Road Kill or Butterfly This!

It was a great Thanksgiving Day at our house.  Erin along with good friends Bill, Darlene, Eric and Timmy came over for some turkey and football.  I tried for days to find an ingredient that is used to make a Ballontine.  You may remember I made these with a boneless leg/thigh from a chicken.  It was stuffed and rolled with an item called, Caul Fat.  My plan was to butterfly turkey breasts, stuff them with a mushroom and sausage stuffing and serve Medallions of Turkey Breast Ballontine.  Seems the only way to purchase caul fat is in 10 pound bunches.  At $55 for 10 lbs, I changed the menu.

I butterflied the whole turkey and placed stuffing under the skin and then smoked it.  I can't take credit for the idea, that came from Bon Appetit magazine, however, it came out really good.  I had to laugh at the look of my turkey.  It looked like I found it after it had been run over on Bellflower Blvd.  Without the tire tracks!

Erin made great sides and four delicious pies.  Without a doubt one of the best Pecan Pies ever made and two Pumpkin Chiffon pies.

I guess the great thing about all of this is I never, ever would have attempted something like this before Le Cordon Bleu.  I have my lovely wife Chris to thank for allowing me to pursue this cockeyed passion and my chefs for giving me some skills.  

I hope your Thanksgiving day was one spent with family and friends as well.