It is sitting in front of me face down, haunches up, goading me. I pry the legs apart but they modestly snap back together. It is a beautiful specimen and I hold up a knife to the goose fleshed skin and it retracts and follows the sharp blade. “Aren’t you a pretty one?” I say to it quietly.
“Do it, do it” it says back to me.
I grab a pair of shears, run my fingers down its backbone feeling the knobs of bone and cartilage against my fingers and murmur “This won’t hurt a bit dear” before savagely slicing through it’s skin and bone with the shears. It’s a particularly brutal act, made even more difficult by the size of the beast at over 7 kilos but it’s a necessary one. Although once I started cutting with the shears I wondered whether I had done the right thing. After hacking back and forth through the thick bone I remove the backbone and connected neck with a triumph raising it high but feeling like a serial killer at the same time that has eviscerated someone.
I haven’t turned Dexter. I’m making a turducken. For Christmas in July of course. Northern Hemispherans might wonder what on earth Christmas in July is and as far as I know, it is a Southern Hemispheran’s way of celebrating Christmas when our weather is at its coldest. Instead of our usual hot Summer’s Christmas of salads and seafood, having on in July means that having things such as baked mega turkeys make sense.
What is a turducken? Well you may have heard of it mostly in America which is the land of over the top excess (which is incidentally why I would love to live there 
). It’s origins are originally Ancient Roman and it was then taken up by the French in the 1800s, in a dish called a “Rôti Sans Pareil” or “Roast without Equal.” A large deboned bird is stuffed with progressively smaller, deboned birds the smallest being tiny enough to fit an olive in and nothing else. This version, a more user friendly version made popular recently, is a deboned turkey stuffed with a deboned duck stuffed with a deboned chicken, hence the name Tur-Duck-En as a portmanteau of the three bird’s names.
I was sent a glorious free range Thirlmere turkey and cranberries from the U.S. cranberry institute and if I had any sense I would have simply roasted it whole along with some lovely cranberry stuffing. But because I am something of a masochist for punishment (and it turns out also a sadist considering what I did with the turkey) my inner Franck Eggelhoffer came out and said “Let’s make zis a Christmas in July to remember! Ja? Faaabulous!”
Queen Viv and her son Michael and his fiancee Terri who were here on holidays were invited along to come along. A day before I decided to brine the turkey to keep it moist. Since I was sent the turkey I couldn’t ask for them to debone it for me. I had deboned quails before and spatchcocks and they were, anatomically speaking, a smaller version of the turkey. So I knew my way around them but I also knew that as a vastly larger bird it would require strength that my upper body doesn’t possess readily. I really needed Dexter or Jack the Ripper to do it.
In the absence of a serial killer friend I set aside a large space on my workbench and cut and sliced away. It took about 30-40 minutes all up to debone the seven kilo beast but that was including time to wash my hands and take photographs. After huffing, puffing, swearing, pushing and pulling I removed the final touch, the wishbone triumphantly and plunged the turkey into its brining solution made up basically of salt, sugar, apple cider vinegar and whatever herbs I had handy and some black peppercorns. The brining solution would help to keep the meat moist. Afterwards I slumped down at my desk exhausted clutching a glass of something stiff (for me an apple juice and soda water, I needed my wits about me).
While the turkey was brining I went to pick up the duck and chicken that I requested to be deboned (I wasn’t going to go through that another two times). When I ordered it a few days ago I was talking to the girl on the phone about getting as small as duck as possible and I explained the turducken idea. She told me that she was very familiar with the concept as they had sold ready to roast turduckens. We went back and forth about the smallest duck possible as I wasn’t sure of the size of turkey that I’d receive and she promised to find me the smallest duck that they had. And save me the bones for soup
When I unwrapped my package the next day to stuff the all and roast them I stared at the two deboned fowl. I had asked her for the smallest duck possible but she had given me what appeared to be the largest chicken possible! In fact they were both around the same size. Qu’elle horreur!! Nevertheless with no other option and cursing myself for not being clear about the chicken size as well as the duck size (I had assumed that she knew all about how a turducken worked size wise) I set about trussing it all up. I should have had a needle and some twine but quite frankly I think that would make me feel too much like Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs.
Closing up the chicken was easy, for once I hadn’t overstuffed the bird (a compulsion I find hard to break) but closing up the duck proved difficult. It was like trying to close the buttons on a coat that was three sizes too small. I pushed and pulled and eventually with the aid of skewers I got the thing shut. Then I tried to do the same to the turkey and only just managed to get it shut again flipping over the gigantic 11 kilo mega beast over carefully and with a lot of effort. I made a mental note that I must work on upper body strength if only to wrangle errant mutant birds once a year.
I stuck it in the oven, cooking it at 150C/300F for 5.5 hours using an internal oven thermometer to see when the bird was done (I couldn’t imagine opening it up to see it raw and hauling the thing back into the oven in front of guests). Over the next 5.5 hours I made some maple glazed carrots to go with it, a cranberry pear crumble and then realised that no crumble should ever go uneaten without vanilla ice cream (I’ve heard winged monkeys will swoop down for you if you don’t) so I made a batch of that too. And by that time it was finished and the table was set for my guests.
I inserted the thermometer and the magical temperature of 75C/167F popped up. Exercising weight lifting skills I never knew I had (“Lift using your knees!” I kept saying to myself) I brought the bird and the two trays out of the oven with a thud. The creature had to rest for 30 minutes-ideally it should rest for an hour as the bird itself has no internal structure and simply too delicate to lift. I managed to lift it wearing doubled up kitchen gloves although I knew that it would be more practical to do it with two people. It sort of splayed onto the way to the serving platter (I should have tied the legs together perhaps) and after it had its time to rest, I sliced it open.
The inside was a ribboned layer of the three birds. A glorious sight to behold and just at that time Queen Viv, Michael and Terri from Canada arrived with a home made Montreal delicacy called Cipaille (pronounced “sea pie”) whose recipe Terri has kindly shared below, along with some roasted vegetables. This is layered meat pie filled with several types of game meat and a buttery lardy pastry on top. With Christmas music playing in the background we had ourselves a very Merry Christmas in July. The vivisection of an almost human now a distant memory.
The three layers-you can see the pink turkey layer, the juicy fatty duck layer around the white meat of the chicken which is in the centre-plus the stuffing of course
Would I make a turducken again? I would love to say that it was a waste of time and not worth the effort. But it was absolutely delicious with all of the meats wonderfully moist with different profiles of flavour and is an utterly festive looking vision. I would however only make it again if I had someone to debone the three birds. In that case it is really quite easy, just brine, make the stuffing and then roast and baste and it is just like a regular roast but with much more spectacular results. Oh and it is also best for when you are entertaining a lot of people. There were just five of us as it was a last minute dinner but it would be fantastic for a dozen or so people given the size (or even more as part of a Christmas feast).
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever deboned a bird before? And does the idea of deboning make you squeamish? And do you prefer cold weather or warm weather Christmases?
Turducken
- 7 kilo turkey deboned except keep the legs and wings intact with bones
- 2 kilo duck, completely deboned (pre deboning weight)
- 1 kilo chicken or smaller, completely deboned (pre deboning weight)
Brining solution adapted from here
- 4 litres/16 cups water
- 1 cup salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- Whatever herbs you have (I used rosemary and lemon thyme)
- handful of black peppercorns
- 2 cups ice cubes
Cranberry & pistachio stuffing
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion, chopped
- 100g/3.5ozs bacon chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 100g/3.5 ozs dried cranberries
- 50g/1.7ozs pistachios
- 100g/3.5 ozs fresh white breadcrumbs
My favourite stuffing
Adapted from chef Hamish Watts of Botanic Gardens Restaurant
- 2 large onions finely chopped
- 3 to 4 sprigs fresh thyme, finely chopped (I used lemon thyme)
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 50g butter
- ½ cup apricot stuffing
- 50ml brandy
- 400ml cream
- 300g/10 ozs. bread (crust off) cut into 2cm cubes
Debone the turkey
1. There’s no way to delicately do this and if I were you, I certainly wouldn’t start on deboning a turkey-a quail is the best way because, and I know this sounds gruesome, but you can snap the bones easily. I’ve deboned lots of quail, spatchcock and chicken but I found deboning a turkey an arduous task but doable. And because I was home alone I wasn’t able to take step by step pictures of me doing it but hopefully enough to give you an idea. The turkey needs to be deboned of the rib cage and backbone but the legs and wings need to be kept intact. And if you’re doing the duck or chicken too I would suggest doing the chicken first to get to know the anatomy of them, they’re all the same really with the size the only difference.
Removing the bishop’s nose
Cutting away the backbone
Backbone removed
2. Start by removing the back bone. You will need a sharp boning knife (a long, flexible knife) and a pair of boning scissors or kitchen scissors. Place the turkey breast side down and cut off the bishop’s nose, the fleshy bit at the bottom. Feel along the backbone -if it helps look inside the turkey. You will be cutting along each side of the backbone with the scissors. Halfway down it will get harder but keep doing it. You will end up removing the backbone and neck together.
3. Then using the boning knife, cut close to the rib cage bones separating the meat from the bones with the knife. This is really a matter of slicing away close to the bone, there’s almost a membrane that separates it. Remove the rib cage on both sides. Also remove the thighs at the bottom. This requires snapping a joint in a rather brutal fashion and turkey joints are harder to snap than smaller creatures. But cut away the thigh again by slicing away the meat from the bone. Remove the wishbone at the top too.
4. The hardest part is next. Trying to get the breastbone out without piercing the breast skin which is quite close by. You just have to do this slowly, feeling your way with your finger and cutting away at the white bone very carefully. Have a stiff drink or reward oneself with some online shopping at this point.
Brining turkey:
5. Next brine the turkey. Bring 1 litre or 4 cups of water to the boil and add salt and sugar and stir until dissolved. Add the apple cider vinegar, herbs and ice. Your brine is now ready to use. Submerge the turkey in this overnight and cover with a lid or cling wrap for up to 2 days.
Cranberry & pistachio stuffing
6. Then make both of the stuffings (I did these the night before). Heat a saucepan on medium heat and add butter and cook onion until translucent and smelling sweet and then add bacon and garlic and cook until bacon is fragrant and cooked through. Have the ingredients ready in a bowl and mix to combine. This is a drier stuffing than the apricot one.
Apricot stuffing
7. This truly is my favourite stuffing, first eaten at a Sunday Roast lunch at the Botanical Gardens restaurant this past June. Place onions, thyme, garlic and butter into a pot and sweat off until onions are translucent and soft-don’t hurry this bit, the onions must be soft and lose all acridness. Add 1/2 cup dried apricots finely sliced and sweat off for a few minutes. Deglaze the pan with 50 ml brandy and reduce for a minute then add the cream and bring to the boil. Add sourdough then turn heat down to low and place a lid on the pot, stirring occasionally for about 45 minutes or until the bread has absorbed all the liquid. Season with salt and pepper.
Trussing up the turkey
Turkey with cranberry and pistachio stuffing
Duck on top of turkey with apricot stuffing
8. Time to stuff and truss up the turkey and roast it. Preheat oven to 150C/300F. Place the turkey open and fill with the cranberry and pistachio stuffing. Depending on the size of the turkey the amount of stuffing that the recipes above make should suffice with possibly a bit left over. Then place the duck over this open as shown and fill with the apricot stuffing. Then repeat for the chicken. Using metal or wooden skewers, seal up the chicken first and then pull together the duck to bring together the skin and seal it up too. Then do the same for the turkey. Tie the legs together with string.
9. Place in a very large baking tray that will fit it. Mine just fit the turducken quite snugly. Bake a 7 kilo turducken for 5.5 hours-the general rule is 3/4 of an hour per kilo of turducken. The best way to tell is by inserting an internal thermometer into the centre of the turkey or the thigh and if it reaches at least 76.7C/170F then your turkey is done. Baste it with its juice every hour or so. My turkey started to brown quite nicely after 2 hours so I placed a sheet of greased foil on top (grease it generously so that it doesn’t stick to the skin) for the remaining 3.5 hours. Once it is finished, rest it for at least 30 minutes, ideally an hour.
10. Meanwhile, while it is resting, bake the crumble and the carrots. Also make the gravy while they are baking. Skim the fat off the top of the pan juices from the turkey-I ended up with about 3 cups of pan juices and stock. Mix 4 -5 tablespoons of cornflour with 1/2 cup of cold water and heat the pan juices until almost boiling. Take off the heat and leave for a few minutes and then stir in cornflour mixture making sure to stir it as the cornflour settles in the bottom of the cup. Never boil a gravy with cornflour as it separates and becomes thin. When the turkey has rested, slice it into thinnish slices and serve it with gravy and sides.
Cipaille (Québécois game pie)
Don’t you just love a recipe whose first ingredient starts off “2 pounds moose”? I was utterly delighted that Terri went to the trouble of making her family recipe for Cipaille for us. Of course getting moose was going to be hard but she, Queen Viv and Michael went to the store and instead of getting moose they found a venison crossbred with elk. Serendipity really. Oops, I almost wrote elf there which would have provided a funny image wouldn’t it?
- 2 pounds moose
- 2 pounds deer
- 1/2 pound partridge or rabbit
- 2 pounds lean pork
- 4 medium onions, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 pound salt pork, thinly sliced
- 2 cups Potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Allspice
- 1 tsp Summer Savory
- 2 cups chicken stock (approximate)
- Pastry for double crust pie
Buyer’s tip and note from Terri: We used Venison, Pork, Beef Cheek, Guinea Fowl and Rabbit in the Cipaille we made. It’s much better if you use as much game meats as possible. The meats were purchased at AC Butchery. Summer savory is a dried herb that forms the basis of Canadian (and Bulgarian) cuisine. It can be found at Indian supermarkets, the one at the Southern end of King Street, Newtown stocks it.
Deboning guinea fowl
Slicing up beef
1. Debone and cut all meats into into 1 inch cubes and place in a large bowl. Combine with onions; cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours or overnight. Arrange salt pork evenly in the bottom of a 3 quart casserole, preferably cast iron with a cover. Layer with 1/3 of the meat mixture and 1/3 of the potatoes; season with 1/3 of salt, pepper and spices.
2. Roll out half of the pastry slightly thicker than for a normal pie and arrange on the potato layer, cutting a small hole in the center. Repeat with 2 more layers of meat and potatoes seasoned with salt, pepper and spices. Cover with remaining pastry, cutting a small hole in the center.
Making broth
3. Slowly add enough chicken stock through the hole until liquid appears. Cover dish and bake in a preheated 200C/400 deg F oven for 45 minutes or until liquid simmers. Reduce temperature to 121C/250 deg F and continue to bake, covered, for 5 to 6 hours more or until top crust is a rich golden brown.
Cranberry & Pear Crumble
An original recipe by Not Quite Nigella
For filling
- 3 pears approximately 500g/1 pound (I used Corella pears)
- 2 cups cranberries rehydrated in hot water for a couple of hours
- 2 tablespoons cornflour
- butter for greasing
For the topping
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 120g/4 ozs cold butter, chopped into pieces
1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. I never bother peeling pears or apples (along with icing sugar I consider it dull and mostly unnecessary) but if you want to, peel them. Core the pears (I use a melon baller to scoop out the centre seeds) and chop into small chunks about 1.5 cms big. Grease a crumble dish or some ramekins and add the pears and cranberries to it along with 3-4 tablespoons of the rehydrating juice which should be nice and sweet.
2. In a food processor whizz all of the topping ingredients together until you get a pebbly sand texture-there may be a bit more than what you need depending on how shallow your bowl is. Place the crumble topping over the fruit and bake for about 40 minutes until golden. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
Maple glazed carrots
- 1 kilo carrots, peeled and cut into batons
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon oil
- sprinkle of salt
1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Steam carrots in a saucepan for 5 minutes and then drain and toss with maple syrup and oil. Place on a baking tray and bake for about 30 minutes or until the carrots has slightly caramelised parts.
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74 Comments | Add your own
Those are very Christmassy dishes. Yummy looking, interesting and comforting.
I had never heard of Turducken before…
Cheers,
Rosa
I’ve always wanted to try this turducken. Very interesting progression, starting with 7kg turkey, down to 3 pears for the dessert:)
This always makes me laugh… here we are frying ourselves well done and you are doing Xmas in July…funny old world, isn’t it with these hemispheres. Both the birds and the game pie look amazing, Lorraine you are a very brave woman with very lucky guests.
This all look ridiculously good -please let me know when you are making an elf pie, even though Im not a fan of little bones (aww, that makes me sad!)
Ive missed Christmas in July – and spending a large chucnk of my life in the blue mountains – its a real tradition up there.
T xx
I’ve always wanted to attempt a turducken, but I haven’t yet. You’ve inspired me anew! I’ve only ever de-boned a chicken, so ordering all three birds without bones sounds like an excellent plan. And, I’d love to experience a really warm weather Christmas one of these days, but I do enjoy cold weather for that one day.
Wowwwwwwwwwww! You actually made the turducken – deboning and all! I first heard about it while I was on holidays in the USA during thanksgiving. We didn’t end up making it as at that time we thought it was such a CRAZY idea! Glad to hear it tasted as good as it looked
I laughed out loud on the train when I saw this. My husband always goes on about tur-bacon-duck-en which adds another process of wrapping the birds with bacon. Heart attack!
Looks amazing, will have to give it a go.
Farrah x
Oh man that is insane! I can’t believe you made it. What a success
I only recently deboned my first chicken. It wasn’t the prettiest of scenes and ended up having to snap a leg bone (or two). All with the aid of a youtube video (handy those things).
Kinda highlighted that I really need to sharpen my knives. Maybe I will get that done this afternoon!
What a feast!! I’ve only had turducken once in my life and it was nearly as good as yours.
I’ve also had cipaille when I was growing up as a kid in Maine (within driving distance to Quebec). Everyone in our town made it I think.
Christmas in July is a great opportunity to cook a traditional northern hemisphere feast. Doing it at Christmas is just silly.
(I am often silly at Thanksgiving in November.)
love your christmasy photos especially with the scrabble pieces..love the whole christmas in july thing so the meals i make for people in july tend to have a bit of a christmas thing going on..jane
Boo hoo, sniff, snuffle!!!
I am tearing up as I type as there is not one single picture of the beautiful behemoth carved! Since the first glimpse of that golden bird all I wanted was to see the OTHER delectable sounding birds inside it, but alas, no see for me… Sigh.
Well anyway! I love the idea of Christmas in July – especially if it involved a ski trip and wonderful log chalet. I would love to experience a white Christmas but considering what a sook I am when I am cold it’s probably better than I am a native of the southern hemisphere
Love reading x
What a feast! I can’t believe the size of the turkey! You did an amazing job of it…
You just put me in the mood for Christmas!This is a fabulous tutorial
I’m exhausted after readingthrough this post, you’re legend. Talk about ‘who dares wins’. Just wish I could have been there for the serving of that magnificent feast . . .
I am soooo impressed, by both your emotional fortitude in deboning the turkey, and your intestinal fortitude in eating that huge feast!
Your meal looks fabulous and thanks for sharing all the recipes, especially the pie which I hadn’t heard of before.
This year I might be inspired to make my Aussie version of a Turducken… a Plow- thats a cow stuffed with a pig stuffed with a lamb!What do you reckon? I hereby patent that idea, and now just need a friendly butcher to help me…..
I must say, the Turducken story read a bit like a psychodrama fiction…!! And the photos with your dark fingernails… but it does sound delicious. Maybe one day I’ll have the patience (and courage?) to try it:)
WOW – such an impressive Christmas meal! I have not, nor probably will I ever, attempt deboning a turkey, duck, or chicken. Now I’m very curious to taste a turducken though. Well done! xoxo Mum
I have in the past made turducken, it’s fun to serve but a pig to make, I can bone a duck without breaking the skin but the chicken is another matter! I also find that the legs sort of spoil the effect as they’re just one meat.
Here’s a much quicker alternative you may like.
First line a loaf pan with streaky bacon, make sure the strips are long enough to hang over the edge.
Cram a layer of turkey breast in the bottom and squash it down firmly, put some sausage meat on top but make sure it doesn’t go right to the (long) sides. Put some strips of chicken breast at either side of the sausage to fill the layer and some more chicken on top to seal – press it down firmly.
I then like to make the last layer in a similar way but with haggis and duck, the squeamish may want to miss out the haggis but it really makes for a savoury stuffing.
Fold the bacon strips over the top layer of duck, cover with greaseproof paper and add some weight (if you can) to help it keep its shape. Cook in the oven until a meat thermometer tells you it’s done (it’s very dense so takes quite a while). Best to put the loaf pan in a baking dish as juices can come over the top whilst it’s cooking.
When it’s done let it rest then turn it out and slice to serve. The result gives uniform slices and the bacon tends to go bright red with vivid yellow stripes of fat so it looks really good on the table. One day I’ll make one and remember to take a picture!
YUM! Its dishes like these that make me wish our Christmas was in Winter. But I guess it would feel a little strange not to be sweating up a treat and hanging out by the pool on Christmas day
Wow – you make it seem easy, but I know that it isn’t! I’ve never tried turducken, but we usually make deep fried turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas in July – it is amazing too! Very moist and NOT greasy.
I have deboned a chicken for a rolled chicken roast. I must say it doesn’t bother me, not like the thought of slicing a still moving lobster in half does.
I always thought of Turducken as grotesque, and it does look quite obscene in the raw shot, but wow your description sounds quite delicious! And that gleaming skin has me so hungry… Your crumble sounds fantastic as well
But eeek backbone! Haha that definitely makes me squeamish. I was in tears when I had to break down a whole rabbit. Snapping the bones, and seeing the insides…
You made your own turducken!?!? What an effort – they are amazingly delicious, but I think I’ll leave the prep up to someone else
love your Christmas in July post – we are holding ours this Saturday
12 guests, soups, stuffed turkey breast roll ordered from the butcher, roast vegies galore, poached pear and frangipane tart with gingerbread icecream and macadamia nut praline for dessert!
Hi there,
Long time reader, first time commenter!
I’d never even heard the word “Turducken” until about three weeks ago when I was invited to a dinner to feast on one – and now it seems to be everywhere! You can read all about how we went right here: http://whatshazsaid.blogspot.com/2011/07/turducken.html
Thanks for another great post Ms NQN!
Cheers, Shaz
Oh Lorraine, I do hope you had as much fun writing this ‘crime thriller’ as we had reading it
! I don’t know that this actually originated in the US – I seem to remember reading similar recipes from Henry VIII’s Court etc: didn’t this offbeat idea come from England? Would I try to replicate it – NO way: would love to try it tho’ to see how the tastes of the different birds melded. The deboning would not make me squeamish (hmm: not after doing anatomy prac in medical school 
!), just too much ‘fancy work’! Christmas in July – still a strange phenomenon to me, but I muct admit to liking a COLD Yule!
Once again please let me express my gratitude to you Lorraine, for doing the things that I would never bother doing, but am still curious about. What a magnificent effort – it looks stunning!
What am ambitious meal! And it looks scrumptious, even if it is 85 degrees, and a very pleasant summer here in Mexico. You make me realize that although I am a good cook, a cooking teacher even, I don’t think I would attempt this meal! Well done, you!
thats amazing. last christmas we endeavoured to make a turducken as well, however out turkey was 12kg!! cooked for 9 hours, it satisfyingly server 30 people!
Yep, surely have, a bunch of them, it used to be something that sent my tummy into loops, the texture of the meat… Shudder. Really it’s a miracle I survived my apprenticeship.
Totes digging your convo with the bird too.
First of all, WELL DONE!!
Christmas in July is about being whimsical and having fun!
LOVE entertaining, theme parties too!
Deboning would be a short cut would “treat” myself too!
WOW! Gets my WHOO HOO!
Really enjoyed step by step of someone else preparing too!
Thought bit of humour, would send your way!
Hoping this makes your Turducken day!
http://www.danzfamily.com/archives/2006/11/the_truth_about.php
Merry Christmas in July! I’ve seen Turducken in the grocery, but it was VERY expensive and I was not feeling adventurous enough to tackle making it myself. I am so impressed with yours- I can just imagine how tasty it was!
I love turducken, and scrabble! With the heat we’ve been having here in NYC, I’m actually dreaming of Thanksgiving.
Oh my God, what a turkey, I think it’s too much for me, I never debone a poultry, can you belive that? But the crumble, that is something that I can do.
The thought of deboning a bird didn’t make me squeamish… until I saw the pictures! Seeing a spine pulled out of a bird is exactly like Dexter minus blood!
I would probably have to buy the pre-made turducken.
god that turkey looks well marinated… mmhhh yum!
Those first few lines frightened me.
And I can’t even EAT a chicken leg. It has to be deboned breast or thigh for me.
But I want a Turducken now.
Pure, sheer madness!!! Hope you enjoyed eating it, hehe!
holy wowsers. i am dying to try a turducken but i had no idea you could buy them in Australia! this looks amazing! i’ve heard that they sometimes get cooked wrapped in bacon strips (to add an extra meat element, lol…) i’ve never deboned a bird before, i’m way too scared to do it.. i think you were very courageous to do a turkey!
Dear gods, what a huge bird! (Or birds, seeing how there’s three of them!) And it looks positively glorious and would definitely feed an army!
Now, if only fresh duck were more available in these parts… (sigh)
Oh my gosh you didn’t! You did! BAHAHAHA! Oh, Lorraine. I think you should put this post and your post about/version of my raw vegan brownies side by side
can’t believe you did this! what an incredible result. wish i could have tried it.
Makes me squeamish the idea of deboning in, i would recruit my hubby.
I’m sorry, did you say this was a “last minute” dinner? When I have a last minute dinner I make pasta…
Turducken!! I’ve had it once and I was just sooo proud. It actually wasn’t all that great, but the idea of three birds in one bird just overwhelmed me.
Omg, I’d love to live at your house, L. Serious.
I can imagine Dexter’s on television and he’s doing what, well, Dexter does…White Christmas is playing in the background…and you are cutting the hell out of some poor bird.
Love love love your blogs. You always have a superb story to tell us. xxxxxxxxxxxxx
I love made up words and ‘Turducken’ is GENIUS!!! it looks amazingly yummy too!!! *drool*
That’s huge! Don’t think I’ll give it a go but I’d love a bite
Oh no, I’m far too squeamish to do anything like this … however I do love Christmas in July!
Lorraine, for a long time now I have thought you are amazing. You have now reached stratospheric levels in my esteem, I am simply in awe. Which reminds me of your foodie bucket list question recently. Mine was to dine at Tetsuya’s, but now I think I can add to that – to meet you. I think a prize should be a day of foodie pleasure in Sydney with you.
BTW, I loved Leah’s comment – ‘when I have a last minute dinner I make pasta – hahaha! GOLD!
Seriously my husband would be in heaven if i made this. I don’t know if I should thank you for posting this or not
I’m hoping he won’t see this…..lol
LOL – a fun post, but I won’t be doing this soon. I have deboned a chicken, and I think that’s my limit.
First of all, I didn’t know about the Xmas in July custom. I have celebrated Christmas in cold and warm weather but am partial to cold weather Christmases with snow and the whole shebang. It just doesn’t feel like Christmas at the beach to me. And all the wintery inspired decoration, the food tec. just doesn’t fit. I have never deboned a bird, not because I am squeamish but more because it looks pretty difficult and I haven’t needed a deboned bird yet for any recipe. You did an amazing job, just looking at the pictures made me tired.
I am seriously impressed. I don’t think I would even contemplate making that myself. I’ve never deboned anything before so even that would be a challenge.
I would love to have a white Christmas one year and dress up in woolies and have a roaring fire place. For some reason it seems much more Christmassy.
yum what a feast! I love Christmas in July!!
I’m so inspired! May have to wait for this heat wave to pass, by I want to make a Turducken now terribly. Great post!!
Much love for the Canadian maple syrup shout out as well. We do it very well here
Not even I am brave enough for turducken!
I like the idea of a white christmas – I had one in Italy with my mum in 2003
bliss. Oh & yes, deboning freaks me out! haha. something I hope to conquer though. oh & I love advent calendars 
Heidi xo
love your scrabble pieces in the photos – have had some christmas in july dinners in other years but am just not managing it this year as am off on holidays soon.
As for ice cream with crumble, you are mistaken – I think it is custard which is perfect especially at Christmas (I am sure I would love your home made ice cream but I just don’t get too excited about the stuff)
jingle bells! u need to invite me to ur Christmas in december!
Ohhh how I LOVE Christmas in July! A winter Christmas is what I miss the most about living in Europe!!!
You’ve done an AMAZING job with this turducken!!! As always!
I’ve seen them make this on TV. To me, its one of those “don’t try this at home” recipes. What a colossal effort. I am so impressed daaaahling!
*kisses* HH
I love the idea of Xmas in July…such fun! You are quite trooper lady…and one with a mean machete! WOW … that is some spread!
Salutations and much bowing to the High Priestess of Mammoth Culinary tasks and Feasts.
Oh Lorraine, you’ve done it again! I’ve yet to tackle de-boning any type of bird and am feeling quite inept atm. Never mind, I promise I will attempt this task in the not-too-distant future.Am not the least squeamish so that hurdle is pushed to one side. Have never heard nor come across a Turducken before, so thank you once again for educating us and in such a colourful way as well!
Haven’t experienced a cold or white Christmas but would love to at least once in my life, even though I don’t like cold weather.
I normally do ‘something’ for Christmas in July but this year I had sort of forgotten until I read your blog today. That’s it , I’m baking my Christmas Biscottini on the weekend.
When I saw the title ‘turducken’ I thought “is it Christmas already?” I love Christmas and such a great idea to have it in the middle of the year.
I had turducken three years ago. I didn’t make it, it was assembled by the butcher. All I had to do was to roast it. Now, you’ve inspired me to give it a go.
I never heard or had Turducken…but from the pictures and description would not hesitate to have it, I mean not me preparing it, but being invited to one
I love the idea of Christmas in July…maybe because Christmas in warm weather reminds me of my childhood in Brazil, when Christmas falls in Summer.
Hope you are having a great week Lorraine.
I don’t think I would ever attempt this in my life, partly because I have never deboned anything in my life, let alone three things at once!
Very ambitious, Lorraine! Merry Christmas in July!
I am very, very impressed and while it sounds cool and actually looks delicious, I would much rather spend my time making the fabulous pear and cranberry crumble! In fact, I have a freezer full of frozen cranberries calling my name! And I jave 2 photographer friends in Europe photographing Xmas shots for magazines… I want Xmas in July (we certainly have the weather for it)!
I have eaten turducken before. My father made one back in the early 90′s at Christmas time and tries to convince everyone it would be a good idea to repeat a few months before Christmas every year. He has worked as a butcher though so the deboning and tying of string not so awkward.
I tend not to debone anything. I smile nicely and get dad to do it for me!
i’ve always been fascinated by this behemoth known as turducken, and frankly, it frightens me a little bit. that shot of the inner layers is awesome though. congrats, lorraine–you’ve defeated the beast!
Oh my – I hope your guests appreciated the effort. After watching Kate on Masterchef struggle with tunnel boning the pigeon last night I’m not sure I’d be putting my hand up to be your apprentice just yet. That said, I’ve always wanted to try Turducken….Happy Christmas in July!
I made a Turkducken last year for a christmas in july party also. Such a huge amount of effort, but the end result was great. I layered bacon inbetween the birds, with two layers of sage and onion stuffing. I used all the bones and made a Jus. I cant say i would do this often, but I am happy I did it once
You are my hero.
I really thought that this was something only lunatics and obese people would actually make.
I longed to see it done, considered making it and here you have done it.
Well done! Your Dexter antics have paid off.
Holy moley!! Now that’s what I had imagined a turducken to look like, ie a bird inside a bird! I’ve seen a few people make “turbaconducken” but in log form and that doesn’t cut it. This does! What a spectacle!
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