Post by: becker on April 19, 2016, 05:50:48 PM
Needless to say I only hunt what I like to eat, and because I work out of town 3-4 days a week I can easily consume the turkeys I harvest.
But looking for ideas other use their turkeys. (https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi868.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fab242%2FDon_Becker%2Fturkey_zpsyjnazrti.jpg&hash=03f3539eabf12d732b0f06259bb141aed8faabff)
Post by: CaNINE on April 19, 2016, 07:11:21 PM
Post by: Pinetar on April 19, 2016, 07:23:57 PM
The past few years I've been tagging a good number of turkey. But, I was still left with a distaste of wild turkey dishes. Dozens upon dozens of recipes downloaded, passed along to me and thought up in my head. Only one of which I made more than once and that was "Leak and Barley" soup from a Better Homes & Garden cookbook. I was beginning to think I might give up turkey hunting altogether if I couldn't find a recipe that made them palatable. Worst yet was the wife hated them even more than I did.
Well, last night I made a breakthrough. The wife liked this so much she not only ate it for dinner, but had it fried for breakfast and nuked for lunch. Looks like it is going to be a winner! Wish I had taken better pictures before she wiped it out. Maybe I will make it again in the next few weeks and post some better pictures then.
The idea started when Chase Fulcher sent me a gift package of Meacham peppered bacon. I took two whole turkeys and ground all legs, breast and 1# of Chase's bacon together with a course grind. Then I switched to a fine grind disk and ran it through the grinder again making sure to really mix the bacon, light and dark meat together evenly. Kitchen Aide did a great job!
I then took half an onion that had been in the fridge for a week, chopped it fine and cooked it is some butter for about 10 minutes until it started to look translucent. Next time I'll probably use a purple onion...just because I like them better with fowl. Then it was all about mixing all the ingredients well and cooking in a 350 oven for 50 minutes. The glaze went on after that and cooked for another ten minutes. Probed internal temp was about 150-160F
1.5# of ground turkey (w/bacon)
1/2 cup half & half
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 onion (chopped fine and cooked to translucent in butter)
2 Tablespoons chopped Parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried Thyme (I would probably use more if I'd had fresh)
1-1/8 teaspoon Himalayan Pink salt (just because I hate white table salt)
1/8 + teaspoon freshly ground Tellicherry pepper (more flavor)
1/2 cup plain Progresso bread crumbs
I suppose if you wanted to you could add an egg or two. However, I do not usually use egg in my meatloaf if I have added applesauce and half & half. It was plenty firm last night and firm enough to make sandwiches after five hours in the fridge. I was worried about the turkey maybe being too dry and not holding firm without the egg but I shouldn't have been. IMO it was absolutely perfect without it!
I used the same glaze I use for all my meat loaves. I found it almost 30 years ago in the same Better Homes & Garden cookbook as the Leak and Barley soup.
GLAZE:
1/4 cup catsup
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon Colman's dry mustard (the only dry mustard I will use)
The only other thing I did is the same as I do with all meat loaf. I like to have a small dish of Mayo on the side. I dip just enough to add a little creaminess to the texture. I did eat some without the Mayo and it was still outstanding.
Hoping this might help someone else who, like me, has never found a wild turkey worth eating. For myself, this changed everything. Turkey around here won't be lasting very long at all anymore!
Post by: alexjm on April 19, 2016, 09:00:13 PM
Post by: Magnum_Willys on April 19, 2016, 09:42:56 PM
Chop a couple apples - skin on, chop similar amount of celery. Put in an oven pot, add box of wild rice mix with seasonings. Mix together. Put Turkey breast filet on top with some wild game seasoning and/or salt & pepper, cover with strips of bacon. Bake covered at 350 for 45 mins to an hour. Uncover and put on broil last 10 mins if needed to crisp bacon. Eat turkey and the apple rice.
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on April 19, 2016, 10:42:06 PM
Post by: turkeydancer on April 20, 2016, 07:49:04 AM
Post by: Dhoey07 on April 20, 2016, 08:06:47 AM
Post by: KevinClimbs on April 20, 2016, 08:24:46 AM
My favorite way is to pound the breast meat flat into a cutlet. Dip it in egg, then season and coat with panko bread crumbs. Fry it up in some oil. The legs/thigh meat need to be slow cooked for several hours in a dutch oven until the meat falls off of the bones. This year I'll be making up turkey carnitas out of leg meat.
I do the same. Last turkey I made I took the slow cooked leg meat and made pot pie $$$.
Post by: DrakeKill on April 20, 2016, 12:54:14 PM
- breast bird; no bones, no skin.
- cut breast halves into pieces about the size of a chicken breast, maybe a tad smaller
- soak overnight in your favorite brine
- wrap each piece completely with bacon - thick cut bacon
- put them in the little chief for 3-4 pans worth of chips. I like hickory, but use whatever you like
- you'll instinctively know what to do for the rest of the steps
This works well for any game bird, even pheasant legs come out wonderful!
Post by: krout81 on April 20, 2016, 01:52:14 PM
Post by: Spurdaddy on April 22, 2016, 08:59:06 AM
Post by: crowinghen on April 22, 2016, 09:25:35 AM
I put the legs and thighs in the Instant pot ( pressure cooker) added 3 cups water, a chopped onion, some dried mushrooms, minced garlic, salt and pepper . Cooked them for 90 minutes- took the meat off the bones. I cooked down the liquid then added some corn starch and water and thickened it, put the mushrooms etc back into the gravy- it was great!
Served it with wild rice and coleslaw- it was really good!
Susie
Post by: NRA4LIFE on April 22, 2016, 09:43:50 AM
Post by: 270Shooter on April 22, 2016, 10:09:04 AM
Post by: Whitenuckles on April 22, 2016, 02:41:25 PM
Post by: DOUBLELUNG on April 22, 2016, 02:47:59 PM
Steak the breasts into 1" thick cuts -- overnight in olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic -- 3-4 minutes per side on medium/high on the grill. All you'll need and the best turkey I've ever eaten.This is so good, the only thing I do different is to add fresh ginger as well. Leg quarters go in the crockpot until the meat falls off, pick out the ligaments, tendons, bones and cartilage, add a bottle of BBQ sauce and let go for a couple more hours for great barbecue sandwich meat. Occasionally I'll make a stock with the remainder of the carcass.
Post by: Quackwhacker on April 22, 2016, 10:01:59 PM
Turkey breast McNuggets. Enough said.McNuggets are a hit at my house. I grind the rest of the bird and use it for tacos.
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Post by: fly4fish on April 22, 2016, 10:05:21 PM
Post by: tgomez on April 23, 2016, 03:34:14 PM