired thickness. Return steaks to pan and cook 2 - 3 minutes. Do not overcook. Top with parsley and serve with wild rice and steamed asparagus.