So lets get into this dish shall we? 

First you’ll want one breast skin on, and one deboned thigh. Start out by wrapping the thigh inside the breast and tying it or using a roast sock

((See link below for what I use))

Once you’ve done that you can start working on the rest of the recipe. 

Smoked Wild Turkey 

Ingredients: 

Brine:

2 pounds turkey breast and deboned thigh, tied with skin on 

( if you don’t have skin, you could wrap in bacon) 

1 cup brown sugar 

1/4 cup salt 

2 tbsp cracked pepper 

4 cups cold water 

Bbq Rub: 

2 tbsp Garlic powder

2 tbsp Onions, dried

2 tbsp Black pepper
2 tbsp Brown sugar
1 tbsp Cayenne pepper
2 tbsp Chili powder
1/4 cup Paprika
1 tbsp Salt
2 tbsp Sugar                                                                                                                   2 tbsp Cumin, ground

Direction: 

• in large glass bowl mix brown sugar, salt, pepper and water. 
• Add turkey to brine for 12-24 hours 
• Remove turkey roast from brine, discard brine 
• Preheat smoker to 180-220 
• Rub turkey roast with bbq rub 
• Place turkey roast on smoker skin side up
• Smoke 5-8 hours or until internal temp reaches 150-155 degrees. 
• Remove from smoker and let rest 10 minutes
• Slice and serve with your favorite side. 

Jeremiah Doughty 

fromfieldtoplate.com 

Irish Black Bear Stew

Ingredients:

1 pound Bear stew meat, cubed

4 cups homemade Venison stock (or store bought beef stock)

16oz Guinness or other stout style beer (or 16oz red wine)

4 large carrots, roughly chopped

1 large brown onion, sliced

2 celery stalks, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

6 potatoes, quartered

2 bay leaves

1 can 6oz tomato paste

4 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon cracked pepper

¼ teaspoon salt

2 sprigs rosemary

3 tablespoons butter

Directions:

1. Mix flour, pepper and salt. Toss the stew meat and lightly coat, shake off excess flour and brown in skillet with 3 tablespoons butter. Lightly browning the meat helps keep the meat whole while cooking. The browning process is not meant to cook the meat but just brown the outside.
2. In Dutch oven add stock, beer or wine & tomato paste, mix together.
3. Add veggies, bay leaves, rosemary, garlic and browned stew meat
4. Bring your Dutch oven to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5-6 hours until meat is tender.
5. If you would like to make the stew thicker take 3 tablespoons of flour and three tablespoons of water and mix until flour has dissolved, then add to stew.
6. Season stew to taste and enjoy.

Now legs are full of tendons so cooking them like you would a store bought bird just won’t work. It’s all about slow cooking these cuts and breaking down the toughness that comes with legs. Once you’ve slow cooked the legs you can literally pull the tendons off because they are hard as rocks. The meat will just fall away.

Thighs to be are the top notch cut when it comes to wild birds. It’s dark, moist and tender when cooked just right. Bellow your see a simple slow cooker recipe that creates a truly stunning meal with meat most throw out. 

Wild turkey Barbacoa 

2-4 turkey legs & thighs

½ cup cilantro, chopped

1 cup red onion, sliced

2 chipotle in adobo sauce, chopped

2 cups game stock or beef stock

2 jalapenos, chopped

2 limes, juiced

8 oz of green chilies

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon cracked pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano          

Pinch of salt

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

1.       Mix pepper, cumin, oregano, salt and red pepper. Rub mixture evenly on all sides of turkey

2.       Turn crockpot to high and add remaining ingredients, mix together

3.       Add turkey to mixture and put lid on and walk away for 7-8 hours

4.       Enjoy the amazing smell from your kitchen every time you enter the house

5.       After 7-8 hours of cooking remove turkey legs and thighs and place in large glass bowl, with two forks shred meat

6.       Add meat back to liquid in crockpot and mix together

7.       Remove from crockpot place on your favorite tortilla and cover in your favorite toppings

We love adding a fresh homemade Black Bean & Corn Salsa. See recipe below. 

I thought back to the days of fall turkey hunting, as we drove to our secret spot and passed the acers of apple orchards. Thinking back to the flocks of wild turkeys stuffing themselves in those orchards on the freshly fallen fruit.  Watching as they unknowingly added a sweetness to their meat that only comes from eating apples. I though back to the crisp mornings as I sat under the old oaks with my dad telling stories, in hopes of getting our Thanksgiving bird.

  
 To me this is what “Thanksgiving in a single bite” would taste like. I wanted to relive those memories with a single bite. I wanted to be transported back to the field sitting under the old oak with my dad as the turkeys filled their bellies freshly fallen apples.

This is what I came up with, hopefully when you make it you’ll be transported back to your favorite thanksgiving memory as well.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Wild Turkey Breast with Apple & Sausage stuffing

 Ingredients:

2 turkey breasts deboned skin on

1 stick of butter plus 2 tablespoons separated

1 box of your favorite stuffing, or make your own

1 pound pork sausage, removed from casings (I use fresh wild boar sausage)

1 brown onion, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried sage

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried savory

2 medium apples, peeled, cored and chopped

2 cups chicken or homemade broth

(If you’d like that extra crunch to your stuffing, you can always add 2 celery stalk chopped)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. carefully remove skin by pulling gently and set aside for later. butterfly each turkey breast, then between two pieces of plastic wrap pound  each breast out flat and set aside along.
3. In large bowl add 1 stick melted butter, broth and stuffing, mix everything together and set aside
4. In skillet add sausage, break up and cook through. remove from pan and add to stuffing mixture
5. In same skillet add 2 tablespoon butter and sauté onions with garlic until soft. Add thyme, sage, rosemary and savory cook for 1 minute more.
6. Add apples to skillet, cook additional 3 minutes, remove from heat and add mixture to stuffing mix. Mix all ingredients till fully combined
7. Add ½ cup more stock if to stuffing is dry
8. Take your turkey breasts and cover with stuffing mix leaving a 1/2 clear on the bottom of the breast . Tightly roll each breast from top to bottom. Take the skin you removed earlier and stretch it out covering the seam and as much of the breast as you can. finish by tying with butchers twine to keep tight..

1. Rub each breast with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. place in greased baking dish skin side up.
2. Roast in oven for 30-40 minutes until internal temp reaches 165 degress
3. Transfer turkey to cutting board and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing into this amazing dish. Cut into ½ thick slices and serve alongside your favorite holiday sides.