Turducken in CT?

[Zina]

Does anyone know of a place in CT that carries Turducken? The mail order companies down south have very steep shipping costs, and i would love to get one freshly made for Christmas?

[vtnewbie]

Not swayed. The danged thing starts with "turd" after all...

[Bri]

I'm not in CT, I'm in VT. But I'm such a fiend for turducken that I had to peak. I had no problem getting fresh turducken (breast only) from Hannaford's, so I'm sure that a Big Y or other larger grocery or specialty store will carry some version.

If you do attempt it yourself and don't want to tackle whole birds, you can opt for the breast only version that I get from my grocery store. Bonless turkey, duck and chicken breast with stuffing in between each layer, then tied to keep neat and tidy while cooking. Its delicious!

[Scargod]

Never heard of such a thing! Just breasts? That's just plain wrong! Sacrilege.... :)

[Bri]

I'm sacreligious, what can I say.

[EastRocker]

sounds more like sacrelicious to me.

[Scargod]

My son, in Austin, had one for Thanksgiving. A whole one, not just select cuts.
He thought it was great.

[RussW]

If you should decide to go the "do-it-yourself" route, heres a couple of tips. Start with a good size turkey, about 18 - 20 lbs. This gives you plenty of wiggle room for assembly. Ducks always come about 7-8 lbs, find a chicken less than 4 lbs. (Can't get a 6 lb. chicken into a 7 lb. duck, trust me, I tried. ) Most recipes call for a sausage stuffing and a fair amount of pepper sauce, but I've found that with the diverse group you will likely be feeding, the andouille sausage may be too strong for Grandma and the grandkids. I use a sweet cornbread stuffing made with a cornbread mix from Trader Joe's as the "main" stuffing, the one between the turkey and the duck. Then a bread crumb / herb mix between duck / chicken, and finish inside the little chicken with an apple / raisin affair. The sausage stuffing I still make on the side for the more daring guests.
Prepare components ahead of time; I usually make all the stuffings on Tuesday. Wednesday is the "boning of the birds", (not too difficult after the first time), and final assembly. Into the oven EARLY Thurs morning for a long cook, making sure you have placed the birds on a rack in your roasting pan since the drippings are generous to say the least. Bottom will get very soggy if not on a rack, and you cannot flip this bird while it cooks!
It's a fun meal to cook, and everyone loves to talk about it! You guest list may grow every year as word gets out about your turducken...

[danieljdwyer]

If you're not diggin the frozen, store bought options, it really is not hard to make one yourself. The only step of the entire from scratch process that is even remotely difficult is the deboning. The secret to this step is to have your butcher do the deboning for you (if he doesn't provide this kind of service, he's more of a meat salesman than a butcher). Make sure you have him give you the bones so you can make a really delicious gravy. Other than that, all you have to do is make the stuffing, and bundle it all together. Making one from scratch seems to really intimidate a lot of people, who i guess assume it is complex and difficult, but, really, it's one of the easiest large dinner party type main dishes I have ever made. It was so easy on the first go that I've made it several times since, when I was looking for something easy but impressive. There will be so much juice running from the three birds during cooking that your stuffing almost can't be bad (some recipes even call for just stuffing with breadcrumbs and sausage and letting the birds make it into stuffing). The assembly can be a bit awkward on the first go, but any mistakes are easy to correct. It's a dish that forgives mistakes easily, as they'll all be hidden away inside the turkey. You don't, for instance, have to worry about the chicken getting a bit mangled, no one will be able to tell. Once you've got it all together, it can be a bit tricky to cook perfectly. As with almost anything, however, fresh will always cook more evenly and predictably than frozen.

[EastRocker]

I saw some at Stop & Shop in Hamden this weekend.

[glennrod]

pricechopper is advertising turduchen in this weeks flyer. not sure if it is frozen.

[krisrishere]

My father just purchased one from Price Chopper, and yes, they are frozen.

[mels]

Agreed, Highland Park Market sells them every year around the holidays.

www.highlandparkmarket.com

[Scargod]

Never heard of these markets before. They all (6?) seem to be within 15 miles of Hartford. I guess they all have or can get them?

[mels]

Highland Park is a small grocery chain only in the Hartford area. They are well known for their extensive prepared foods (in house) and butcher. They don't sell prepackaged meat, everything comes from the butcher counter. They sell your average grocery stuff in the middle aisles and those items are generally overpriced unless you catch a sale. However, they do have great pizza, prepared foods if you need a meal in a pinch, and the most helpful meat counter around.

[Meesch70]

I believe Miller Foods in Avon carries them

[Scargod]

I know... shipping costs, but his place does good ones. http://www.thebayoumarket.com/about.html
Sorry, I don't even know if they would ship them.

[mmalmad]

Stew Leonard's in Norwalk had them (frozen)

[Scargod]

From the Bayou Market?? Amazing!

[foodieface]

Try Highland Park Market - I heard that they had it.