I have plucked, injected and deep fried. I have marinated in all sorts of potions. All of these were good but took a fair amount of time.
This weekend my daughter killed a bird and we simply cut the breast up into small lesst than one inch thick strips breaded it in "Shake and Bake" and dropped it in very hot peanut oil. As soon as it browned i took it out of the oil and sprinkled season salt and sea salt on it. It was very easy and very good. Kids ate it like popcorn.
Make an egg wash and roll in Kentucky Colonel's Seasoned Flour. Cut into nuggets/strips and fry for about 5-6 minutes. It will make you smack your Granny!
If my girl is able to fill her youth tag this weekend I think i'll try that recipe! Sounds excellent! I usually bone my bird out and bring it to a local processor who makes the best honey/smoke turkey jerky I've ever tasted. It's a staple around our house!
I have eaten turkey every way imaginable and to me nothing compares with deep frying like my post above. My oldest daughter literally was jumping up and down when I brought in the last gobbler. She can't wait til we eat it. It will go quicker than any snack, cake, sweet or anything else at my house.
The legs and thighs go into a large crockpot, covered in water and seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cook until the meat pulls off the bones easily. I freeze portions of this dark meat in vacuum bags to be used in other recipes like turkey and noodles, turkey salad, whatever you would use cooked chicken for.
With the breasts, I made a batch of turkey jerky this year that turned out pretty good. Will definitely do this again in the future. Otherwise, I like it chunked, breaded, and fried like above. Sometimes, I marinate and grill. I've also tied up into a roll with butcher's twine, injected marinade, covered with bacon and cooked with offset heat on the charcoal grill.
I think I will try your recipe for the legs and thighs. So far I haven't found any way that I like the legs and thighs. Turkey noodles or pot pie sounds good.
We breast them then run it through a tenderizer 3 or 4 times, cut them into nugget size pieces. I soak them in buttermilk for about 2 hours then coat it with Italian Bread Crumbs and fry in peanut oil. So good your tongue will beat your brains out.
I can't imagine putting turkey breast into jerky. It's too good for that, to us. That's like putting venison backstrap into jerky.
We have at least a dozen ways of cooking the breasts.Occasionally we fry it,like above. My wife's favored way is to cut it in long strips, against the grain, about 1/4" wide, or so.
We soak them in a marinade, lay them on a thin strip of bacon and roll them up and fasten on kabobs or with toothpicks.
Often we wimp out and go with Zesty Italian. Other times I'll use a mesquite marinade, with a bit of liquid smoke, with a jalapeno in the middle.
We're also used teriyaki marinade with fresh pineapple in the middle.
I've used them in stir-fry, as marinated kabobs with veggies.
In the dead of winter, I'll simmer down the legs and thighs from a gobbler for about three hours, with onions and celery. I then use that meat and the stock to get a batch of gumbo started. I usually mix in a breast slab, too.
We've crock-potted the legs and thighs, with a few veggies then add some BBQ sauce just before we eat it.
My step-mom does something similar but uses the stock for the base of homemade noodles and turkey. Great stuff.
Instructions: Fork tenderize turkey breasts. Combine Italian dressing and white wine. Place turkey breast into large Ziploc bag, vacuum canister, or marinade pan. Pour mixture over. Marinate overnight in refrigerator, turning occasionally. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Discard marinade. Season wild turkey breast with Creole seasoning. Place breast into oven roasting bag, and layer with bacon. Place turkey breast (in bag) in a loaf pan or other small-sized pan. Bake at 325 degrees, for approximately 2 hours.
1/2 cup oil for skillet (coconut oil, canola, vegetable oil are all OK)
1 can chicken broth
4 tablespoons corn starch
1 cup milk
2 cups baby carrots
1 green or red pepper, coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil (for pie crust)
3 to 4 tablespoons cold water
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees
Coat legs/thighs with salt and pepper, and fork it into the meat. Brown the legs in a skillet, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer legs to a large baking dish, and add chicken broth. Cover with foil, and place in preheated oven for approximately 4 hours.
After 4 hours, remove legs from oven. Reserve chicken/turkey stock from baking dish, setting aside 1/4 cup in a separate cup. In the small cup, whisk in corn starch. add to remaining stock, and add milk. Mix well, and heat in a saucepan, stirring constantly, until mixture becomes thickened and bubbly.
Remove meat from legs and chop into chunks. Add meat and vegetables to the stock mixture, stirring until well combined. This is your pie filling
Pie Crust Procedure:
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and vegetable oil. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add cold water, one tablespoon at a time, while mixing constantly, until mixture cleans the sides of the bowl, and particles are about the size of peas.
Gather pastry into a ball, and cut in half. Place one flattened round in the center of a sheet of wax paper, laid out smooth on a pre-moistened cutting board. Place another sheet of wax paper over the top of the pastry, and compress and roll out the pastry until it reaches the outer edges of the paper, and is uniform, thin, and circular in nature.
Peel top sheet of wax paper from crust, and carefully invert crust and transfer over a 9 inch pie pan. Now carefully peel the lower sheet of wax paper from crust. Carefully arrange the crust into the pan, and trim the top outer edge with kitchen scissors.
Add pie filling to pie pan. Repeat top crust preparation with the other half of the pastry, and transfer to top of pie. Arrange in position, trim edge, and flute crust if desired. Cut several slits in top crust before baking.
Transfer pie to oven, and bake at 300 degrees for approximately 1 1/2 hours, or until crust is golden brown. Serve with malt vinegar. Enjoy!
I cut the breast into strips and tenderize with a tenderizer hammer. I dip the strips in a batter made from Seven-up and flour. Fry the strips in Canola Oil and enjoy. When time allows I like to smoke them also. I will say that I plucked my last turkey many years ago. I skin and fillet them know.
I deep fry the boned out floured breasts after cutting them into eating size strips/chunks. The legs and thighs are washed and frozen for later use by putting them in a crock pot and covering them with 5-6 cans of mushroom soup mixed with a little milk. That simmers for a good 10-12 hours and they literally lose all the nasty tendons that you can then toss out. That is the only way I will eat the leg/thighs of a bird now since they are so tough without a long, slower simmering.
Cut the breast meat into thin strips and marinate in Spiedies Marinade for 2-3 days, then grill. It is sooo good!! Truly yummy stuff. I put the thighs in a soup with lots of beans and celery.
After a couple birds I quit plucking them as well. I have both baked and fried them whole. Experience from good on down. Now I just debone the breast and fry or grill up chunks or strips. Marinade them if cooking on the grill.
I hate to say that I don't use the legs/thighs, but I am not the master chef that some are. It is hard to eat those things and make them taste good in my opinion. I don't have to worry about cooking turkeys much though, since I started the blindless bowhunting operation.
I pick turkeys to the first wing joint and down to the "knee", bake in a baking bag.
Rant:
Then I end up with all the meat that some wasteful folks throw away, which ends up being a dinner plate piled high with the leg and wing meat. If you ask me it ought to be a crime to pop the breast out and toss the rest.
Ground - white and dark meat together. Use for turkey chili, or southwestern turkey burgers.
Slice the breast meat for Mexican turkey slices. Basically dredge in flour and spices, fry in olive oil 'til brown, place on broiler rack, top with salsa, sliced tomato and cheese. Broil to melt cheese. Serve with more salsa if desired.
Crock pot recipes.
Occasionally, do a whole young bird in a Keg Roaster.
Cut turkey breast into nugget size pieces. Roll in flour and fry on low heat until golden brown. Salt lightly, pour one whole bottle of John Boy and Billy's Grilling Sauce. (original flavor) over the turkey and simmer on low heat until the sauce looks like it crystallizes. This is delicious when dipped in ranch fressing.
Got this off of the NWTF site. Take one breast, marinate with honey mustard salad dressing in a zip lock bag overnight. Because it is quite thick, butterfly the breast to avoid drying out the edges and throw it on the grill. Do not over cook. Even my wife and 3 daughters love it cooked this way!
"Even my wife"...has never had wild turkey cooked a way she didn't love it, ditto for moose, whitetail, mule deer, elk, pronghorn, wild hog, caribou, duck, goose, rabbit, squirrel, pheasant, quail...
We have several friends who used to be borderline anti-hunters who gladly eat all of the above if I cook it for them.
This stuff isn't that complicated, folks- clean it up, remove all the fat, tendons, membrane, sinew and don't overcook it or let it dry-out.
Cut whole fresh jalepenos lengthwise and deseed them. Fill them with cream cheese. Put a piece of breast about the same size as the pepper on it and wrap with bacon and hold it together with a tooth pick. You can cook them on the grill, but the cheese oozes out and makes a mess, so I do them in the oven.
I take the breast and cube it in about 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" chunks. I season them layed out in a glass backing dish overnight with Famous Dave's poultry seasoning. Then I take a package of thick cut bacon and cut the strips in half. I wrap each chunk with backon, skewer them with a tooth pick or small kaboob skewer that will hold 3. I pour zesty Italian dressing over the top and marinade for another several hours. Then by evening I remove and cook them on the grill.
I like to dip them or drizzle on an Asian rep pepper sauce, which is a lot like sweet and sour sauce, but with a better kick. If I am making them for work or family, after I grill them I'll let them cool and put them in a Crock Pot with the red pepper sauce. When I get to the partay, then I just plug the Crock Pot in and set to warm.
Braised Turkey Legs and Thighs From 1 Wild Turkey Both skinless/bone-in (and/or skin-on) leg and thigh quarters; separate leg and thigh 4oz peanut oil kosher salt black pepper 1gal turkey or chicken stock- hot 1-750ml cheap red table wine 1# onion, medium dice 8oz carrot, medium dice 8oz celery, medium dice 1T fresh garlic, minced 8oz tomato paste 1T fresh thyme leaves Method 1) Heat oil in 2 gallon pot to almost smoking/really hot! 2) While oil is heating, liberally season your turkey pieces with salt and pepper 3) Drop these pieces in the oil and brown on both sides, remove after GB&D (golden brown and delicious) and set on plate. 4) Now put your carrots and onions in the pot and cook until they start to caramelize (brown), once caramelized add the celery and garlic, cook a few minutes. 5) Now add your tomato paste and stir this into the vegetables, cook this for a few minutes and then add the red wine to deglaze the bottom of the pan, bring wine to a boil and reduce it by half. 6) Once wine is reduced by half, add the turkey pieces, fresh thyme and stock. 7) Bring to boil and cover, put in 225 degree oven for 5-6 hours or until meat pulls away from bone easily. 8) Once meat is ready remove it from the pot to a pan and let cool slightly so you can pull it from the bones. 9) All that good stuff in the pot is your GRAVY!, just puree it in blender all together and pour over your pulled meat and enjoy.
This pulled meat and gravy also work well in making turkey pot pies! I can’t tell you how many turkey carcasses I’ve seen through the years laying in turkey camps where the hunter has just takin the breasts??????? Come on folks, try this one time and you’ll be begging for more like me. This recipe is the reason I make it a point to travel to CO, TX, OK, NE, KS and MO every year just so I can put more wild turkeys in my freezer. The way I like my turkey breasts prepared is to cut them into 3-4oz cutlets, jaccard,(remember this from the last issue?) rub with olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper and put them on a char-grill for a few minutes a side. IF you cook them to well-done they will be dry and tough. I cook mine to medium and they will be quite tender. Just remember the jaccard is a hunter’s best friend in the kitchen.
Trust Chuckles on this...if you can force yourself to trust a guy named chuckles....the legs and thighs are great if you try eh once you might through away the breast but you will never throw away the dark meat again.
1. Debone breast. Marinade in "Jack Daniels Smoke Mesquite" for 12 - 24 hours. Buy this at walmart. Cook in an oven bag. Moist and delicious.
2. Debone breast and cut breast in half (on edge so that you have two "thin breasts" from one side). Marinade in the Jack Daniels smoke mesquite" for 12 hours. Cut breast into thin slices, the length and width of a bacon slice. Wrap the strip into a piece of bacon and cook in oven or on grill for about 15 minutes. Very tasty.
3. Legs. trim meat from legs... cook and make turkey noodle soup.
Now that looks good. There's nothing out there that a slice of bacon can't make tastier. For years I've smoked salmon using my Weber. I had perfected how I prepped it and how to use the Weber with just a handful of briquets and applewood. I thought I would try the same thing on turkey breast. They came out great.
Breast out the bird and put both halves in a roasting bag for about 2 hours,serve with mashed potatoes and whatever else I have for spring Thanksgiving. Legs, thighs and sometimes wings to into crockpot with peppercorn, celery, and onion. Cook on high for several hours until the meat falls off the bone. Makes great turkey pot pie with carrots, peas, potatoes and cream of mushroom. Lots of good eating.
Like the other recipes as well. Might have to steal a few for my book, "Swine and Dine".
I cooked my last breast in a cast iron dutch oven. Add a little chicken broth for moisture, season to your taste, add onions, carrots and potatoes. Cook with about 8 charcoal brickets underneath and about 14 on top. Check it in 45 minutes. Make sure to not over cook.
Great for a cookout! Just sitting around drinking beer and cooking.
We cooked the tenders out of my bird tonight. Wife did her one pan dinner tonight. Get large 2" deep cake pan. Line it with foil, use the wider stuff to make like a basin so you don't get the pan dirty. Take a can or two of green beans and dump liquid and all in one end of the pan in theother end put quartered potatoes and in the middle put your turkey meat either cubed or in strips. Season with salt pepper and then take a packet of Lipton onion soup mix and sprinkle lightly all over the fixings. For us we also like to sprinkle cayenne pepper in it too. Cover with foil and bake at 350-375 for 45-50 minutes depending on quantity of fixings. Delicious and easy to clean up.
I slice the breasts so they're roughly the size of a chicken breast, then fry. I then place them in a sauce consisting of 2 cans each of Cream of Mushroom and Cream of Chicken, a container of sour cream, and a packet of Lipton's Onion Soup. Cook in crockpot approx 4hrs on low, then serve over mashed potatoes. Melts in your mouth!
I've cut the breasts into strips, marinated them in Italian dressing, then fried them in butter and a little olive oil. If I ever manage to get another, I plan on trying a crock pot.
I cut breast crossgrain into 3/4" steaks marinate overnight and then barbecue...dont over cook ! marinade: equal parts of 7up, soy sauce, and olive, peanut or wesson oil, with your favorite seasonings. Excellent this way and I eat lots of turkey.
last weekend my wife cut a breast up in chunks, wrapped in bacon and cooked over a charcoal while we were camping. she made 20 pieces and she stopped me before I starting eating her half.
Yep, rumaki style is my favorite! Cube the breast, soak in italian dresssing, wrap in half-cooked bacon and add a water chestnut w/ a toothpick, & onto the grill in a grill basket until the bacon is done. You won't stop until it's all gone!
