The Name of the Dish is Turducken

We were in the mood to try something new for Thanksgiving this year. Not that we have anything against putting a turkey in a smoker for several hours as we have the last few years. We figured we'd do that also. But 2011, for better or for worse, goes down as The Year of the Turducken.

In the package, thawed and ready to cook

This is shorthand for Turkey, Duck and Chicken. In case you're wondering there isn't a Turducken farm where you can go get one of these birds. At least not on this planet. Most of these Frankenbirds are constructed in the south. We happened to have acquired ours frozen and ready to cook, shipped from Lake Charles, Louisiana.

I'm sure there are various ways to construct them, but ours started with a de-boned turkey (except for wings and drumsticks) that was laid out in sort of a butterfly fashion. A layer of stuffing that consists of cornbread and pork rice is added, followed by the duck, similarly de-boned and presented. Another layer of stuffing is applied, followed by the smallest bird, the chicken. The whole thing is somehow turned into a giant pouch of poultry, sewn up, seasoned with some Cajun spices, and cooked in the oven as per normal.

The Turducken: Ready to serve, just before we busted it open like a pinata

The results? I'd have to say mixed at best. While the flavor of the meat was certainly passable, it lacked the moistness that we had become accustomed to with plain old turkey over the years. And then there was the mess. After the first slice we were dealing with an Avian Pinata of stuffing. None of it really stayed too well in tact as we cut into it.

Overall I think our crowd of twelve appreciated the effort but were glad that we also had that backup bird heating up in the smoker. Next time I think we won't mess with a good thing.