Title: Turducken - Part 3: Assembling the Turducken
Categories: Poultry Info
Yield: 1 Turducken

4		Recipes Andouille Dressing
2		Recipes Cornbread Dressing
4		Recipes Oyster Dressing
1		Turkey, boned; 20 - 25 lbs
1		Duckling, boned; 4 - 5 lbs
1		Chicken, boned, 3 - 3.5 lbs
7	tb	Creole seasoning
5		Recipes Sweet Potato Eggplant Gravy

Recipes for stuffing, seasoning, and gravy will follow in other parts, or use equal quantities of your own favorite recipes.

To assemble the turducken:

Spread the turkey, skin down, on a flat surface, exposing as much meat as possible. Sprinkle the meat generously and evenly with a total of about 3 tbsp of the Creole seasoning, patting the seasoning in with your hands. Be sure to turn the leg, thigh, and wing meat to the outside so you can season it, too.

Stuff some of the cold andouille dressing into the leg, thigh, and wing cavities until full but not tightly packed. Spread an even layer of the dressing over the remaining exposed meat, about 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick. You should use about 7 cups of dressing.

Place the duck, skin down, on top of the andouille dressing, arranging the duck evenly over the dressing. Season the exposed duck meat generously and evenly with Creole seasoning, using about a tablespoonful, and pressing it in with your hands. The spread the cold cornbread dressing evenly over the exposed duck meat, making the layer slighly less thick than the andouille dressing, about 1/2 inches thick. Repeat with the chicken and the oyster dressing.

With another person's help, carefully lift the sides of the layered birds, folding the sides of the turkey together. Have a helper hold the bird while sewing the opening down the back of the turkey together using cotton thread.

Since the turducken has ono skeleton, it must be trussed up or it may fall apart in cooking. Tie cotton string around the bird, widthwise, every inch or so along the birds length. Turn the bird over and place in a roasting rack in a pan, breast side up like a normal turkey.

Preheat oven to 190. Bake until a meat thermometer inserted to the center reads 165 F, about 12 to 13 hours. There will be no need to baste, but accumulated drippings will have to be removed every few hours to prevent the lower portion from boiling in the drippings.

When done, remove the turducken from the oven and let rest and cool for 1 hour. In the meantime, make gravy with some of the pan drippings and the reserved duck skin.

With strong spatulas inserted underneath (remember there's no skeleton to support the bird) carefully transfer the turducken to a serving platter and present to your guests before carving. Carve crosswise so every slice contains all three dressings and meats. Serve additional bowls of the dressing on the side.

Source: www.webcom.com/~gumbo/food/turducken.html and www.cco.caltech.edu/~salmon/turducken.html

MM by Dave Sacerdote

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