Stuffing a bird in a bird in a bird then roasting it probably goes back to Merry Olde, although the stuffing of three boned fowl – chicken into duck into turkey – was probably born in Louisiana, popularized by Cajun superstar chef Paul Prudhomme (1), who copyrighted the name. It really went mainstream when the late and much beloved John Madden, a multi-legged turkey aficionado, brought a turducken onto his table for a Thanksgiving Lions game broadcast (2). The video of John explaining the turducken is blocked in the article, so here it is (3). Since deboning a whole bird is an arduous process (4), deboning 3 and stuffing the results into each other is more than any but the most dedicated chef would want to take on. Specialty meat vendors will do that for you, but their products are pricey, with a 15 pounder (which will feed 20-25 people) running close to $100 or more (5). Expertise in constructing these may be pretty widespread, as I see my buddy ace butcher Bob Sparrow of Kerrytown made it to the Google search. They don’t come tiny, though I’ve seen some as small as 5 pounds (but not with a commensurate drop in price).
In tidying up my Thanksgiving feast (6), I think I’ve stumbled onto a much easier way to create this blended fowl taste, the results of which I can heartily recommend (and Kathy seconds the emotion). You might recall how excited we were for the soup that would follow from the carcass of our devoured duck. Then I came across a swimming partner for it.
Kathy’s been craving cold cuts as protein rich snacks to help with her low glycemic index diet. In our last ditch run to the grocery store Wednesday before Thanksgiving, taking a peek at the prices of cold cuts, I realized I could produce something similar. Turkey breasts were on sale, so I bought one, took it home and brined it, then hung it in my Pit-Barrel smoker for 2 ½ hours till it was done. Just delicious. Here’s the recipe.
It’s not hard to roll off the breast meat into two boneless wonders, leaving behind a pretty good size carcass. I already had the Instapot loaded with duck carcass and remaining bones, so chopped up the turkey carcass, doubled up the non-bird components of the recipe, and proceeded. It’s a two-stage affair, with creation of the broth then adding vegetables and other spices. Started on Friday morning and by evening, it was soup. Here’s that recipe.
Going fast, but still had a little to photograph before I downed some for lunch today. You don’t have to serve it on a bed of snow, it’s just that the light was better on the deck.
My title suggests a 3rd bird could enter the soup pot. For sure, if you have a chicken carcass or 2, toss ‘em in. The ramp up on the non-meat items would be less than what I undertook for the turkey addition, as chickens are much smaller. But it’s soup, not some science experiment, so just guestimate.
Bon appétit!
References
1. Turducken. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turducken
2. Camenker G. Who invented the turducken? How John Madden popularized the dish on Thanksgiving, ‘Monday Night Football’ broadcasts. The Sporting News 11/22/23. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/john-madden-turducken-thanksgiving-monday-night-football/1da79zw1o5bjl13siz97swreuz
3. NFL Legend John Madden on the Turducken Film Breakdown | Happy Thanksgiving. Law Nation Sports. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp2R9k00uj8
4. Filippone PT. How to Debone a Turkey Like a Pro. The Spruce Eats 10/28/19. https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-debone-a-turkey-1809383
5. Google search: ”turducken for sale”. https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=turducken+for+sale&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&dlnr=1&sei=9kFmZeuZJMyA5OMPnNqX-Ac
6. Ike B. TGIF! WordPress 11/25/23 https://theviewfromharbal.com/2023/11/25/tgif/
Bob Ike's blog 
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