Cajun for Thanksgiving!
Prior to last year I had never heard of Turducken. As the holidays are fast approaching, I find my thoughts are drawn more and more to that luscious mixture of birds.
Turducken is just like it sounds, a taste-tempting mixture of turkey, boneless duck and boneless chicken, complete with corn bread stuffing between each layer of meat. It makes my mouth water, just thinking about it.
Last year a very dear friend and client of ours, sent us a wonderful 15 pound Turducken and to be quite honest, when it arrived, I was less than pleased. For starters there are only three people in our family – it would have taken forever for us to eat a bird of that size. Top that off with the fact that I had never heard of a “Turducken”.
When I found out it was filled with Creole style cornbread stuffing. I was ready to give it away, thank the sender and never mention it again. I am so glad that I don’t always follow my first instincts.
We ended up thawing it out (it comes frozen) and delivering it to the host of our Christmas family dinner. She carefully followed the directions on the package – it was cooked to perfection and I am pleased to report, everyone totally loved it. I must say it was the most creative gift I have ever received for Christmas – not to mention the tastiest.
The Turducken easily fed the twelve of us, with plenty left over for snacks. The bird was moist and tender. The duck portion wasn’t my favorite part but my husband enjoyed every morsal. My favorite part was the stuffing, it was by far the best stuffing I have ever had the opportunity to enjoy. Shhhhhh, don’t tell my mom.
If you are looking for something extra special for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, I highly recommend you try the Turducken. I will be ordering ours soon. What a terrific idea. Who thinks of these things anyway?
What is a Turducken?
Turduckens – turkey-duck-chicken. This is an amazing meal. We take a whole turkey, whole duck and whole chicken. We de-bone all three. We put the duck inside the turkey and then the chicken inside the duck: The best cajun Turducken ever made along with some of the best cajun specialty foods in Louisiana.
We start with a 12 to 14 lb turkey, debone it flipping it inside out, season it with a cajun seasoning, and then stuff it with the finest Louisiana crawfish, shrimp, and rice stuffing. Then it is stuffed with a boneless chicken breast, a boneless duck breast, and more rice stuffing throughout the rest of the turkey.
Finally seasoned pork sausage is inserted between the duck breast and turkey. The final product is sewn together and ready for the oven. This product is as much a conversation piece as it is delicious! As they say in Louisiana, the flavor of the homemade seasoning is incredible, “bon appetite.” The Turducken will ship in a perishable container frozen solid.
Avoid Hidden GMOs for a Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner
No incentive or compensation was received by the author for this review.
Turducken Update
Our Turducken roll arrived completely frozen but without any notice. We had ordered two Turducken's a full-size bird for our kids who live in Michigan and a Turducken Roll for us, since there are only three of us at home. We received shipping confirmation and a tracking number the following day via e-mail on the 15 pound Turducken, we sent to Michigan.
Our Turducken Roll however, arrived unannounced by Fedex. We received no shipping notice or tracking information of any kind from the Cajun Grocer. We were happy it arrived just the same. Since we won't be celebrating Thanksgiving at home, we decided to have our Turducken roll early to celebrate my birthday. Our entire family was anxiously looking forward to this meal.
I followed the package instructions to the letter. I allowed the roll to thaw in the fridge for the recommended two-days. The directions instructed me to cook the roll at 375 degrees for 4.5 hours, if completely thawed or for 6-hours if it was frozen. The directions called for me to add 3/4 to 1-cup of water to the pan and cover with foil, which I did.
I read the instructions several times to be sure the Turducken Roll was cooked to perfection. The smells coming from my kitchen were incredible, so I decided to pull it out of the oven to take a peak at it, and give it a quick basting. The water was gone, the corner of the pan had started to burn — which was very strange — the roll still had 2 hours and 10 minutes left on the oven timer.
On a whim, I grabbed my meat thermometer (if you don't have one, get one and learn to use it) to test the temperature. The instructions had said to cook the roll to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Our roll was already at 185 degrees. It was done.
I quickly assembled the rest of our dinner, turned down the oven temperature, covered the roll and put it back in the oven, while I prepared the asparagus and gravy.The roll was so dry I could have cried. We ate our dinner in sad disappointment. The Turducken I had eaten for Christmas last year was so succulent, moist and delicious that I couldn't believe how wrong our roll tasted.
After dinner I called the company about our bird. I read the instructions to a young man over the phone and he agreed with me that they put the wrong instructions on the package. I'm still waiting to find out what they plan to do about the mishap.
If you ordered a Turducken Roll from the Cajun Grocer, please contact the company for proper baking instructions. I was told the Turducken Roll should have been baked at 350 degrees for I believe he stated 1.75 hours but I may be a little off, so call to be sure.
Do not follow the packaging instructions.