Thaw-Brined (With cure) Spatched Turkey & Corn+Cabbage+Chickpea(+your own great turkey stock) Sage stuffing/dressing [With Extras]

[Hamdrew]

Birds been on a little over an hour now at ~250*F.. Will probably brush some of my finishing sauce and sear that into it. Helps having one foot long and one foot wide spatula, lol. Speaking of sauces, running low on my master hot sauce so I started a jar in between stuff. Made a $2 lasagna for my brother (who wont touch that stuffing) touched up with a tiny bit of a very rich red sauce i made with cured pork and sardines. The Jack in the Box Buttermilk is crucial if you want to add a bolognese element to it.

 

[JLeonard]

Cant wait to see the finished.
Jim

 

[Hamdrew]

Me too! :) Think I got about an hour on her left, then it's time to pop the stuffing and lasagna in the oven while I wait to slice and let everyone coming by know that the food's up. Sometimes I get a little smokeblind but the house smells like cured pork+pork fat cap/shoulder bones+turkey stock so I'm not stuck smelling wood (almost all hickory b/c it's free, lil cherry BTW). plus now im thinking about ham & bean soup, gumbo etc... fat tuesdays gotta be comin up before too long

 

[Hamdrew]

Really wondering about this new smoker; i figure it must be losing heat in the front based on how perfect yesterdays cook was. felt like i was cooking a whole hog flipping a few times over another hour. and i still ended up throwing the leg quarters and wings in the oven!

Didn't take a pic when slicing half the breast for everyone's plates as fast as it was moving off the cutting board. About to slice the other half now before vac'ing (and finally pull the leg qtrs) so I'll try to get one. Thaw+Brine+Cure definitely didn't seem to get much into the meat (as expected), but absolutely made some of the best skin despite way lower temps than i like. It (skin) was a little too spicy for some but I got a comment on how they couldn't stop because of the texture.

Vegetable Stuffing/Dressing went as fast as I arrogantly expected, and am very pleased for a random attempt at getting Moms to absorb more vitamins. Doesnt fill you up nearly quite as much as had i made it with sausage! Perfect crunch, little sweet but the cabbage funk and savory turkey stock (+spice) should be able to take care of that. Ended up finishing it with some of the Cajun stock i've got going now and another clove of garlic

 

[Hamdrew]

Brother ended up wanting another sandwich, so no breast meat made it to the fridge. I like my dark meat (as you may have noticed from the heavier seasoning on em) so i don't mind. everything a little underdone went into the freezer for Fat Tuesday's Gumbo.

 

[JLeonard]

Oh man! That is one good looking bird. You did good.
Jim

 

[Hamdrew]

Thanks, Jim! I'm insatiable, but no leftovers within <48hrs is always a good sign

 

[JLeonard]

Hamdrew and your carving skills are good. I can never carve a bird right. Always looks like a 2 yr old did it with a chain saw!
Jim

 

[Hamdrew]

i owe so much of my skills to a several month stint i did at the Hilton on the Mag Mile in Chicago, those ~80hr wks add up... Over a hundred whole hogs (almost all on an oven that was just a massive rotating ferriswheel of griddles but i got to rotisserie the centerpieces a couple times) ; When I had to skin fish (i used to have what was referred to as my dagger), I had to skin a few hundred 40lb'rs for 14hrs or so. lol.

real nice knife too, my Mom (63) has no idea what it came from (our best guess is one of my great aunt/uncles) but anyways, ive been around it a for real long time

 

[Hamdrew]

Do appreciate that though, I was displeased and had to practice my slicing again yesterday. This thing never saw the freezer til it was sliced n vac'd up!