Recipe for Turducken

Turducken

Ingredients

• 25 lb. whole turkey, deboned with wings and legs intact
• 6 lb. whole duckling
• 4 lb. whole chicken
• Cornbread stuffing (see recipe below)
• Cajun rice dressing (see recipe below)
• Shrimp stuffing (see recipe below)

You can prepare your stuffing prior to even thinking of assembling your turducken. Use the following stuffing recipe as a baseline; you can easily incorporate any and all of your favorite stuffing ingredients into this recipe.

Cornbread Stuffing

• 2 tbsp. cooking oil
• 4 cups cornbread
• ½ lb. chopped chicken livers
• ½ lb. chopped chicken gizzards
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped bell pepper
• Poultry seasoning to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Butter
• Chicken broth

Directions

In a large skillet, brown your chicken livers and gizzards on medium heat in your cooking oil.  After a few minutes, add in your celery, bell pepper and onion and cook all until softened. Season the skillet with salt, pepper and your seasoning. Add in some pieced cornbread to the skillet as well. Pour in enough chicken broth so that the skillet reaches your desired consistency. Let the stuffing cool prior to putting it in the bird(s). You’ll also want to make your rice dressing prior to assembly:

Cajun Rice Dressing

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. cooking oil
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 4 cups cooked white rice
• 1 cup chopped bell pepper
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 2 cups beef broth
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a large skillet, brown your ground beef at medium heat in your cooking oil. Toss in your celery, bell pepper and garlic. Cook all three until softened, and season the mixture to taste. Put in your can of mushroom soup and then mix in your cooked rice. Pour over the beef broth and let it cook down. Cool prior to putting in your turducken.

Two different kinds of stuffing? Yes, such is the turducken. You need to finish off a shrimp stuffing before you can start stuffing your bird into another bird into another bird.

Shrimp Stuffing

• 2 tbsp. cooking oil
• 4 cups cooked rice
• 2 lb. raw chopped shrimp
• 1 cup chopped onion
• ½ cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Dash of cayenne pepper

Directions

In a large skillet, add your cooking oil and soften your celery, onion and bell pepper. Add in your diced tomatoes and cook for two minutes. Then add the chopped shrimp and cook until pink, seasoning to taste. Toss in the cooked rice. You may wish to add water to the skillet if the stuffing seems dry.

You’re finally ready to begin assembly. Put the turkey skin-side down and season it fully. Spread your cornbread stuffing over the turkey. Next, put the duck on top of your stuffing and spread your Cajun rice dressing over it. Put your chicken on top of the Cajun rice dressing and add in the shrimp stuffing. Each layer needs to be about ½” thick. Your leftover stuffing should be put in a casserole dish and cooked for 35 minutes at 350 F. Now that you’ve stuffed each bird, fold the sides of your turkey in order to close it up. With the help of a (hopefully strong) friend, hold the turkey closed and sew up the opening. You should use 1” stitches. Tie the legs together and place breast-side up while cooking. Now that the turducken is assembled, put it in a big roasting pan and cook it at 325 F. You also have the option of cooking it on aluminum foil at 350 F. Get out your meat thermometer and put it through the thickest area of the bird. You want to get the turducken up to an internal temperature of 180 degrees. This may take anywhere from 4 ½ hours to 6 hours to cook, so make sure to give yourself some time to get it ready. Remove from the oven, and then let it settle and cool off for a few minutes. You should be able to carve the turducken as you would a normal turkey; be prepared that there will be more than just fighting over the dark or white meat this year!