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Need suggestions for unusual turkey recipes

cpw

cpw

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Chad
I've got a backyard bbq contest coming up (local comp, just for fun) and they're throwing in turkey as a "mystery meat." Rather than just doing a regular smoked turkey, I was wondering if any one had anything out of the ordinary for a smoked/grilled turkey recipe.

Thanks in advance!
 
Google hurricane turkey. I made it once, and liked it. Very different flavor. I've known some people to try it and not care for it. Seems maybe that it's a love or hate recipe, which may not be the best for a contest. But it is different...
 
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You did not mention if this is whole bird or just parts. Do this in a Weber or similar. Stuff the bird with apple slices, peaches and any other fruit you have handy. Though you do not need more than that. Place bird into a aluminum turkey roaster pan. Pour in 1 lg can of pineapple juice. Place directly onto your hot coals. Not on a grate. Cooker should stay around 350* for the most part. Cover your cooker. Once it heats up you will hear it rumbling from the juice boiling. Don't worry the pan will not burn thru. At around 1 hr, check to insure you still have liquid left. Add a beer or chicken stock if you'd rather. Then keep liquid in the bottom of the pan for the rest of the cook. You only need about 1" of liquid in the pan. The bird comes out with a much different flavor then any other way I have cooked a bird, and fall apart tender. Every one has been amazed with how it comes out.
Just a thought.
 
ebijack said:
You did not mention if this is whole bird or just parts. Do this in a Weber or similar. Stuff the bird with apple slices, peaches and any other fruit you have handy. Though you do not need more than that. Place bird into a aluminum turkey roaster pan. Pour in 1 lg can of pineapple juice. Place directly onto your hot coals. Not on a grate. Cooker should stay around 350* for the most part. Cover your cooker. Once it heats up you will hear it rumbling from the juice boiling. Don't worry the pan will not burn thru. At around 1 hr, check to insure you still have liquid left. Add a beer or chicken stock if you'd rather. Then keep liquid in the bottom of the pan for the rest of the cook. You only need about 1" of liquid in the pan. The bird comes out with a much different flavor then any other way I have cooked a bird, and fall apart tender. Every one has been amazed with how it comes out.
Just a thought.
Click to expand...

I won't know if it's part or whole until the night before the contest. Thanks for the suggestions so far!
 
Make a turkey-meat fatty, fill it with a typical turkey stuffing, roasted potatoes and glaze with a cranberry sauce!
 
Gary Tomato said:
Make a turkey-meat fatty, fill it with a typical turkey stuffing, roasted potatoes and glaze with a cranberry sauce!
Click to expand...

I was thinking something along these lines, but a turkey roulade. I think they are providing the meat, so I wouldn't be able to use ground turkey. But I could butterfly the breast and stuff it with stuff (sausage etc), then roll up and wrap with bacon (because why not?) I like the cranberry glaze idea too.

Thanks!
 
I like your turkey roulade idea with the bacon wrap...you could add some legs to it on either end and make it look like a rolling pin! And might I suggest some meat glue???
 
OK, so I did a test run this weekend of the stuffed turkey breast, I stuffed with provolone cheese and sage breakfast sausage. 3 things happened and I need a little feedback.

1. the cheese disappeared. I guess it all melted out, but I really don't know. Should I use something else, maybe just straight cheddar?
2. Sausage didn't have much oomph. I can get bulk italian sausage from the gorcery store, would that work a little better or should I hit up a butcher and find something a little more off the wall?
3. Wrapped the breast with a bacon weave after about an hour of cook time, but it never got crisp, and I overcooked the breast trying to get the bacon crisp. Should I par cook the bacon? Any other suggestions?

Thanks!!
Chad
 
cpw said:
OK, so I did a test run this weekend of the stuffed turkey breast, I stuffed with provolone cheese and sage breakfast sausage. 3 things happened and I need a little feedback.

1. the cheese disappeared. I guess it all melted out, but I really don't know. Should I use something else, maybe just straight cheddar?
2. Sausage didn't have much oomph. I can get bulk italian sausage from the gorcery store, would that work a little better or should I hit up a butcher and find something a little more off the wall?
3. Wrapped the breast with a bacon weave after about an hour of cook time, but it never got crisp, and I overcooked the breast trying to get the bacon crisp. Should I par cook the bacon? Any other suggestions?

Thanks!!
Chad
Click to expand...

1. A few things you can try. Cook with the seam of the incision at the top of the turkey as opposed to the bottom or lower half of the breast. That way the cheese can't melt out of it. Another thing you can do is to use meat glue on to close the incision, as opposed to the popular skewer/toothpick pinning.

2. Have you thought about making your own sausage? You won't need to cure it, just make a batch of ground up sausage and possibly over season the meat. Most sausage is seasoned for just it's flavor. If you add in another meat like the turkey, you have to account for the under seasoned turkey. So adding more seasoning is probably necessary.

3. Did you use thin bacon or thick cut bacon for hte bacon weave? When doing a bacon weave, I typically use thin cut bacon so it crisps up faster. Also put the bacon weave on the turkey sooner (or even when the turkey is raw) that way the bacon will crisp while you don't over cook the turkey. Another thing you can try is using the thigh meat of the turkey as opposed to the breast meat, so it is more forgiving when it comes to drying out.
 
cpw said:
I was thinking something along these lines, but a turkey roulade. I think they are providing the meat, so I wouldn't be able to use ground turkey. But I could butterfly the breast and stuff it with stuff (sausage etc), then roll up and wrap with bacon (because why not?) I like the cranberry glaze idea too.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You could also pound the breast out thinner and then roll it.
 
aawa said:
1. A few things you can try. Cook with the seam of the incision at the top of the turkey as opposed to the bottom or lower half of the breast. That way the cheese can't melt out of it. Another thing you can do is to use meat glue on to close the incision, as opposed to the popular skewer/toothpick pinning.

2. Have you thought about making your own sausage? You won't need to cure it, just make a batch of ground up sausage and possibly over season the meat. Most sausage is seasoned for just it's flavor. If you add in another meat like the turkey, you have to account for the under seasoned turkey. So adding more seasoning is probably necessary.

3. Did you use thin bacon or thick cut bacon for hte bacon weave? When doing a bacon weave, I typically use thin cut bacon so it crisps up faster. Also put the bacon weave on the turkey sooner (or even when the turkey is raw) that way the bacon will crisp while you don't over cook the turkey. Another thing you can try is using the thigh meat of the turkey as opposed to the breast meat, so it is more forgiving when it comes to drying out.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips. I don't have a grinder so I couldn't make my own sausage. There's a butcher shop down the road from my office that makes their own sausage, so I'll give them a try.

I did use thin cut bacon, I think I'll try putting the bacon on there from the beginning to make sure it gets crispy.
 
One more update from this weekend...we had our competition and I made all of the changes I thought about, including cooking the bacon the whole time, and using a spicy sausage. I went with a shredded cheddar mixed with a spicy Italian sausage, and then Gouda on top of that. Cooking it to the right IT helped tremendously, and it turned out pretty good. The only thing I would have changed is using something other than Italian sausage as it just had to much of a distinctive taste. I think I'd use andouille or something similar next time.

Also, we got 2nd place...we lost to fried bacon wrapped turkey tenderloins.
 

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cpw said:
I've got a backyard bbq contest coming up (local comp, just for fun) and they're throwing in turkey as a "mystery meat." Rather than just doing a regular smoked turkey, I was wondering if any one had anything out of the ordinary for a smoked/grilled turkey recipe.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

We've made ours Haitian style since that NYT article came out a decade ago. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/16/d...at-stopped-in-haiti-on-its-way-to-dinner.html It's a wonderful preparation and definitely 'different'
 
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