Sunday, November 16, 2014

What I'm not having for Thanksgiving

A terducken is the most complicated recipe I can imagine. At Serious Eats, there's a multi-step illustrated recipe, "The Ultimate Terducken," for boning the chicken, stuffing it with sausage, rolling it up and cooking it, then boning the duck, stuffing it with the chicken, cooking the stuffed duck, then boning a turkey (leaving the legs so it will look like a normal turkey when you slice it), stuffing it with the duck stuffed with the chicken stuffed with the sausage, and then finally cooking the turkey. Whew! I wondered how it would ever all get fully cooked through; this is the answer. Here are two pics from the recipe:

The boned turkey being stuffed with the duck stuffed with
the chicken stuffed with sausage.
I admit, it looks delicious when carved.
A google search reveals many other recipes and offers of fully ready terduckens.
In some recent conversations about the terducken that we aren't roasting for Thanksgiving, my memory was triggered. Something from my childhood kept nagging me. OH YES:


"The Churkendoose" was a children's book by Ben Ross Berenberg, published in 1946. It became a hit song sung by Ray Bolger. I think kindegarten teachers must have been reading it to their classes for years. For all I know they might still do so, but I doubt it as the copies of the book on amazon are pretty rare.  Here's a verse:
Well, I’m not a chicken and I’m not a duck
I have more brains than I have luck
I’m not a turkey, and I’m not a goose
Goodness me! I’m a churkendoose.

Poor little hybrid guy, he had all kinds of trouble with being accepted. The other barnyard fowl finally see what he's worth because he's so strange he scares a fox away. A moral tale indeed. I hope no one cooked him for Thanksgiving.
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4 comments:

  1. ~~louise~~11/16/2014 10:40 PM

    I won't be having any terducken for Thansgiving either Mae. I'm not even sure I'm having a turkey, lol...

    As if Thanbsgiving Day isn't enough to have to do all that trickery to cook such a monster! Not me!!!

    I don't recall that book but I certainly do remember Ray Bolger, lol...Wasn't he the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz:)

    Thanks for sharing Mae and thanks for that "novel" chuckle, lol...

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  2. Geri Saucier11/18/2014 10:30 AM

    There is just going to be a normal turkey at my house. No turducken for us.

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  3. Pam11/18/2014 2:47 PM

    We're having turducken and a large turkey also. All I have to do with the turducken is roast it, the butcher does the rest, and it's looks great when carved; just like you said. I cracked up with "The Churkendoose!" Sounds like a good story and lesson. I like your blog and will be looking around.

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  4. Jeanie11/29/2014 8:19 AM

    Not on my menu, either -- but Lizzie had it. Or the cat food version of it. I told her she was the only one in the family to have turducken -- frankly, as long as it was wet food, she wouldn't care!

    ReplyDelete

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