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The first hunt of the year is often turkey season. We’ve waited all winter, scouted, watched the wild turkeys in big rafters as they started to strut, and then we watched them break up into small groups and disappear.
After all the time put into filling our turkey tags, it’s nice to sit down to a good meal and enjoy ourselves. If you haven’t eaten wild turkey you’re in for a treat. It isn’t injected with liquid unless you do it yourself so the meat is not as juicy. That doesn’t mean it’s dry. The birds have been on the move since they hatched and have developed muscles that require real chewing. They have flavor, sometimes called “strong” because farmed turkeys are often very mild tasting.
Shot placement is important. The turkey’s head is a small target but it’s the best shot for meat quality. Avoid shooting the body with a shotgun to eliminate pellets in the flesh. Pellets pull feather fragments into the meat. If you’re shooting with a bow the body is an acceptable option. Put in the extra time to call the birds in closer and give yourself a good shot at the head whenever possible.
You don’t have to immediately field dress a turkey the way you do large game. You do need to cool the bird. Cooling is done easily by hanging the bird in the shade, upside down by one leg and allowing the wings to spread away from the body. It will hold a few hours until you get home. I don’t pluck my wild turkeys. The majority of the birds here are harvested in the spring, and there’s little fat on a spring bird. I remove the breast meat and use it boneless and skinless, and the legs without skin to use for stock.
Marinades are always popular for wild game, and especially when you’ve taken an old, tough tom. The lemon juice in this recipe will help tenderize the meat:
1 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
Juice from one large lemon
1 large or 2 small garlic cloves, minced
Combine all ingredients over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Cool before using.
This marinade is great for whole or sliced breast. I like to make diagonal one-half to three-quarter inch slices and marinate for two hours. Pan fry in butter and olive oil or add to your stir fry in the last five minutes of cooking.
Coating and pan frying slices of turkey breast makes for one of my favorite wild turkey meals. It’s this recipe is great for lunch or dinner on a busy night. I make extra because this warms up in the oven without the breading becoming soggy.
Pan Fried Turkey Breast
1 pound turkey breast
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 duck or 2 chicken eggs
¼ cup butter
¼ cup olive oil
Cut the meat into sandwich sized pieces. Flatten with a meat mallet to ¼” thick. Sprinkle with cumin and let sit.
Mix the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper into the bread crumbs. The added seasoning isn’t going to make the bread crumbs too strong. Don’t hold back!
Combine the butter and olive oil in a fry pan and heat over medium-high heat. Scramble the egg(s) in a shallow bowl. Dip each piece of meat into the egg and then into the bread crumb mixture. Cover the top of the meat with crumbs and let each piece sit for a minute. Gently shake off excess crumbs and move the meat to a plate. Let the crumbs absorb the egg and adhere to the meat while the oil and butter melt.
Mix the oil and butter together as it melts. This will prevent the butter from browning.
Pan fry the meat for four minutes on the first side, then flip and continue to cook for three to four minutes. Flip again if necessary but avoid overcooking as this will cause dryness.
To rewarm, set on a cook sheet that has been lightly coated with olive oil. Place in a cold oven. Set oven to 300°. When the oven reaches 300° the meat is done.
Italian Turkey with Quinoa
I make this recipe in the slow cooker. You may exchange the turkey for pheasant or grouse if you’d like.
1 pound boneless turkey breast cut into three pieces
½ cup Italian dressing
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 quart stewed tomatoes
1 ½ cups uncooked quinoa
Place turkey in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add all other ingredients. Cook on low for a minimum of three hours. This is excellent served with a slice of crusty bread that will soak up the broth. You can have a hardy meal at the end of a busy day without heating up the kitchen.
Do you or don’t you need to brine a wild turkey?
I don’t think you need to brine a wild turkey but it will add a different flavor and change the texture. Why not!
Basic Sweet Brine Recipe
This will brine one whole, plucked turkey.
8 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 cup Kosher or sea salt
1 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
Naturally Sweet Brine
8 cups water
½ cup Kosher salt
½ cup sugar
1 cup maple syrup (not pancake syrup)
OR 1 cup honey
All the ingredients to a large pot and heat on medium only until the salt and sugar dissolve. There’s no need for the brine to boil. Allow to cool completely before using.
Winging It
I love turkey wings, although there isn’t enough meat on a wing satisfy me. It’s a shame they don’t have more wings! I use the wings for Buffalo wings or deep fry them in peanut oil. It’s a real treat.
Buffalo Hot Wing Sauce
1/2 cup hot sauce
1/4 cup tomato juice
1 tbsp cider vinegar
½ tsp chili powder
1 oz butter, melted
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Mix together hot sauce, tomato juice, vinegar, chili and butter.
Combine water and cornstarch and mix until cornstarch is dissolved, then stir into the sauce combination. Marinate overnight. Cook in a slow cooker on low for four to five hours. Serve with blue cheese crumbles or Ranch dip.
What about those turkey legs?
I’m not a fan of turkey legs. I tried. I wanted to like them. They’re tough and there isn’t a lot of meat on them to make the effort worth the outcome. Still, I believe we should use everything so I try a new recipe every time one of us harvests a wild turkey. My favorite recipe so far is turkey pot pie. It’s not just acceptable, it’s good!
Separate the turkey leg and thigh quarters. Place them in a slow cooker with enough chicken or turkey stock to cover them. Add one cup of your choice of wine. Allow to slowly simmer overnight. By morning the meat should be tender and might even fall off the bones and tendons.
Turkey Pot Pie
2 cups of slow simmered turkey leg and thigh meat, as above
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup green beans, 1” pieces
1 cup celery, ½” pieces
2 pie crusts
2 cups chicken or turkey gravy, separated into 1 cup portions
Dice the turkey meat, removing tendons as you go. You’ll have about two cups of meat when you’re done. More or less is okay; add more vegetables if needed to fill the pie.
Line a pie plate with one crust. Mix all ingredients except 1 cup of gravy together in a bowl. Pour this mixture into the crust. If necessary, add enough gravy to cover the mixture and fill the pie. Top off with the other crust. Bake at 350° for 45 to 50 minutes. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.
This last recipe is my favorite. You can stretch a small amount of turkey out to feed six to eight people a full meal by making turkey skewers.
Turkey Skewers
1 to 2 pounds of turkey meat
2 nectarines
1 Vidalia onion
1 bell pepper
1 pound of cherry tomatoes
1 medium sized baked potato, cold
Cranberry poultry seasoning, or a poultry seasoning of your choice
Olive oil
Pesto
Soak the skewers in warm water for one hour. This will help eliminate drying the turkey. Cut the turkey into 1.5” pieces. Remove the pit from the nectarines and cut them into four slices each. Cut each slice in half. Peel the onion and cut it into eight chunks. Separate each chunk into two pieces, leaving the rings together. (see photo) Cut the bell pepper into chunks. Cut the baking potato into large chunks. Because it’s already cooked, it only need to warm up while cooking.
Heat the oven to 425°
Fill the skewers by alternating ingredients, starting and ending with onion. The onion is firm so it will “cap” the ends and stay on, and is moist so it will keep the turkey from drying.
You can exchange the nectarine for another fruit such as pineapple. The sweetness and texture is a nice contrast to the other ingredients, and sweet fruit is great when baked and broiled.
Lightly oil a cookie sheet. Arrange the skewers on the sheet so that they aren’t touching each other. Drizzle each skewer with olive oil and season.
Bake for 8 minutes, then place under the broiler until the meat starts to brown a bit. Serve with pesto as a dipping sauce.
