Brine For Turducken Or Any Other Fowl Recipes

TURDUCKEN MOIST AND FLAVORFUL GOOD EATS!

Steps:

• Day before serving. Mix the brine ingredients in a very large stainless steel pot add 2 dozen ice cubes. Set aside.
• De-boning the birds:.
• Rinse the birds and remove the necks and any giblets, saving for stock.
• Place the turkey, breast side down, on a clean flat surface.
• Using a pair of kitchen shears or a sharp boning knife, cut the backbone from the turkey. I left about 2 inches of backbone near the bottom of the spine which help with support of the birds.
• Using the tip of a knife and starting from the neck end, gently separate meat from rib cage on one side. Be careful not to cut through the breast skin.
• Cut through the meat to expose the shoulder blade; cut meat away from and around the bone, severing bone at the joint to remove shoulder blade.
• Disjoint wing between second and third joints. Leave the wing bones and keep the wing attached to the meat.
• Continue separating meat from frame, working toward the thighbone and being careful to keep the "oyster" (pocket of meat on back) attached to skin, rather than leaving it with the bone.
• Cut through ball-and-socket joint to release the thighbone from the carcass (bird will be open on one side). Keep the leg attached to the meat.
• Repeat boning procedure on the other side of the bird.
• Carefully remove the carcass and use it to make stock for your gravy.
• You should end up with a flat boneless (except for wings and legs as in photo) turkey with the skin intact in one large piece. Rinse and put the boned turkey in the brine.
• Repeat the deboning process on the duck and the chicken, but debone both stumps of wings and leg drumsticks. Cut through flesh at the thinnest point and trim around these bones with a knife until they can be removed. (Since they have little meat, you can cut off the entire wings and add them to the stock pot.) Both the chicken and duck will be stuffed inside the turkey and need not be kept "perfectly" intact.
• Trim skin and fat from the birds. Ducks, in particular, have a lot of excess fatty skin that should be saved to render fat to be used for other recipes. I suggest removing all the skin from chicken and duck. They don`t crisp up and give it a mushy texture and mouth feel. Add the chicken and duck to brine adding ice cold water to completely cover, place top on and chill till the morning.
• At least 11 hours before dinner, assemble the Turducken. Rinse and dry birds.
• Spread the turkey, skin down, on flat surface, exposing as much meat as possible.
• Spread some of stuffing over the turkey in an even layer approximately 3/4 inch thick.
• Place duck, on top of stuffing.
• Spread more stuffing in an even layer over the duck.
• Arrange the chicken over the stuffing.
• You`ll need someone to hold the birds closed while you sew up the seam.
• Carefully lift the sides of the layered birds, folding the sides of the turkey together. Using cotton thread and a needle going through some of the chicken and turkey skin.
• Since the turducken has no skeleton, it must be trussed up or it may fall apart in cooking.
• Tie 4-5 pieces of cotton string around the bird, width-wise to act as skeletal support.
• Turn the bird over and place in a roasting rack inside a large roasting pan so it is breast side up and looks like a "normal" turkey.
• Tie the legs together just above the tip bones. Secure the wings close to the body.
• Mix fresh herbs of your choice in melted butter.
• Pour butter over turkey.
• Generously season with pepper, salt and paprika.
• Pour beer in pan.
• Cooking:.
• In a 225 degrees F preheated oven .
• Place the bird on a rack in a roasting pan in the center of the oven and bake for 3 hours because I know you want to peek so go ahead and baste it while you are there. After 6 hours pour the pineapple (if using) over the turkey and continue baking until a meat thermometer inserted through to center reads 165 degrees, approximately 9 1/2 hours, though cooking times will vary depending on the size of the birds and amount of stuffing used.
• Save pan drippings for an amazing gravy.
• Remove the trucking from the oven and let rest in the pan for an 1/2 before serving.
• Meanwhile make gravy as you like.
• To serve cut bird in half.
• Carve crosswise so each slice reveals all 3 meats and stuffing's.

TURDUCKEN

Steps:

• 1. Give yourself plenty of time for this project. You'll need 14 to 18 hours just to smoke the turducken. Remember that you can keep it smoking on a lower temperature (180 or so) if it comes to temperature (165 F) too early for your feast, but a late Turducken is a bummer.
• 2. De-bone all the birds. Chef Paul Prudhomme has the best directions: http://www.chefpaul.com/site383.php. Be sure to leave the wings and drumstick intact for just the turkey.
• 3. Remove the skin and fat from the chicken. Discard the fat, but reserve the skin. Remove the skin from the duck and reserve. Reserve the duck fat for rendering.
• 4. Trim the fat as much as possible from the turkey, leaving the skin intact. Separate the skin from the breast without tearing it.
• 5. Brine all the birds separately about 6-8 hours. See my brine recipe, or use your favorite.
• 6. While birds are brining, render the duck fat and allow to cool completely.
• 7. Blend cooled duck fat with butter, garlic and chopped herbs. Keep refrigerated unless you're going to use it pretty quickly.
• 8. Also, prepare the stuffing. See my stuffing recipe, or use your favorite. You'll need about a cup of stuffing per pound of de-boned bird. We all know stuffing/dressing is awesome, so just make a lot of it.
• 9. About an hour before removing the birds from the brine, get the duck/butter/herb mixture out of the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature.
• 10. When you are ready to put the whole package together, remove birds from brine, and immerse in ice water until ready to use. Seriously, water with ice floating in it, not just cold water. It's important to keep the birds cold while working with them. The purpose of the ice water is twofold: keep the birds cold and leech out some salt.
• 11. Thread two large needles with at least an arm's length of heavy thread, and have them ready.
• 12. Remove turkey from ice water, pat dry.
• 13. Lay the turkey skin side up on a large cookie sheet, and push rendered duck fat, butter, garlic, herb mixture up under the skin. Try to cover as much as possible without breaking the skin.
• 14. Turn the turkey skin side down. Spread a few dollops of duck fat/butter/herb mixture. Then spread a layer of stuffing evenly over the meat about an inch thick, and press 1/2 the shrimp and scallops into the stuffing. Use your judgment for the distribution - there's no fault in having a bit of seafood leftover to create a little appetizer or something.
• 15. Remove duck from ice water and pat dry. Lay your duck on top of the stuffing/seafood, and add another layer of duck fat/butter/herb mixture and stuffing on top of that. Press more shrimp and scallops into the stuffing.
• 16. Remove chicken from ice water and pat dry. Lay your chicken on top of the stuffing. Spread duck fat/butter/herb mixture and add another layer of stuffing. Press in more shrimp and scallops.
• 17. Working from both ends, pull the two sides together and carefully stitch the skin to form a tight seal. After stitching up an inch or two, start at the other end. Go back and forth toward the middle, pushing and forming the package to contain all the ingredients Take your time with this, being careful not to leave any large holes. Use the reserved duck and chicken skin to patch any open spots. Your turducken should kind of look like a box with legs when you're done. Tie the legs together somewhat so that they're not dangling.
• 18. If you're doing this project alone like I did, cover and refrigerate your turducken while getting the fire going in the smoker. I used hickory wood, but a fruit wood would be nice as well. Applewood, I imagine, would be great. You'll be smoking it for about 14 - 18 hours, so have plenty of wood handy, and be prepared to keep an eye on the temperature. Ideally, one person should be solely in charge of the smoker while the rest of the feast is being prepared.
• 19. Periodically baste the turducken with any leftover duck/butter/herb mixture.
• 20. Using your smoker as you normally would with the fire on the bottom and water in a pan above, smoke the bird at 200 F. Use a meat thermometer, and check the temperature of the bird at several spots. When the deepest internal temperature hits 165 F, it's done.
• 21. Remove the trussing thread before serving.

PORK OR POULTRY BRINE

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with water to about 3/4-full; add carrots, celery, onions, kosher salt, brown sugar, lemon slices, bell pepper, and garlic. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer mixture for 10 minutes.
• Let the brine cool at room temperature for 10 minutes before refrigerating to chill completely, at least 1 hour more.
• Strain brine into a separate food-safe container.

BASIC ALL PURPOSE BRINE FOR MEATS, CHICKEN, AND TURKEY

Steps:

• Makes 1 quart- make up additional amounts of brine if needed until meat is submerged.
• Stir ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Continue stirring until sugar is dissolved.
• Allow to cool.
• Place meat or poultry in a food safe plastic bag inside another container for support and leakage control (oven roasting bags are a fine choice- NOT garbage bags).
• Pour cooled brine into bag, and squeeze out as much air as possible and seal with a twistie tie.
• Refrigerate for 3-4 hours for 3 pounds meat (such as pork ribs), 5-6 hours for a nice roasting hen, or 12-24 hours for a turkey, 12 hours being for a small one and the longer time for those turkeys around 20+ pounds.
• Discard brine before using and pat meat dry.
• If using poultry, you may want to add citrus fruit such as oranges or lemons, additional fresh herbs, or cloves of garlic into the cavity.
• Prepare meat as desired- roast, bbq, etc.

STUFFING TURDUCKEN

Steps:

• De-Bone.
• Sharpen those knives! Maximize your work area so you have plenty of room and light. Use the kitchen table if there's not enough counter space. If it is your first time deboning a fowl, it is advisable to practice first on the chicken rather than the turkey since mistakes will be hidden inside the bigger birds.
• Rinse the turkey and remove the neck and any giblets. Place the turkey, breast side down, on a clean flat surface. Cut through the skin along the length of the spine. Using the tip of a knife and starting from the neck end, gently separate meat from rib cage on one side. Toward neck end, cut through the meat to expose the shoulder blade; cut meat away from and around the bone, severing bone at the joint to remove shoulder blade. Disjoint wing between second and third joints. Leave the wing bones and keep the wing attached to the meat.
• Continue separating meat from frame, heading toward the thighbone and being careful to keep the "oyster" (pocket of meat on back) attached to skin, rather than leaving it with the bone. Cut through ball-and-socket joint to release the thighbone from the carcass (bird will be open on one side, exposing bones left to deal with). Keep the leg attached to the meat.
• Repeat boning procedure on the other side of the bird. Carefully remove the carcass and use it to make stock. Stock is needed for making stuffing and more stock is needed for gravy. To make stock, put the turkey carcass in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat overnight.
• You should end up with a flat boneless (except for wings and legs) turkey with the skin intact in one large piece. Put the boned turkey in a large dish or bowl and cover with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out. Place it in the refrigerator.
• Repeat the deboning process on the duckling and the chicken, but debone both stumps of wings and leg drumsticks. Cut through flesh at the thinnest point and trim around these bones with a knife until they can be removed. (Since they have little meat, we usually cut off the entire wings and add them to the stock pot.) Both the chicken and duck will be stuffed inside the turkey and need not be kept "perfectly" intact.
• Trim excess skin and fat from the birds. Ducks, in particular, have a lot of excess fatty skin that should be saved to render fat to be used later for making gravy. We usually remove most of the skin from the chicken, but keep the duck skin which adds flavor.
• Prepare the seasoning mix and set it aside.
• Make the Sausage Stuffing.
• Melt butter in large skillet over high heat. Add 3 cups onions and 1-1/2 cups celery. Saute until onions are dark brown but not burned, about 10 to 12 minutes. Add 2 lbs sausage (we prefer spicy Italian sausage) to the skillet and cook about 5 minutes or until the meat is browned, stirring frequently. Add paprika (3 tbsp.) and minced garlic (3 tbsp.) and cook approximately 3 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Stir in 3 cups of stock and bring to simmer. Continue cooking until water evaporates and oil rises to top, about 10 minutes. Stir in 2-3 cups toasted bread crumbs and mix well. Add more bread crumbs if mixture is too moist.
• Prepare a similar amount of another stuffing such as corn bread stuffing.
• Assemble the Turducken at least 11 to 12 hours before dinner.
• Spread the turkey, skin down, on flat surface, exposing as much meat as possible. Rub 3 tablespoons of seasoning mix evenly on meat. Spread sausage stuffing over the turkey in an even layer approximately 3/4 inch thick.
• Place duck, skin down, on top of stuffing. Season exposed duck meat with about 1 tablespoons of seasoning mix. Spread corn bread stuffing in an even layer (about 1/2 inch thick) over the duck.
• Arrange the chicken, skin down, evenly on top of corn bread stuffing. Season chicken meat with seasoning mix. Spread remainder of sausage and/or corn bread stuffing on top of chicken.
• With another person's help, carefully lift the sides of the layered birds, folding the sides of the turkey together. Have a helper hold the bird while sewing the opening down the back of the turkey together using cotton thread. The bird may not close perfectly, and a strip of cheese cloth can be used to help close the "crack" in the back of the turkey so stuffing will not leak out when the bird is turned over.
• Since the turducken has no skeleton, it must be trussed up or it may fall apart in cooking. Tie 4-5 pieces of cotton string around the bird, width wise to act as skeletal support. Turn the bird over and place in a roasting rack inside a large roasting pan so it is oriented breast side up and looks like a "normal" turkey. Tie the legs together just above the tip bones.
• Heat oven to 225 degrees F. Temperature control is critical since the turducken is so massive that it has to be cooked slowly at a low temperature to prevent burning the outside before the interior is cooked. Using an oven thermometer is highly recommended. We place 2-3 oven thermometers at different locations within the oven to monitor oven temperature. We also use a meat thermometer inside the bird to measure its internal temperature.
• Place the bird in the center of the oven and bake until a meat thermometer inserted through to center reads 165 degrees, approximately 9-10 hours, though cooking times will vary depending on the size of the birds and amount of stuffing used. Rely on temperature and not time cooked for doneness.
• There will be no need to baste, but accumulated drippings may need to be removed from the pan every few hours so that the lower portion does not deep fry in the hot oil. Save pan drippings for gravy. Remove the turducken from the oven and let cool in the pan for an hour before serving. Make gravy according to your favorite recipe.
• To serve cut bird in half. Carve crosswise so each slice reveals all 3 meats and stuffings.
• Simple Gravy if desired.
• Take 1 cup of pan drippings plus 1 cup of flour and cook over medium heat until "tan". Add 10 cups stock to fat/flour all at once. Whisk thoroughly. Bring back to a boil and then simmer for 5 minute Whisk constantly. Add salt + pepper + paprika "to taste".
• Another simple gravy variation is to use about a quarter to half cup of pinot grigio and about two to three tablespoons of instant potatoes instead of the flour. Test for taste and if it gets too thick add water or more pinot.
• The gravy can be made in advance and allowed to stand over low heat for at least 2 hours (maybe more). We usually make at least two batches.

BRINE FOR TURDUCKEN (OR ANY OTHER FOWL)

Steps:

• This is a no cook brine. Wash, peel and cut up the onions, garlic, and all the herbs. A rough chop is fine. Mix up and set aside in a big bowl.
• Zest the oranges and lemons in big chunks with a potato peeler. Add to the bowl of veggies and set aside.
• Remove the pith from the zested lemon, cut it up and add it to the veggies.
• Pour the juices, salt, honey, and sugar into a big pot. Squeeze the zested oranges in as well. Discard the orange solids.
• Use an immersion blender to dissolve the salt, sugar, and honey into the juices.
• Add ice and keep blending. (Were it not for the salt, this could be a base for some sort of cocktail.)
• Throw in the peppercorns and juniper berries, and blend just a second or two more. You don't want to crush these spices too much.
• Put half the onion & herb mixture in the bottom of a brining bag. Divide the other half between the two other brining bags.
• Trust me on this - brine the birds separately.
• Put the de-boned turkey in the bag with the most veggies, and the other two birds in the other two bags.
• Pour half the slush into the turkey bag, and divide the other half between the duck and the chicken.
• Tie the bags up tight so that there's no air. Refrigerate 6-8 hours or overnight.