Turducken

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  An Important Note About Refrigeration: As you complete the steps for making the Turducken, you will be refrigerating the fowl and dressings. It is very important to keep the meats as cold as possible before preparing them, and to chill all the finished items as quickly as possible after preparing. The best way to accomplish this is to spread the prepared items (or lay them flat in the case of the de-boned fowl) on a sheet pan and place them in the coldest part of your refrigerator. While the items are chilling, keep the refrigerator door closed as much as possible.

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  STEPS TO BE DONE ONE DAY AHEAD

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  1. Prepare the Cornbread for the Cornbread Dressing

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  2. De-bone the turkey, chicken and duck

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  3. Bring the water to a simmer and prepare the Poultry Stock

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  4. Prepare the Roasted Vegetables for the Sweet Potato Eggplant Gravy

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  5. Prepare the Andouille Sausage Dressing

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  6. Prepare the Cornbread Dressing

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  7. Prepare the Shrimp Dressing

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  8. Assemble the Turducken - See Detail Below

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  “TURDUCKEN” DAY!

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  9. Bake the Turducken - See Details Below

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  10. Let the Turducken rest for 1 hour before serving

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  11. While the Turducken is resting, bake the extra dressings

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  12. Prepare the Sweet Potato Eggplant Gravy

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  STEP 8. Assemble the Turducken

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  TURKEY: Spread the turkey, skin down, on a sheet pan exposing as much meat as possible. Sprinkle the meat generously and evenly with a total of about 4 tablespoons of the Meat Magic, patting it in with your hands. (Be sure to turn the leg, thigh and wing meat to the outside so you can season it also.)

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  Stuff each leg cavity with about 1 1/2 cups of the Cornbread Dressing, pressing it into the cavities with your fingers or the round handle of a wooden spoon. Pack each cavity well, but not too tightly. (If too tightly packed, it may cause the skin to burst open during cooking.)

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  Stuff each wing cavity with about 1 cup of the cornbread dressing, pressing it in as before.

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  Fill the center of the breast cleavage with about 1 cup of the cornbread dressing. Shape the dressing with your hands to fit the space and smooth it so that it is level with the rest of the breast meat. Shape 2-3 cups of the dressing into an even layer over the remaining exposed meat, about 3/4-inch thick. (Do not put any dressing over the exposed skin flap at the neck.) You should use about 8 - 9 cups dressing. Return the stuffed bird to the refrigerator.

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  Place the remaining dressing in a baking pan. Cover with plastic or foil and refrigerate until ready to bake.

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  DUCK: Place the duck, skin down, on a sheet pan. Season the exposed duck meat generously and evenly with about 3 tablespoons Meat Magic, pressing it in with your hands. Then, place the Andouille Dressing on the duck meat, using the same technique as before, filling and leveling the cleavage area first, then making an even layer over the meat, about 1/2-inch thick. You should use about 4 cups dressing. Return the stuffed bird to the refrigerator.

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  Place the remaining dressing in a baking pan. Cover with plastic or foil and refrigerate until ready to bake.

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  CHICKEN: Arrange the chicken, skin down, evenly on a sheet pan. Season the exposed chicken meat generously and evenly with about 1 tablespoon Meat Magic, pressing it in with your hands. Repeat the filling process with the Shrimp Dressing, using about 3 cups of dressing and making the layer about 1/2-inch thick. Return the stuffed bird to the refrigerator.

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  Place the remaining dressing in a baking pan. Cover with plastic or foil and refrigerate until ready to bake.

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  ASSEMBLY: Have the 3 skewers, 15 x 11-inch baking pan and the larger pan nearby for the next steps. Starting with the chicken: Roll one side of the chicken around the dressing towards the middle. Repeat with the other side, returning the bird to a chicken shape. If necessary, use a skewer to hold the flaps together.

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  Place the rolled up chicken on top of the stuffed duck, placing it in the center and rolling up the duck meat around the chicken. Use a skewer to close the flaps of the duck. When the duck is securely skewered, pull out the skewer from the chicken.

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  Place the rolled up duck/chicken on top of the turkey, placing it in the center and rolling up the turkey meat around the duck/chicken in the same way as before. Fold the sides (and neck flap) of the turkey together and secure them by piercing them onto the tip of the skewer to close the bird. Invert the 15 x 11-inch baking pan and place it over the top of the Turducken. Pull out the skewer and press down so that the pan is firmly wedged on top of the bird. Enlist another person’s help to carefully turn the Turducken over so that it is sitting breast side up in the 15 x 11-inch pan. Roll up two pieces of aluminum foil and place them under the front and back openings of the Turducken (this will help to keep the stuffing from falling out of the openings.) Cover the tips of the wings with aluminum foil.

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  Place the Turducken pan in the larger pan with sides at least 2 1/2-inches deep, so that the larger pan will catch the overflow of drippings during cooking. Season the exposed side of the Turducken generously and evenly with about 3 tablespoons more Meat Magic, patting it in gently. Refrigerate the Turducken until ready to bake.

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  STEP 9. Bake the Turducken

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  Place the Turducken in the oven. Bake at 225°F until done, about 8 hours, or until a meat thermometer inserted through to the center reads 165°F.

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  At 4 hours: Cover the Turducken with aluminum foil.

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  At 7 hours: STEP 12: Prepare the Sweet Potato Eggplant Gravy

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  At 8 hours: Check temperature in the center of the Turducken. When the interior temperature reads 165°F, remove the Turducken from the oven.

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  STEP 10: Let the Turducken rest for 1 hour before serving

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  While the Turducken is resting, bake the extra dressings.

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  STEP 11: Bake the extra dressings

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  Increase the oven temperature to 375°F.

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  Remove covers from the three dressings and place them in the oven.

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  Drain all the drippings from the Turducken and add them to the gravy.

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  At 8:40 hours: Check the dressings. If they are not browned on the top, increase the oven temperature to 425°F.

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  At 9 hours: Remove the Dressings from the oven.

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  Carve the Turducken.

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  With strong spatulas inserted underneath (remember there are no bones to support the bird’s structure), carefully transfer the Turducken to a serving platter and present it to your guests before carving. Then place the Turducken on a flat surface to carve. Be sure to make your slices crosswise so that each slice contains all three dressings and all three meats. Cut each slice in half for serving. Serve with a scoop of each dressing and 1/2 cup of the gravy, or serve additional bowls of the dressings on the side.

Andouille Sausage Dressing

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  6 tablespoons unsalted butter, in all

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  2 1/2 lbs Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Andouille Smoked Sausage, ground (8 cups) (See Note)

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  5 cups chopped onions

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  3 cups chopped celery

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  2 1/2 cups chopped green bell peppers

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  1/4 cup minced garlic

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  7 tablespoons Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Magic Pepper Sauce®

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  5 tablespoons Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Meat Magic®

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  3 cups very fine dry breadcrumbs, unseasoned (preferably French bread)

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  how to prepare

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  Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a 5-quart pot over high heat. When the butter is melted, add the ground andouille. Cook, stirring and scraping the bottom frequently to prevent sticking, until the andouille is beginning to brown and the oil is beginning to render from the andouille, about 6 minutes. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent, but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add the celery, bell peppers and garlic. Continue to cook, stirring and scraping frequently, until the celery and bell peppers are faded in color, about 4 minutes. Add the Magic Pepper Sauce and Meat Magic. Stir and scrape until mixed in well and the brown crust on the bottom of the pot is dissolved. Remove the pot from the heat and add the remaining butter. Stir until the butter is melted. Fold in the half of the breadcrumbs, using a bottom to top folding motion. When mixed in well, fold in the remaining breadcrumbs. Continue to fold until the breadcrumbs are evenly moistened but still somewhat dry and cakey.

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  Remove from heat and spread on a sheet pan as thinly as possible. Refrigerate sheet pan in the coldest part of the refrigerator until dressing is very cold. (Note: The goal is to chill the dressing as quickly as possible. Spreading the dressing in a thin layer on a sheet pan allows it to cool very quickly. In our refrigerator, this took a little over 1 hour.)

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  NOTE: If you are not using Andouille, add 1 to 2 more tablespoons Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Meat Magic® for a fuller flavor.

Cornbread Dressing

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  1 cup evaporated milk

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  2 eggs

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  10 tablespoons unsalted butter, in all

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  3 bay leaves

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  3 cups finely chopped onions

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  2 cups finely chopped green bell peppers

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  1 3/4 cup finely chopped celery

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  1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic

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  4 tablespoons Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Poultry Magic®

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  4 tablespoons Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Magic Pepper Sauce™

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  2 lbs duck or chicken giblets, ground

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  8 cups roughly crumbled Cornbread (see recipe below)

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  how to prepare

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  Process the eggs and milk together in a blender at medium speed until fully combined, about 20 seconds. Set aside.

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  Spread the crumbled Cornbread on a sheet pan and bake in a 300°F oven until the crumbs are dry and a touch of brown is showing on the larger pieces, about 30 minutes.

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  In a 5-quart pot, melt 6 tablespoons of butter together with the bay leaves. Add the onions. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are beginning to brown on the edges, about 5 minutes. Add the bell peppers, celery, garlic, Poultry Magic and Magic Pepper Sauce. Cook, stirring and scraping frequently, until the onions are beginning to brown and the celery and bell peppers are faded in color, about 4 minutes. Add the giblets. Stir until the giblets are fully cooked, but not browned, and the seasoning has a rich flavor, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and remove from the heat. Stir well until butter is melted. Remove bay leaves.

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  Put the baked crumbled cornbread in a large mixing bowl. Fold in the milk/egg mixture, then fold in the vegetable mixture until evenly mixed.

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  Spread the dressing on a sheet pan as thinly as possible. Refrigerate sheet pan in the coldest part of the refrigerator until dressing is very cold. (Note: The goal is to chill the dressing as quickly as possible. Spreading the dressing in a thin layer on a sheet pan allows it to cool very quickly. In our refrigerator, this took a little over 1 hour).

Shrimp Dressing

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  8 tablespoons unsalted butter, in all

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  4 bay leaves

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  4 cups chopped onions

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  4 cups chopped celery

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  3 cups chopped green bell peppers

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  1 tablespoon minced garlic

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  7 tablespoons Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Seafood Magic®

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  1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and chopped

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  3 cups very fine dry bread crumbs, unseasoned (preferably French bread)

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  1 cup Poultry Stock (see recipe below

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  how to prepare

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  Melt 6 tablespoons of the butter in a 5-quart pot together with the bay leaves over high heat. When butter is melted, add the onions. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are beginning to brown on the edges, about 5 minutes. Add the celery, bell peppers, garlic, and Seafood Magic. Cook, stirring frequently, until the celery and bell peppers are faded in color, about 4 minutes. Add the shrimp and stir in well. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and stir until butter is melted. Add half of the breadcrumbs. Cook, stirring constantly, until the breadcrumbs are fully moistened and blended in, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining breadcrumbs and continue to stir until all the breadcrumbs are mixed in, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, pull out bay leaves and stir in the Poultry Stock. The dressing should be bound and thick but not wet.

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  Spread the dressing on a sheet pan as thinly as possible. Refrigerate sheet pan in the coldest part of the refrigerator until dressing is very cold. (Note: The goal is to chill the dressing as quickly as possible. Spreading the dressing in a thin layer on a sheet pan allows it to cool very quickly. In our refrigerator, this took a little over 1 hour.)

Poultry Stock

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  Reserved carcasses of turkey, chicken, or duck (or all three)

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  2 gallons water

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  In a stock pot, or other large pot, bring 2 gallons of water to a boil. Reduce the heat to a slow simmer. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

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  Place the reserved bones and necks in a roasting pan. Place in the oven and roast until the bones are a rich golden brown, about 30 minutes. As soon as the carcasses are browned, place them in the pot. Simmer until the stock has reduced by half and has a rich poultry flavor, about 2 to 3 hours. Strain and refrigerate until ready to use.