Cooking Wild Turkey

*I apologize ahead of time if the killing and eating of wild game is offensive to some. In my family, we eat a lot of wild game; but never try to push our hunting beliefs on anyone else. If hunting/eating wild game offends you; please just skip this post and please don't go away forever!*


I know a lot of people think that wild game tastes "gamey" or "strong" or tastes "wild". Maybe it is in some cases....
But we have found that if it is taken quickly, dressed properly, and cooked skillfully, wild game is quite tasty and enjoyable.

Last year we bought a quarter of grass fed Black Angus beef, fed on hay we raised and sold the owner of the cattle.
We also had deer we harvested off our 170 acre farm.

I would cook each exactly the same way; and do you know we preferred the venison to the grass fed beef? It's true. When your venison - or turkey - cuts are expertly processed, they taste absolutely "game" free.

Anyhoo - I roasted up some chicken and some wild turkey for Christmas Dinner.


This is not the wild turkey. This is the domestic chicken I bought.

Kevin had cut the breast meat and legs/thighs off the wild turkey. Make sure you get all the feathers and fuzz off the meat! As you can see in this photo, even after skinning it, there is still some fuzz left.



In cooking game, I use a lot of herbs; like these I plucked out of my herb garden, what is left of it. Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. (Wait. That's a song, right?)





Salt and pepper the turkey pieces, place in a zip lock bag, drizzle some olive oil in there, add the herbs (crushed a little bit), and throw in a couple slices of onion and maybe some garlic cloves if you have some. (I didn't! Aaak!)



Give the bag a mash, and let it sit for 12 hours in the fridge.

For my dish, I loosened the skin on the chicken, and placed herbs under the skin; and secured with toothpicks. Next I rubbed it all over with olive oil, and placed it in my Great Grandmother's Early 1900s "Savory" roasting pan that I had stolen from my Mom's house.
I arranged the wild turkey around it, drizzled a little more olive oil all over the whole thing, added a bit of water, put the lid on, and popped it in the oven (350) for an hour and a half or so; or until the juices run clear and it is slightly browned.



It was yummy. We ate it with mashed potatoes and creamed spinach and my sisters green bean thing. Later I will post about all the candy and desserts that were created over the Holiday...... mmmmmmmmm