This is the season for hunting the wily wild turkey.  Once in a great while, some very lucky hunter totally stumbles onto a turkey and accidentally kills it.  Then they call Stu to find out how to dress it and then cook it.

Well.  There are two ways to dress (or undress) a turkey.  The first question is, what way do you want to cook it?

If you want to bake it in the oven for Thanksgiving, then you pluck it and dress it like you would see a bird in the supermarket.

If you want to take the easy way out and just eat the very best pieces of the turkey, you skin out the breast, thighs and legs, not bothering to do the "dirty work" of plucking and gutting.

Let us first presume you have plucked and dressed the bird.  Don't know how to do this?  Send Stu a note and I'll tell you exactly how.  So, you have a bird now that looks just like a "butterball".  Cook it just like a store bought one but remember a couple of things.  The wild bird is not full of antibiotics and preservatives and he will cook at a much faster rate.  Two to two and one half hours at 350 for most adult gobblers.  Use a meat thermometer to tell you when it is done.  I can assure you that a sweet dressing or just some cut up slices of apple, cinnamon, and a little sugar inside the front and back cavities will enhance the flavor of any roasted bird.

The second scenario is for the skinned bird.  You should have six pieces of meat, two each of the breast halves, legs and thighs.

What I do with the legs and thighs is to make turkey and noodles.  Put the thighs and legs in the slow cooker, cover up with water, add a little salt and pepper, and cook those tough parts until the meat falls of the bones.  This will take 12 to 18 hours depending upon the age of the bird and the high heat setting of your cooker.

When the meat is falling off the bones, remove it from the cooker, put 1/2 bag of egg noodles in the broth, add a little oregano, basil, thyme and garlic salt and cook the noodles until done.  Then add back the turkey meat without the bones.  Heat well for a bit and serve.

The pieces of turkey breast can be prepared in many ways.  One of my favorites is to cut the breast pieces across the grain into slabs like big, thick pork chops.  Then butterfly them open and stuff them with mozzarella cheese, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, salt and pepper and a little fresh parsley.  Fold them over and cook them on the grill for about 5 minutes per side, until they are done, and serve. 


Sent in by:  Stu Grell