[Captain's Quarters is live blogging the Superbowl, check it out!]

I’ve added a new category for sorting posts today, Culinary Delight, because if I’m not working, blogging, puttin’ the “pedal-to-the-metal” in the B’ville or watching FOXNews, I’m most likely at the smoker, Webber kettle, range top or oven working on a tasty gastronomical creation that will bring another reprimand from my cardiologist!

Today that happens to be a Turducken. “Say what?”, you say. Turducken! A boneless turkey stuffed with a boneless duck and a boneless chicken, with each layer separated by a different flavor of dressing. In today’s monstrosity, we have two ducks, I guess ’cause if one duck’s good, two’s better . . . Whatever.

Our cookin’ buddy likes to do these, and the first one was on Superbowl Sunday three years ago and it was sooooooo goooood that we have made it a tradition. If you ever watched John Madden call a game on Thanksgiving Day, you know about turduckens. If not, here is a clue from the step-by-step recipe from BlackTable.com: (Caution, some profanity on the site)

Turducken is a dish, usually served around the holidays, that is made by cramming a boneless chicken into a boneless duck, which is stuffed into a boneless turkey. Three kinds of stuffing are layered between the three kinds of meat and the monstrosity is cooked for a very long time. The end result, when cut, is a fantastic food rainbow that must be eaten to be believed.

But the road to Turducken is not a short one. The dish isn’t found on many take-out menus, isn’t sold in the frozen foods section at the local supermarket and must be made at home, for the most part. The entire process will take you two full days, leave you covered in blood and guts and cost more than $100. This turducken is the ultimate test of the primal desire to feed, requiring baking, boiling, broiling, butchering, sauteeing, chopping, stirring, sifting and even sewing, but once you’re seated with a plate and fork you will understand.

So that’s our meme for today, and later updates will include pics. I hear stuff banging in the kitchen, gotta get the digital and start shooting!

[Update] Pregame ceremony honoring WWII veterans includes tributes to the 101st Airborne, the Tuskegee Airmen, the Marines that stormed Iwo Jima and the Waves. Here are some shots I got off the tube:

What a difference a year makes! Last year it was debauchery and sleaze, this year it’s honoring those that make a day like this possible. Dare we say there might be hope for us yet?

The Anchoress puts her two cents and more in with a discussion on last year’s half-time show, and why you are not a “bilious and unsophisticated bumpkin” if you were offended by Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction”.

Stay tuned for more on the “turducken”, cause it’s made it into the oven!

[Update] Here is how we got the darn thing prepped and cookin’!

Here’s how to handle a 22 lb. deboned turkey!

Ready for the first dressing layer.

Traditional bread dressing with (pre-cooked) duck sections on top.

Applying the cornbread dressing on top of the duck.

Chicken sections (pre-cooked) laid out on top, ready for last dressing layer.

Mushroom dressing layer, similar to duxelle.

The easy way to pull it all together.

Closin’ up that bad boy but good!

Don’t spare the butter — we sure don’t!

Ready for the oven! Oh, you betcha!

We never do these things the same way. This year our bud pre-cooked the chicken and the duck to bring down the overall fat content and speed up the final cooking. We’ll see. Also, the dressings are different every year. Next update will be the cooked bird.

[Update] Here’s the finale:

The turducken, ready to carve.

The makin’s of a great gravy!

The first longitudinal cut.

Slicin’ up the servings.

Slice of turducken & garlic-mashed potatoes smothered in turducken gravy with a side of almond green beans sauted in butter — a plate to die for. Hope all of you had a great day and enjoyed the game! (db)

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 6th, 2005 at 4:25 pm and is filed under Cafe Okie. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.  |   Print This Post  |   Email This Post

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