Turducken is chicken, duck, turkey trifecta of Thanksgiving feast

The first time I heard about turducken, I thought it was a joke. A chicken inside of a duck inside of a turkey? Really?

Turns out, this Frankenstein-style feast is not only real, but really popular in some parts of the world — specifically Louisiana.

Stories differ on who first created the concoction, but all of those stories begin in the Creole State.

Herbert’s Specialty Meats, with locations in Maurice and Broussard, Louisiana, bills itself as “Home of the World Famous Turducken” and offers additional Cajun favorites such as boudin, crawfish etouffee, shrimp and crab stuffing, andouille, crawfish pie, green onion sausages and more.

According to Fayetteville’s Mei Parker, who owns and operates Chef Mei Personal Chef Services, the turducken recipe is seasoned with the “holy trinity” of Cajun cooking: celery, pepper and onions.

My journey to turducken began with a little research. I found a turducken recipe that was daunting but, I thought, doable.

I would need a turkey, a duck and a chicken — all whole and deboned. I’d also need to mix some spicy cornbread stuffing. Once those items were procured, the steps were simple.

1. Spread the deboned turkey, skin side down, and cover with stuffing.

2. Spread the deboned duck, skin side down, over the stuffing-covered turkey and then add another layer of stuffing.

3. Spread the deboned chicken, skin side down, over the stuffing-covered duck.

4. Roll the turducken together and sew it closed with butcher’s twine, starting at the tail and finishing at the neck.

5. Roast 25-30 minutes per pound at 375 degrees.

I didn’t get very far into this process before I realized it would not be happening. I still don’t know where to get a deboned turkey.

“You mean a whole turkey, in one piece, with no bones?” the butcher at Harris Teeter was making sure he understood my request.

“That’s right,” I said.

“I’m sorry, we don’t have that,” he said. “But you can debone it yourself.”

Um, pass.

“I want to make a turducken,” I told him.

“Oh, we have turduckens,” he said.

Yes!

He led me to a freezer filled with Cajun Specialty Meats turduckens. Some were breasts only and some were whole bird. I went with the whole bird. The cost was $74.99 but they were on sale for $64.99.

I figured that price was worth not having to debone three birds.

Chef Mei assured me, though, that deboning isn’t that bad. Well, the first time might be bad, but it gets easier.

“Just go along the joints and the meat will come off easily,” she said.

Good advice. Maybe next time.

This time, I was happy to have procured a prepackaged turducken.

My colleague Scott Parker and his wife, Liliana, offered to prepare the feast.

Scott used his Char-Broil oil-less fryer, which uses convection and radiant heat, to cook the turducken.

It typically takes 10-15 minutes per pound to prepare a normal turkey in that cooker.

For the 11-pound turducken, it took about 4 hours to get the internal temperature to 165 degrees Fahrenheit — almost a full hour longer than a regular turkey.

When it came to serving the bird(s), Scott was pleased to be able to slice without having to maneuver around bones. He cut it right across the middle so that we could see the layers of chicken, duck, turkey and stuffing.

Liliana plated half of the turducken in a bed of pan-seared kale cooked with coconut flakes, onion, garlic, pepper, cumin, flaxseed, chia seeds and a strip of bacon in olive oil. She surrounded that with mashed sweet potatoes seasoned with ginger and cinnamon and topped with a dollop of yogurt, then drizzled with honey produced by the Parkers’ own bees.

We devoured the meal with wine and water while the Parkers’ dogs, Cocoa and Mona, stared from the living room.

It was a hit — juicy and flavorful. The stuffing had a hot-sauce flavor and the duck fat was especially tasty.

All of the meats were cooked perfectly, the skin had a nice texture and everything blended into a delightfully savory mouthful.

As good as this prepackaged turducken tasted, I imagine that making the meal from scratch would turn out amazing.

“It’s a great combination with Andouillette sausage and the ‘holy trinity,’ ” Chef Mei said. “A lot of flavor.”

Homemade turducken is an intimidating culinary feat, but the payoff is probably worth it. Maybe I can let you know next Thanksgiving.

Sunday Life editor Monica Holland can be reached at mholland@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3518.