Turkey Soup With Wild Mushrooms
1. Cut up the carcass with game shears. Add the leg and wing bones and dump it all into a pot.
2. Add chopped onions, garlic, celery, carrots, one bay leaf, a teaspoon of thyme, six peppercorns, two crushed juniper berries and some parsley.
3. Cover with water and/or chicken broth.
4. Bring it to a boil, then simmer until the meat begins to fall from the bones. Add liquid as needed.
5. Peel the meat from the bones and set it aside to cool---you can add the meat later, but if you cook it too long it becomes tasteless, though the soup will be enriched in the process. Return the bones to the soup pot.
6. When the soup thickens, replace the meat and add dried chanterelles or some other wild mushrooms.
Source: Sports Afield/ March '95
Roast Wild Turkey
(A wild turkey should be treated the same as a domestic bird)
Wash and thoroughly dry turkey. Rub cavity and outside with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Place onion, celery and bay leaves in cavity. Place bird on rack in roaster, breast side up. Cover with spare ribs or pork skin. When turkey is done, pork skin will be crisp, and cracklings can be used in corn bread. If spare ribs are used, you will have a delicious second dish.
Roast turkey at 325 degrees F. for 3-4 hours. Remove pork skin or ribs during last half hour of cooking to allow turkey to brown.
Source: Wildlife Chef
Oven Fried Turkey
For each pound of wild turkey, blend 1/4 cup flour, 1 teaspoon paprika, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon poultry seasoning(optional), in a paper bag. Shake turkey pieces, 2 or 3 at a time, in bag to coat evenly, brown in at least 1/2 inch layer of fat in a heavy skillet. Place golden-browned turkey pieces, one layer deep, in a shallow baking pan . For each 2 pounds of wild turkey, spoon a mixture of 2 tablespoons melted butter and 2 tablespoons of broth or milk over the turkey. Continue the cooking in a moderate oven (350 degrees F.) until the turkey is tender. Test with fork. If fork penetrates easily, turkey is done. Turn once to crisp evenly. During the cooking, broth or milk may be drizzled over the turkey if it appears dry.
Source: The Wildlife Chef
Barbecued Turkey
Cook onions until tender in butter ; add other ingredients. Bring to a full boil. Cut turkey in pieces, and cover each piece of turkey with this mixture. Baste often on grill. Cook 45 to 55 minutes or until done. If rotisserie is used, it takes about one and one-half hours until done.
Source: Wildlife Chef
Sweet and Sour Turkey
Place turkey pieces in pot with 4 cups of water. Add onion, garlic, bay leaf, cloves, mustard, salt and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and put the lid on the pot and simmer for 2 hours. Remove the turkey and strain the broth. Return broth to pot, add cornstarch, combined with sugar and vinegar. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens. Add turkey and simmer for 15 minutes.
Source: The Wildlife Chef
Great Gobbler
"Autumn turkeys weigh about 10 lbs., with plenty of meat and little fat. Bigger birds take better to smoking, which gives them a marvelous flavor, but there's nothing better than a simply roasted, stuffed turkey. Just be careful no to overcook the bird, because it is leaner than those juicy but tasteless fat-injected Buterballs."
1. Marinate prunes in Armagnac or Cognac for several hours or overnight. Remove from marinade and coarsely chop (save marinade to flavor gravy).
2. Saute onion, celery and carrot in butter until tender (about five minutes). Place in a large bowl with the marinated prunes. Add apples, cubed white bread and spices. Salt and pepper to taste.
3. Salt the turkey cavity and rub with lemon juice. Stuff the bird with the mixture and close the cavity. Rub the turkey all over with softened butter, then place on a rack set in a shallow roasting pan and begin roasting in a 400 degree F. oven. After about half an hour, lower the heat to 375 degrees F. and baste often. Cook until the juices in the leg joint run clear.
4. To make gravy, pour off most of the fat in the pan, then use some of the leftover marinade to deglaze the pan drippings. Mix in the pan 1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon flour, adding a little butter after the gravy begins to thicken.
Serve with mashed sweet potatoes and a French Burgundy like Gevrey-Chambertin from Clos Saint-Jacques, or an Oregon Pinot Noir like Van Duzer.
Source: Sports Afield/Dec. '94
Roasted Turkey
After all feathers are removed, dry the carcass thoroughly and salt and pepper to taste. Smear the bird with a heavy paste made of sifted flour and either corn, peanut or safflower oil, thick enough to stick and remain in place while turkey is being cooked (about the consistency of honey).
If you prefer, you can stuff the big cavity of the bird with a dressing made from a mixture of crumbled corn bread, a couple of cups cooked giblets, chopped fine, three or four hard-boiled eggs chopped up, a small minced onion, a cup of chopped water chestnuts and a half-pint of oysters.
Place turkey, heavily smeared with flour and oil paste, in an oven set on broil and turn frequently until the paste forms a brown crust all over. Reduce heat to about 200 to 250 degrees F.
Pour one or two cups of dry wine into bottom of cooking pan and cover pan with lid. Baste every 30 minutes---more or less---with juices that have cooked out of the turkey.
Cook for three or four hours, depending on weight of bird. Meat is done when it begins to pull away from bone. Check by making a slice into thickest part of thigh or drumstick.
Source: Outdoor Life Exclusive: Deer And Big Game (1991-'92)
Wild Turkey
Wash turkey inside and out. Combine equal amounts of vinegar and water in a large bowl to cover the turkey. Soak for 1 hour, turning once. Drain and rinse well. Place orange and apple in cavity. Season cavity with salt and pepper to taste, stuff as desired. Place in roasting pan, brush with butter. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 1 hour, basting with butter every 15 minutes. Pour 1-1/2 inches of milk in the roasting pan. Bake covered for two hours longer.
This is absolutely the very best wild turkey recipe ever. It is very tender and tasty.
Dona Berge, Dixon, Il.
Source: North American Hunter: May/June/July 1998