What is YOUR favorite turkey recipe?
Wisconsin
There's a ton of ways to prepare a wild turkey...I suppose!
I was wondering what some of you fella's have found to be a great way to prepare a bird?
For the breasts, we always have a party at some point and do a turkey fry. Very simple. Cut into 1" or so strips across the grain. Do a dry batter into some fry magic, then beer batter into shore lunch drop in the oil. And voila, grab some barbecue, hot sauce, ranch or whatever your condiment of choice and have at it. Of course not complete without 4-5 guys staring at the deep fryer with beers in hand.
Hank Shaw has an excellent carnitas recipe that I do for the legs.
Traeger smoking
Traeger smoking
I always hear of people saying how bad wild turkey is and just breasting them out and leaving the rest.
Last year I smoked and then braised the wings and legs and thighs.
3 hour smoke
3 hour braise
Cut breast in 1 inch strips . Rub in Garlc , pepper & minced onions. Wrap in bacon strips . Cook at 400 until bacon is crispy on a pan that allows draining of grease .
Further proof that Bacon can make anything tast good .
Breaded deep fried turkey nuggets for me too...
Grind the breast to burger. I can get the whole family to eat them. I save the legs and do the same long slow cook. I am done baking, grilling, deep frying. I could be talked into stripping with say a teriyaki marinade that I use on chicken and pork.
Wait Glunker.....you'd strip for teriyaki turkey?
Tweed, not much gets by you.
Cut into 1 1/2” strips. Lightly pound with a meat clever. Marinade in a brine for 24 hr. Grill on high heat for short 4 min each side. -The key is to not grill too long or it gets dry. Also, do not grill for leftovers as they get dry as well and don’t reheat well.
For my brine I use a typical soy, Worcester, br sugar, mustard, garlic, and chili pepper. (There’s all sorts of variations there depending on your tastes.)
I have mine on the smoker right now, I made up a new marinade(hopefully it turns out), I'll smoke the breasts for about 12 hours then turn the heat up to get the internal temp to 180. I'll slice it as thin as I can with a knife and enjoy.
Legs and thighs get slow cooked until easily pulled from bone. Shred and chop. Use for turkey pot pie.
Breast meat I slice into thin steaks against the grain, soak in milk for a while, pound flat, then dredge in flour, egg/milk, then panko crumbs. Fry in oil just like fish. Any spices you like can be mixed in the dredging process, I like just salt and pepper. Eat hot with dipping sauce like honey mustard or bbq. Leftovers re-heated in a toaster oven for best results.
Wings have a good amount of meat. I usually add them with the leg meat for pot pies. This year we started using a pressure cooker for chicken wings and they turn out great, and I am going to try adding the turkey wings and see how that goes.
I have make an addition to my liking ground turkey. I was cleaning a bird and decided to pull out the tenders which did nothing for my wife. But she found a turkey tender marinade and I grilled them along with another strip of breast meat. It was a knockout, she even liked it. https://www.simplyscratch.com/2011/07/soy-ginger-lime-grilled-turkey-tenderloins.html hope the link works
I do not cook,,, I am spoiled,,, I will pass this on to my wife,,,,, she is a great cook,,, last year she baked one, in the oven, with chicken skins to keep the fat and moisture in, it was great, and has done a lot of things with it
Today I gave her an old stud,,, she has the meat cooling in the fridge for over 12 hours before it is packaged,,,,, should be some great meals........................
I take the breast and cut it into strips approx. 3" long by 1/2" wide, soak it for about 8 hours in buttermilk seasoned with what ever spice you like. (I like Cajun). Drain and rinse with cold water, pat dry. Next I get the fish cooker out, add peanut oil to the pan and heat the oil to 350°. While the oil is heating, I coat the strips with Gramma's fish breading. When the oil is to temp I add the strips one at a time to prevent them from sticking together. Only takes a few minutes per batch. Empty onto a paper towel to soak up excess oil. Use what ever dipping sauce you like and whala, fantastic turkey tenders.
A word of warning....DO NOT OVER COOK.... will dry out and you will be eating jerky instead.
Breast it out, toss it to the dog, and order a pizza.
Probably why I don't hunt 'em. Once was enough..
