Turducken 2014

 

 Step one, buy lots of meat.  My local asian market, Hong Kong Market, was the source for the duck leg quarters, pork belly and pork shoulder. Also needed chicken thighs, ground turkey and bacon. Always need bacon.

Bones, removed. The ducky didn't need them anymore anyway.

 

Pork cut into chucks grinder sized.

 

When grinding meat it is very important to keep it cold. So into the freezer for about 15 mins until slightly frozen, but still pliable.

Once  it was ground I worked out how much meat was going to go in each layer. Lean meats like chicken and duck need the extra fat from the pork belly in ratio of about 25% fat. Michael Ruhlman's book Charcuterie is an excellent resource for any cured meat question.

 Salt is needed at about 1% ratio, and replacing some of the salt with MSG makes everything tastier. Curing salt, sodium nitrate, is added to the duck and andouille layers to help retain the pink color and add a sausage-y taste.

Dry milk powder is added as well, it keeps the meat moist, along with 25% pork belly.  The meat once ground is put in the freezer for a bit, again, to make sure none fat melts in the food processor. 

The mixture is spun up, not so much to 'chop' it, but the stirring action partially emulsifies the meat, assuring it will glue well to itself. When the mixture forms a mass in the food processor and starts rolling around the bowl, it is done.

The Andouille gets a bunch of spices; cayenne, oregano, paprika, liquid smoke and a whole bunch of crushed garlic.  Chopped green onions make it pretty. 

 

Cylinder rolled of meat that will be in center, chicken. By twisting the ends of the plastic wrap tight, it forces the meat to the center, making a nice smooth torchon. This goes in freezer for about 20 mins to firm up

The next layer, duck, is rolled out to a rectangle large enough to wrap around the inside layer.

 This process is repeated for turkey layer, again taking a trip to the freezer to stay firm.

 

The Andouille stinks up the kitchen oh so lovely. And it looks so pretty too. The pork is ground course to give more texture to the sausage than the others. And the little flecks of green from the scallion contrast wonderfully with the meat.

No.... I don't have an unhealthy love of  meat, my mother had me tested a child.

Wrap it up tight just as before.

 

The bacon is layed out on a sheet of plastic wrap, then sprinkled with  Transglutaminase. This is an enzyme sometime referred to as 'meat glue' as that is pretty much what it does. It breaks proteins apart and allows meats to bond to each other.

 

This gets wrapped up tight, vacuum packed.

 Then into the water bath at 145*F overnight to cook though.

When it is dinner time, pull out of bag, pat dry and into a 550*F oven to crisp up the bacon-y exterior.  Serve with cranberry mostarda and pecan pie.

Maybe some vegetables too, if you have too....