Turkey Squeezings -- or Cooking 101

[moi621 (imported)]

TurDucKen.

A real one costs over $100. Last year I was at a Christmas buffet that claimed to have Turducken except there was no Duck. Just Chicken inside a Turkey and all so salty - chemicaled the cooking staff thought Turducken must really be fowl, I mean bad.

It should be -

3 High Quality birds, deboned.

A Chicken inside a Duck inside a Turkey.

Do not use stuffing because of all the fat that needs to drip free.

Sausage is often layered between the birds instead of stuffing.

My wife and I both felt, "usually I don't like duck, but, . . ." And we fought for the Duck pieces.

Deboned you just slice it up like a boneless beef roast.

Moi in YummyLand (I wish)

[Riverwind (imported)]

I have cooked the stuffing in the bird and out, let me just say I much prefer it cooked in the bird, it just tastes better.

Sage Sausage Dressing

Bread stuffing

ground sausage

BUTTER

green onions

minced black olive

Butter

Celery

diced Apple

dried Cranberries

BUTTER

mushrooms,

Walnuts

Hot water to moisten it,

Don't forget the Butter.

Mix stuff bird cook slow for many hours,

My own creation

River

[kristoff]

I'll make my wild rice stuffing in a pan. Gonna deep fry the turkey. Doing it tomorrow since I have to be at the "club" on Thursday. No guests invited that could make it, but princess bought a 21# turkey... eat the stuff for weeks...

[transward (imported)]

I have cooked the stuffing in the bird and out, let me just say I much prefer it cooked in the bird, it just tastes better.

River It is true that stuffing will taste better cooked inside the bird. However doing so usually guarantees that the breast meat will have the taste and texture of drywall. You put a bird in a hot oven. The radiant heat is absorbed by the skin and moves toward the center by conduction. But the outside is going to be hotter than the inside at any time. Stuffing, according to the USDS: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/tur ... /index.asp

Food Thermometer Essential When Stuffing a Turkey

For optimal safety and uniform doneness, cook stuffing separately. However, if stuffing a turkey, it's essential to use a food thermometer to make sure the center of the stuffing reaches a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F.

Cooking a home-stuffed turkey is riskier than cooking one not stuffed. Even if the turkey itself has reached the safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F as measured in the innermost part of the thigh, the wing and the thickest part of the breast, the stuffing may not have reached a temperature high enough to destroy bacteria that may be present.

Bacteria can survive in stuffing that has not reached 165 °F, possibly resulting in foodborne illness. But turkey breast meat, which is extremely lean, becomes toast at temps over 165 and becomes too dry to eat without large quantities of gravy. So when the inside stuffing reaches 165 the breast, being outside is going to be considerably hotter.

TurDucKen.

A real one costs over $100. Last year I was at a Christmas buffet that claimed to have Turducken except there was no Duck. Just Chicken inside a Turkey and all so salty - chemicaled the cooking staff thought Turducken must really be fowl, I mean bad.

It should be -

3 High Quality birds, deboned.

A Chicken inside a Duck inside a Turkey.

Do not use stuffing because of all the fat that needs to drip free.

Sausage is often layered between the birds instead of stuffing.

My wife and I both felt, "usually I don't like duck, but, . . ." And we fought for the Duck pieces.

Deboned you just slice it up like a boneless beef roast.

Moi in YummyLand (I wish)

A similar situation occurs with a turducken. By the time the heat has travelled through the turkey and the duck to heat the chicken to a safe temp of 165, the turkey on the outside is going to be pushing 200 and be dessicated. Ducks, having a high fat content aren't going to be affected by the higher than optimal temp, and the chicken will be basted by the duck fat, but the turkey's toast. Note this does not apply when roasting a large cut of meat, like a steamship round. The inside of muscle meat, barring an abscess, is sterile and doesn't have to be cooked to as high a temp as an assemblage like a turducken.

Transward

[Riverwind (imported)]

I know where I am going for thanksgiving, but you need to get me.

River

[Dave (imported)]

>>Now this is quite a COOKIE...

>>

Stuffing Cookies From Downtown Cookie Co. Are A Thanksgiving Delight

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/1 ... od&ir=Food

You read that headline correctly -- stuffing cookies. Cookies made of stuffing. Thanksgiving stuffing. When NYC's Downtown Cookie Co. let us know that their flavor of the month for November would be Pepperidge Farm Stuffing, we have to admit we were skeptical. "Is it just stuffing shaped like a cookie?" one of us asked. "Can this possibly be good?" wondered another.

Because we needed to find out, we got our hands on a batch, and we have great news for you -- these cookies are amazing. It seems that the stuffing has been used as one of the main ingredients, lending an herbaceous, savory quality to the buttery cookies, while whole bits of cranberry run through to remind us that we are eating dessert. We are wholly caught off guard by how great these cookies are, especially since we had no idea what to expect.

One editor noted that the texture was what really made her love it. "I love the slight undercookedness in the middle and the crunchy bits on the outside. And, these cookies are further proof that all cookies need a little bit of salt in them." These dense cookies definitely do not lack butter -- which is exactly how we prefer our cookies.

You can order your own batch of stuffing cookies from Downtown Cookie Co. -- they are $8.00 for a bag of four, and can be shipped nationwide.