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Thanksgiving

the Older Bolder Life Thanksgiving Friday Feast 2020: Texas Style Recado Turkey

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For millions around the country it’s soon to be turkey time again; and yep, for now, let’s not even think about COVID induced restrictions on your upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

Last year, I posted this damned tasty Ultimate Adobo Turkey recipe, one incredibly delicious – and certainly different from the usual – turkey recipe for your Thanksgiving table. In that post, I wrote about another spicy turkey we’d enjoyed as a family for years…

Years ago (and by that I actually mean several decades ago) there was a small quarterly magazine featuring spicy foods of the American Southwest published out of Albuquerque that we subscribed to.

It was simply titled Chile, in all honestly wasn’t that professionally done, but was packed with great recipes, tips and tricks for growing chiles of all sorts, and a smattering of advertising for all things chile-heads loved back in that day. Sadly, and I’m guessing in part given their laser-sharp focus on spicy foods of the Southwest, the magazine vanished in 2006 or 2007, leaving behind little or no trace of their prior work.

We folded a number of their recipes into our family food lexicon, including one for what they called a recado turkey, which was a turkey rubbed with a vinegar and olive oil based rub, actually more like a slather, rich with toasted and coarsely ground peppers and other big, vibrant spices.

Truth be told, it wasn’t my wife’s favorite turkey preparation – the flavors were pretty bold and could be almost astringent at times – but the kids and I loved it, enough that we’d often do two turkeys (especially if entertaining), one a classic brined and roasted bird, and then our special recado turkey…

Much to my chagrin, that old recado turkey recipe was lost in a move years ago, though with a bit of digging this fall, and some trial and error in our and Chef Libby’s kitchens, we’ve recreated that recipe with a TexMex twist (the addition of the dried New Mexico chiles).

The classic recipe (which Libby assumes was Oaxacoan in origin given the spice and pepper profile) used only dried chilaca chiles (a chile negro here in the States) and chipotles; we think the addition of the New Mexico chiles softens the astringency of the final pepper slather and adds a fruity note.

By the way, the garlic oil adds a wonderful additional flavor, though this works very with avocado or a good olive oil as well.

One caveat worth mentioning: the dried chilaca chiles (the chile negro) are of course more or less black in color, and when applied to your bird, the rub/slather is quite dark. It remains very dark throughout the cooking process, and when you remove your turkey from the oven, it will look burnt, but by no means will it taste burnt. The image below is my most recent recado turkey pre-cook before resting in the fridge overnight.

Finally, when cooking a turkey with a rich, dense slather or rub (like the two mentioned here), we both think using the technique of cutting the bird into pieces pre-roasting works far better for two reasons. One, it allows you to coat each piece more completely (and far more easily), and two, your bird cooks incredibly faster and more evenly. You make the call.

10-12 dried chilaca chiles (chile negro)
8-10 dried New Mexico chiles
2-5 dried chipotle chiles
2 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp Mexican oregano
5 whole cloves
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp distilled white vinegar (ACV in a pinch)
3/8 cup garlic oil (or healthy oil of choice)

Optional: 1-inch piece of cinnamon, crushed

12-14 pound turkey, see comment above

Toast the chiles using your method of choice (skillet, over live fire, or in a 325 degree oven) until fragrant; then stem, seed, and grind to a medium-fine powder in your trusty food processor. Pour into a small bowl.

Using your trusty spice grinder, grind the black peppercorns, cloves, and oregano until finely ground; add to the chile powder bowl.

Now stir in the vinegar, salt, and oil of choice to make a paste; if too thick, add a teaspoon more vinegar and oil as needed to loosen the mixture up. Now coat your turkey with a thin layer of recado paste and let rest uncovered in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

Now roast the turkey according to your routine (and pending whether you’re roasting a whole bird or one cut into pieces as we’ve suggested above); here’s how we do it around our camp.

If using the cut-up bird as I’ve imaged here – preheat the oven to 425, and triple foil line a baking sheet, then place a wire rack on the sheet. Add a cup of water to the sheet, then place the turkey so that the pieces are not touching. Roast for 10 minutes, rotate the pan, then roast another 10 minutes before reducing the heat to 300. Total roasting time for a cut-up bird should be in the range of 75-90 minutes pending its size. You’re looking for an internal breast meat temp of 150 and thigh meat temps of 170 on your trusty instant read thermometer.

Rest for 20-30 minutes before carving and go to it.

Don’t forget to save those recado turkey bones for an amazing turkey broth later.

Enjoy.

the (Pre) Thanksgiving Friday Feast: The Ultimate Adobo Turkey

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Years ago (and by that I actually mean several decades ago) there was a small quarterly magazine featuring spicy foods of the American Southwest published out of Albuquerque that we subscribed to.

It was simply titled Chile, in all honestly wasn’t that professionally done, but was packed with great recipes, tips and tricks for growing chiles of all sorts, and a smattering of advertising for all things chile-heads loved back in that day. Sadly, and I’m guessing in part given their laser-sharp focus on spicy foods of the Southwest, the magazine vanished in 2006 or 2007, leaving behind little or no trace of their prior work.

We folded a number of their recipes into our family food lexicon, including one for what they called a recado turkey, which was a turkey rubbed with a vinegar and olive oil based rub, actually more like a slather, rich with toasted and coarsely ground peppers and other big, vibrant spices.

Truth be told, it wasn’t my wife’s favorite turkey preparation – the flavors were pretty bold and could be almost astringent at times – but the kids and I loved it, enough that we’d often do two turkeys (especially if entertaining), one a classic brined and roasted bird, and then our special recado turkey.

Much to my chagrin the back issue of Chile which holds the magic recado recipe is packed in storage in another state right now, and several friends and I have been chatting this past week about different ways to spice up the menu for Thanksgiving next week.

As we often do when we’re searching out novel preparations for creative and spicy foods featuring the melting pot cuisine of Texas and the Southwest, I reached out to Chef Libby in Austin and she suggested we give her Ultimate Adobo Turkey a spin. She described it as a pretty classic spin on adobo, built around two acids for tartness (cider vinegar and freshly squeezed orange juice), an impressive handful of toasted guajillo and ancho chiles along with fresh garlic, and a well-balanced spice array.

I was easily convinced to give the recipe a spin, and decided to incorporate the cooking method that the team at Bon Appetite is pushing this year – cutting up your turkey into several more manageable pieces pre-roasting, almost akin to spatchcocking, but with two distinct advantages. One, with the legs and wings removed, it’s much easy to slather everything with the adobo. And two, the cut-up turkey cooks much faster, with both sides browning well when using the rack. The turkey pictured was a smaller one (about eleven pounds), but I think we’ll be using this method for years to come no matter how big the bird.

The adobo is outrageously good; Libby folds at least half a cup into her favorite gravy recipe when serving on her own table or for catering gigs, and a couple of tablespoons folded into your homemade avocado oil mayo recipe will change your leftover turkey sandwiches forever.

You’ll want to try this one – it’s hands down the best turkey prep we’ve ever enjoyed.

8 dried guajillo chiles
6 dried ancho chiles
8 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp + 1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp dried Mexican oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme leaves
1 inch of cinnamon stick, smashed
4 whole allspice
2 cloves
2/3 cup ACV
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp fresh orange juice
1/4 cup avocado or olive oil
1 tbsp good salt

Wipe the chiles clean, then stem, seed, and toast in a large skillet (cast iron wins here) over medium-high heat until fragrant, pliable, and slightly changed in color.

Place the toasted chiles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water and soak until softened (20-25 minutes). Drain the soaking liquid when softened.

While the chiles are soaking, toast the spices over medium-low heat until fragrant; keep them moving in the pan so they don’t burn (this should only take 2-3 minutes).

Into your trusty blender goes the ACV, orange juice, oil, toasted spices, garlic, salt, and the soaked – and drained – chiles; puree until very smooth. Be patient here, the mixture will likely be thick (add more orange juice if liquid is needed to get it moving), and you want to be sure and break up the whole spices.

Prep your turkey (see the discussion above), pat it dry, the coat all the turkey pieces with the adobo, reaching as far under the skin as you can. Place the rubbed turkey/turkey pieces on a rack in a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and throw in the fridge for at least 8 hours and up to a day.

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 425, and line a clean baking sheet with three layers of foil, top with a clean rack, and then arrange the turkey/turkey pieces atop the rack. Add 1 cup of water to the baking sheet. Roast the turkey for 30 minutes at this temperature, rotating the rack front to back at 15 minutes.

Reduce the oven to 300, add water to the pan if needed, and continue to roast until the breast temp reads 150 and the thighs 170 on an instant read thermometer, adding water every to the roasting pan every thirty minutes or so as needed. Total cooking time depends on your turkey size, but should be somewhere around 75-90 minutes.

When done, tent (loosely) with foil and let rest at least 30 minutes before carving (60 is better).

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 23 November: Ed’s Kitchen Sink Turkey Hash

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We have a good friend, Ed, who’s been something of a family icon now for over a decade. He’s been a continual font of inspiration and wisdom, a mentor, a business partner, and even an occasional pain-in-the-ass for most of those years.

Ed loves good food almost as much as we do, though you’d never know to look at him. His thin, fit build looks like that of a fifty-something runner, which is somewhat amazing as he’s in his mid-80’s (he constantly lies about his age, so we don’t know the genuine number). He’s sharp as a tack, more active than most men half his age, and was eating LC/MP/HF long before most of us had heard a whisper of the concept.

Back in 2016, Ed pestered us to help him come up with a “turkey hash recipe that he’d really like”; the final result was this Ed’s Kitchen Sink Turkey Hash, built on the foundation of spicy sausage with a big pile of fairly traditional hash vegetables thrown in. By the way, the poblano adds a nice bit of heat and flavor and the sweet potatoes tie in with the whole Thanksgiving theme, as does the fresh sage.

And just in cash you’re not a “hash expert”, one of the critical steps for this recipe is the repeated compress, crisp, and turn of the mixture to get crispy, browned, caramelized edges in every bite. Be patient; keep turning and crisping until it suits you. The browner and crisper the better…

The soft poached or fried eggs aren’t really necessary, but the runny yolks are magic. And Ed insists that this be drizzled with hollandaise sauce, though he’ll eat it with a real-deal turkey gravy too.

1/2 lb bulk spicy sausage
1 large sweet onion, chopped medium
1 medium red onion, chopped medium
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, chopped medium
1 poblano chile pepper, stemmed, seeded, chopped medium
1 large sweet potato, partially precooked (firm), cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
4-5 tbsp good butter
1 lb turkey, white and dark meat, chopped to 1/2 inch or so pieces
1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped, optional, more to taste
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 – 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp good salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Optional
4-6 eggs, poached or fried, with soft yolk
Hollandaise sauce if Ed’s coming over OR leftover gravy

Scrub and dry the vegetables; dice and chop to your heart’s content.

Sauté the sausage until browned; remove from the skillet to drain and remove all but (roughly) 1 tbsp of the remaining fat.

Melt 4 tbsp. of the butter over medium-high heat in the same skillet; add both onions, both peppers, the sweet potato, and the garlic. Cook, stirring now and again, until the onions and pepper begin to soften.

Now add another tbsp. of butter, the turkey, the sausage, sage if using, paprika, thyme, salt and pepper; stir to mix well.

Up your hash game by crisping it up. Smooth the mixture in the skillet out and gently compress it; raise the heat a notch and don’t touch it for 3 minutes or so to let a crispy-crunchy layer of caramelization develop. Then, turn that brown, crunchy bottom over and mix into the upper hash layers. Compress the mixture again and repeat at least two more times – the desired goal here is lots of crunchy, brown goodness. Add the parsley on the last turn and stir.

Serve it right now, topped with a runny-yolk poached or fried egg and drizzled with hollandaise if Ed’s coming over. He won’t eat it any other way, though if there’s any real turkey gravy left over, it might even be better.

Enjoy.