Sunday, December 29, 2013

Turducken Feast!

Despite an ice storm causing power outages leading up to and on the day of the Turducken, nothing could stop the feast!


The Turducken was cooked breast down for the first few hours in an attempt to infuse the white meat with flavour and lock in moistness. 


In addition to the rub that was frozen with the bird, a rosemary, butter and oil mixture was used to coat the outside.  During the roasting process, broth and the bird's natural drippings were used to baste it. 


In the meantime, guests enjoyed the always phenomenal 7 layer dip with nacho chips as well as a salumi and Brie platter (pictures below):


The Turducken had a nice golden brown coating when cooked.  The internal temperature of the bird reached the required 170 degree Fahrenheit mark after 7 hours of roasting despite 2 power outages!  Miracles do come true!


In a cross sectional slice, you can see the spicy Italian sausage and chicken: 


Drippings from the bird were also mixed in with store bought gravy powder to yield an amazing gravy to go with the Turducken. 


So... Turkey? Check. Duck? Check. Chcken?  Check. 

But what about the beef?  

Being the foodies that we all are, we also prepared tender, melt in your mouth prime rib for our feast!


Many classic turkey sides were served up such as sweet corn, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and brussels sprouts with bacon. 

The hearty stuffing had pork, mushrooms, leek, celery, sage, rosemary, and carrots to accompany the bread. 


So the question on everyone's mind:  How did the Turducken stack up?

The turkey was moist and the pieces of duck found within were a great compliment to the white meat of the turkey and the chicken due to the high fat content in the skin. 

The disappointment was actually in the  Italian sausage stuffing. There was too much of it and it was too salty. It also was artificial tasting and overpowered the flavour of all the other ingredients. 

It didn't live up to the hype. But, it was excellent excuse to meet up with great company and so the feast was a success! 

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Turducken Arrival


To celebrate the holiday this year, the Urban Foodie has decided to host a Turducken feast on Boxing Day!

To get everyone up to speed, a Turducken is a deboned turkey (except for the legs and wings) stuffed with duck, chicken, and stuffing.  This particular Turducken, ordered from the Costco.ca website and sourced from Canadian company Echelon Foods, also has spicy Italian sausage in the mix!  When cut correctly, a serving yields a cross section of all the delicious components.

The ordering of this $124.99 behemoth was easy and pain free.  The order was placed on the 17th of December and a UPS shipping confirmation was received the same night for overnight delivery from Vancouver to Toronto. It was sitting on the front porch the evening of the 18th. Fantastic for an estimated delivery window of 3-7 days especially over the holidays!


Inside the cardboard box was a styrofoam container containing dry ice and the beloved Turducken. 

First impression?  

Honestly, it looked pretty dinky.  

The first inclination was to check to see how heavy this bird was but it was surprising that it didn't have any indication of how much it weighed - crucial prep info!  A huge miss on the company's part...

Regardless, figured out the Turducken weighs 10 pounds. It's heavier than the minimum advertised size of 8.8 pounds but this is supposed to feed up to 15 hungry people???  I hope so... I mean it is deboned right?

Stay tuned...