Western-style Thanksgiving starring the Western Chef Knife

Roast Turkey with Smoked Elk Sausage, Cornbread Stuffing, and Wild Mushroom Gravy

By John Tufts

This recipe is no more complicated than your typical Thanksgiving turkey, stuffing, and gravy.   However, this feast firmly stakes its claim in the West with the additions of smoked elk sausage and cornbread in the stuffing, and the gravy, made with wild chanterelles. You can find the sausage online or make it yourself if you’re one of those kinds of people. The cornbread used in the stuffing is deeply flavored from roasting the corn before making the batter.  And bringing this earthy fall-feast home, we throw in a healthy heap of wild chanterelles into the complex, rich, insanely good gravy.  This recipe takes a while, sure, but so does driving from Yellowstone to Devil’s Tower. Unlike the road-trip, however, you can have a cocktail halfway through to bide the time.

 

Ingredients:

Turkey

1. 1 12-14 lb Turkey
2. 2 Onions, diced
3. 1 Carrot, diced
4. 1 Leek, diced
5. 1 Head of garlic
6. A few sprigs of thyme
7. 1 sprig of rosemary

Brine:

1. 2 cups of water
2. 1 1/2 Tbs of salt
3. 1 peel of an orange
4. A few sprigs of thyme
5. 4tbs of honey
6. 2 star anise
7. 4-6 peppercorns
8. 1 sprig of rosemary

Cornbread:

1. 400g corn kernels (About 5-6 cobs)
2. 400g of medium grind cornmeal
3. 90g of flour
4. 5g of baking powder
5. 5g of baking soda
6. 8g of salt
7. 53g of sugar
8. 580g of buttermilk
9. 2 eggs
10. 120g of canola oil or melted butter

Stuffing:

1. The above cornbread
2. 2 Onions, diced
3. 1 Carrot, diced
4. 1 leek, diced
5. 16 oz. of smoked elk sausage, diced
6. 1 jalapeño, diced
7. 1 1/2 cups turkey or chicken stock
8. 2 eggs
9. Salt and Pepper

Gravy: 

1. 2 cups turkey or chicken stock
2. 1/4 cup of Flour
3. 8oz of wild mushrooms

Steps:

The Night Before

Make the Brine:

1. Combine all of the ingredients for the bring in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.  
2. Transfer to a container and place in the fridge until cold ~ 3 hours, or overnight.

Prep the Turkey:

1. Cut the wing tips off of the turkey. Remove the heart, liver, and neck if still in the bird’s cavity and set aside for later.  

1. Place the bird in its roasting pan.
2. Using a large meat syringe, inject the bird all over with the cooled brine.  You will notice the bird really plump up, this will dissipate as the muscle fibers absorb the brine.
3. Place the bird in the fridge overnight, and remove from the fridge 1-2  hours before roasting.

The Day Of

Make the Cornbread:

1. Place a 12” cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 450ºF.

1. Remove all of the kernels from the cobs with a knife.  Simply hold the cob vertically against the cutting board, and slice downward.  The kernels should fall right off.  
2. Roast the corn kernels in a skillet over high heat with a about 1/4 cup of oil.  Toss and stir frequently until they are a deep golden brown.  Some will start to pop and crackle, just be mindful of those hot little buggers as they fly out of the pan.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
3. Combine all of the dry ingredients  for the cornbread in a mixing bowl.
4. Combine the roasted kernels and the buttermilk in a blender.  Blend until smooth.  This may take a couple of batched depending on the size of you blender.
5. Add the buttermilk/corn mixture to the dry ingredients, and stir to combine.
6. Add the two eggs and stir into the batter.  
7. Add the oil or butter and stir into the batter.
8. Set the batter aside for about 5 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, add a few Tbs of oil to skillet in the oven.
10. Carefully pour the batter into the hot skillet.
11. Lower the heat of the oven to 400ºF and bake the cornbread for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out dry.  

Assemble the stuffing:

1.  When the cornbread is finished, invert the cast iron skillet onto cutting board.  The cornbread should come out easily in one piece.

1. Cut the cornbread into 1 1/2” strips and then crosswise to form croutons.  
2. Place the croutons on a baking sheet (you may need two) and return to the oven to toast until deep golden grown, ~ 20 minutes.  
3. Combine the croutons, diced carrot, leek, onion and jalapeño in a large mixing bowl.
4. Season with salt and pepper. 
5. Set aside.

Roast the Turkey:

1. Fill the cavity of the bird full up with some of the stuffing. Set the remaining stuffing aside for later.

1. Truss the turkey. 
2. Add the neck, heart, liver, and wings to the roasting pan.
3. Roast in the oven at 375ºF ~ 15 mins per pound, or until a thermometer reads 165ºF.  For me, with my oven on a high convection, this was fairly quick at just under three hours. 
4. Halfway through the roasting add the diced carrot, onion, leek and head of garlic to the roasting pan.  
5. When the turkey is done, remove from the oven and the roasting pan, and set aside to rest.  I do this in a second roasting pan, but you can use a large platter.  Just make sure there’s something to catch the juices. 
6. Set the roasting pan from the oven aside to make the gravy later.

Bake the stuffing:

1.  Scoop the stuffing out of the cavity of the bird and combine with the remaining stuffing set aside from before.  

1. Place the stuffing in a large deep pan like a lasagna pan or casserole dish.  
2. Whisk the 1 1/2 cups of stock and the two eggs.  Pour evenly over all of the stuffing.
3. Bake, uncovered in the 375ºF oven for 30 minutes.  

Make the gravy:

1. While the stuffing is baking, place the roasting pan over two burners on the stovetop.

1. Bring the remaining juices and fat in roasting pan to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the 1/4 cup of flour and stir to combine for about a minute to cook off the flour flavor.
3. Add the 2 cups of stock, and stir.
4. Bring all to a boil in the roasting pan and boil for about a minute.  If the sauce is too thick, add more stock.  If it’s too thin, keep boiling to reduce it slightly.
5. Remove the wings, neck, heart and liver from the roasting pan.
6. Strain the gravy through a fine mesh strainer into a large container and aside.
7. Chop up the heart and liver and remove any meat from the wings and neck.  Set aside.
8. Quarter the mushrooms.
9. In a saucepan add 2 Tbs. butter and melt over medium high heat.
10. Add the mushrooms and sauté until just starting to brown.
11. Add the wing, neck, liver and heart meat.
12. Add the strained gravy and bring to boil.  Stir to combine evenly.
13. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Serve:

1. Carve the turkey and serve atop portions of the stuffing.

1. Pour the gravy over and around the turkey and stuffing, making sure each person gets a few of those tasty chanterelles. 
2. Garnish with some chopped thyme.
3. Enjoy.  

Drink Suggestions:  

It’s Thanksgiving, drink whatever you want!  I like wine, and my wife likes an old-fashioned or three.   But the richness of the gravy, the smokey game of the elk, and mild heat from the jalapeño ask for some fruit and acidity.  So in keeping with our western theme, I highly recommend some Oregon pinots from the Willamette Valley; they are game’s best friend.

 

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